The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements

This handbook provides readers with up-to-date knowledge on environmental movements and activism and is a reference point for international work in the field. It offers an assessment of environmental movements in different regions of the world, macrostructural conditions and processes underlying their mobilization, the microstructural and social-psychological dimensions of environmental movements and activism, and current trends, as well as prospects for environmental movements and social change.

The handbook provides critical reviews and appraisals of the current state of the art and future development of conceptual and theoretical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and understanding of environmental movements and activism. It encourages dialogue across the disciplinary barriers between social movement studies and other perspectives and reflects upon the causes and consequences of citizens? participation in environmental movements and activities. The volume brings historical studies of environmentalism, sociological analyses of the social composition of participants in and sympathizers of environmental movements, investigations by political scientists on the conditions and processes underlying environmental movements and activism, and other disciplinary inquiries together, while keeping a clear focus within social movement theory and research as the main lines of inquiry.

The handbook is an essential guide and reference point not only for researchers but also for undergraduate and graduate teaching and for policymakers and activists.

Chapter 6 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

"A comprehensive, detailed and authoritative treatment of environmental movements world-wide by leading scholars. It is by far the most useful text on this subject for both students and researchers."

Professor Brian Doherty, School of Social, Political and Global Studies, Keele University, UK

"At a time when climate action is more important than ever, Grasso and Giugni offer a globally inclusive overview of environmental movements that highlights the often overlooked role of Indigenous, Global South, anti-capitalist, and youth-led movements."

Janet A. Lorenzen, Associate Professor of Sociology, Willamette University, USA   

"This important collection paints a sophisticated picture of the many diverse environmental movements and forms of activism now found in every part of the planet. The impressive range of empirical cases and theoretical framings presented by a diverse group of scholars makes it is an invaluable resource for researchers and students who aspire to a truly interdisciplinary and global understanding of contemporary environmental politics."

Sherilyn MacGregor, Department of Politics, The University of Manchester, UK

"This exciting collection of critical scholarship on environmental movements is stunning in its breadth, depth, and sophistication. The contributors offer a range of new insights into the character, drivers, and consequences of those heterogenous, multiscalar, multigenerational, grassroots and institutionalized collectives that constitute the world?s environmental movements. If you are interested in an expansive reference source regarding how ordinary people concerned with our ecological futures are achieving social change in every corner of planet earth, this is the book for you."

David N. Pellow, Dehlsen Chair of Environmental Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

"This handbook is the most comprehensive and variegated treatment of contemporary environmental movements around the world. It covers a broad range of aspects, including issues, political contexts, and movement outcomes. I strongly recommend it to every student and scholar who is interested in the stunning diversity and complexity of a terrain that only can be mapped by a collaborative endeavor of both specialists and comparativists."

Prof. Dr. Dieter Rucht, Social Science Center (WZB) Berlin, Germany