This book analyzes the history and growth of the French environmental movement from its origins in the “back to the earth” wave of the early 1970s to its current influence on every political party from the Trotskyist left to the extreme right of the National Front. In the 1970s, the movement had a libertarian focus, working primarily to spearhead public anti-nuclear sentiment–then the strongest in Europe. However, environmentalists were forced to change their strategies when the socialists came to power in 1981. Considering the erratic development of the French movement, the author explores the barriers thrown up by France’s political culture as well as the nature of the movement’s political culture and the role of militants within it. He assesses the ideological sources of French environmentalism, especially important at a time when its platform is becoming an electoral threat that is also open to attacks of ecofascism.
