Environmental Politics : New Geographical and Social Constituencies

A change in the way humans relate to nature could be the starting point for a new politics, which will also affect relations among humans.

A change in the way humans relate to nature could be the starting point for a new politics, which will also affect relations among humans. A new approach would help to radically transform the production system, not because it is unjust in the usually considered social terms, but because it endangers nature and humanity. So far, the citizens’ grassroots organizations have failed to win broad consensus and political power in the representative institutions. When the time comes to transform the single environmental issue into an electoral platform, environmentalists lose unity and effectiveness since they lack a common political vision and an ensuing strategy. On the other hand European politics is rapidly transforming because the challenge brought by so-called populist movements. We need to transform activists’ shared emotions and attitudes into political ideologies and platforms. Moreover, a new educational process and a new science politics are necessary to reform environmental policy.