Environmental Movements

Abstract

Environmental movements have long played a central role in articulating societal concerns about the degradation of nature, the risks posed by pollution, and the unequal distribution of environmental harms. Although the term “environmentalism” became popular in the late 1960s, contention over ecological issues has much deeper historical roots, involving heterogeneous actors, frames, and organizational forms. This article provides a comprehensive overview of environmental movements by tracing their genealogies and evolution through various historical phases. Drawing on the literature on new social movements, global civil society, and environmental justice, it highlights how ecological contention evolved from conservationist and preservationist currents to modern environmentalism, climate justice, and local resistance against green extractivism. Particular attention is devoted to the interaction between protest and institutionalization, the transnationalization of the movement, and the internal tensions that have shaped its trajectory. The article concludes by examining the reconfiguration of environmentalism in light of new generational, territorial, and socioeconomic cleavages.