Session 8: Globalisation and Environmentalism

Abstract of Session: Since the 1992 Unced-Conference in Rio, the environmental movement is increasingly becoming a global social movement. Participation in negotiations on UN environmental regimes, the global operations of mass membership groups like Greenpeace, WWF and Friends of the Earth International, and the role of numerous environmental groups and activists in the so-called ¡®anti-globalisation movement¡¯ are just a few examples. However, how does this globalisation of the environmental movement look like in different parts of the world, and which theories and concepts are the most appropriate to analyse them? Does the globalisation of the environmental movement look like the same in, say, China, the US, Western Europe and Brazil, and how about the usefulness of concepts like International Political Opportunity Structure (IPOS), ecological modernization and multi-level environmentalism? In this session papers dealing with, or related to, one or more of these questions are mostly welcomed.Curriculum vitae Hein-Anton van der Heijden is a lecturer in political science at the University of Amsterdam. His research includes work on social movements, political discourse analysis and comparative politics. His latest article is ¡®Political Parties and NGOs in Global Environmental Politics¡¯. In: International Political Science Review,Vol. 23 No. 2 (2002), p. 187-201. Address: University of Amsterdam, Dept. of Political Science, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 237, 1012 DL Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: vanderheijden@pscw.uva.nl