Environmentalism and the crisis of legitimacy

David Chandler, professor of economics at Westminster University, has written a fascinating essay on the politics of environmentalism (PDF) in Radical Politics Today. It argues that state institutions have promoted environmental ideas in an attempt to bolster their legitimacy. This is in the context of traditional measures of welfare and educational progress appearing increasingly contested. Under such circumstances measures such as reducing an institution’s “carbon footprint” becomes more important as a form of validation than as a practical measure.

I was particularly struck by Chandler’s quotes from National Health Documents increasingly defining its role in relation to climate change. A similar trend is apparent in education.

These themes will be expanded on in Chandler’s forthcoming Hollow Hegemony (Pluto 2000).