Environmental Activism & World Civic Politics (Suny Series in International Environmental Policy & Theory) (Suny Series, International Environmental Policy & Theory) [Paperback]

Paul Wapner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0791427900 | ISBN-13: 978-0791427903 | Publication Date: December 31, 1995

Organized across national boundaries and with millions of supporters worldwide, transnational environmental activist groups such as Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and Friends of the Earth play a central role in the way the world addresses environmental issues. This book provides the most systematic and theoretically informed study to date of the strategies these organizations use to advance global environmental protection. Based on case studies of three transnational groups, it argues that in addition to lobbying governments, activists operate within and across societies to effect widespread change. They work through transnational social, economic, and cultural networks to alter corporate practices, educate vast numbers of people, pressure multilateral development banks, and shift standards of good conduct. Wapner argues that because this activity takes place outside the formal arena of inter-state politics, environmental activists practice "world civic politics" they politicize global civil society. The theoretical import of this book is to bring the practice of world civic politics into sharp relief and generalize its significance beyond environmental affairs to explain the efforts of all NGOs in world politics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Wapner is Assistant Professor in the School of International Service at the American University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (December 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791427900
• ISBN-13: 978-0791427903
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,663,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)