Environmentalist Movement In The United States Chapter 1 Summary

In his book, Brulle touches on many different aspects of environmentalism and the environmentalist movement in the United States. In Chapter 3, he explains the connections between societal and environmental problems. He claims that the structure of society is the underlying cause of many environmental issues and goes on to detail three competing theories which point to either social institutions, cultural beliefs, or personality characteristics as the primary social causes of environmental issues. Then, in Chapter 5, he discusses the growth of the environmental movement, beginning with the precursor that the size of the movement has never been measured accurately, but explains that it can be categorized as a large social movement based on number

In Chapter 9, he discusses four more ‘alternative’ sectors of the environmental movement: Deep Ecology, Environmental Justice, Ecofeminism, and Ecotheology. Deep Ecology argues for preservation of the natural environment on the grounds that nature has inherent value independent from humans, who have no true “claim” over nature. Environmental Justice is human focused, calling attention to social causes of environmental problems, and addressing the concept of environmental racism. Ecofeminism is a combination of the feminist movement and the environmental movement which connects the domination of men over women to the domination of humans over nature. Ecotheology claims that the Biblical tradition contributes to environmental problems because the Bible leads to a separation between humans and nature and strives to create new religious ideals that bridge the gap between humans and nature. In Chapter 10, he discusses public involvement in the movement, citing mass mailing as a tactic used by environmental organizations. He explains that this system typically leads to “shallow” membership, where members become merely monetary contributors to the