The Origins of the British Environmental Movement
(Part 2)

By Georgia Cavanagh
November 2020

The 1960s Environmental Movement

Environmental stewardship, or human care for the environment, can be traced back to the origins of civilisation. In last month’s article, I focused on the early twentieth century and the start of the British environmental movement. In this article, I will move on to the movement as it transitioned into the 1960s.

Environmentalism thrived during the 1960s, which was a period of widespread dissidence and criticism of social norms. Radical environmentalism became more popular and was supported by mounting scientific evidence of environmental degradation, as well as popular outspoken individuals. Whilst mainstream conservationism still existed, the character of the overall movement became more disparate and ideologically diverse. 

Apocalypticism

The increasing popularity of revolutionary apocalypticism was spread through prolific manifestos, which encouraged drastic reexaminations of the contemporary world and the restructuring of society to prevent imminent disaster. Nevertheless, apocalypticism was criticised by many for its exaggeration, especially as environmental degradation was not apparent to ordinary citizens, and for its societal criticism, which was not attractive to those in power. Advocates became little more than ‘irritating background noise’ in the context of more immediate concerns. 

Climate Science

Despite this, Rachel Carson was one of the first individuals to initiate an immediate and significant impact that extended internationally, from America to Britain. In 1962, she exposed the environmental damages incurred by pesticide use, which prompted immediate changes in pesticide policy as well as grassroots support. This was partly due to her reliance on traditional environmental romanticism, balancing her otherwise apocalyptic work and therefore making it persuasive for a wide audience.

Climate science was increasingly equipped to refute sceptics’ assertions and encourage the popularisation of the environmental cause. Scientists could assert by the late twentieth century that there was ‘no known natural effect’ to ‘explain the 0.5-degree global warming’. Additionally, the emergence of nuclear weapons and the disasters at Hiroshima and Nagasaki presented the potential for a man-made apocalypse, which made apocalyptic fears much more commonly held. However, as with many environmentally-minded protest movements, the attention of activists was refocused, and from the mid-1960s mass protest centered on the Vietnam War.  Nevertheless, Libby Robin argues that the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s, which produced the ‘Earthrise’ photo, added levity to the idea that there is ‘Only One Earth’, and encouraged greater care for our world.  

Radical Environmentalism

A growing cultural propensity towards radicalism and protest during the 1960s precipitated environmental activism in a more extreme form. This impulse was encouraged by ‘the right of individual expression’, contributing to a rise in independent activism across Britain, and indeed the burgeoning global environmental movement. 

Radical environmental groups grew in popularity and membership, but the most radical elements of these groups subsequently criticised what they perceived as compromise from the mainstream movement, and established new factions. These factions could attract individuals who were drawn to revolutionary violence, rather than necessarily the environmental objectives, and wanted to escalate this aspect.

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) started in Britain in 1992, under Earth First!ers who refuted the original group’s ‘desire to abandon illegal tactics’. Their website describes it as ‘autonomous groups of people who carry out direct action’ under ‘leaderless resistance’. This technique was developed by KKK activist Louis Beam, so ‘terrorist groups’ could ‘carry out violent acts while reducing the risk of infiltration by law enforcement’. It denotes operation within small cells, creating a means for anarchy. As a consequence, moderate environmentalists distanced themselves from these ‘ecoterrorists’, arguing that they were a ‘liability to the...movement as a whole’.  

The ‘spectacle’ created by ecoterrorists was nevertheless effective in drawing media attention to environmentalism, which attracted sympathisers for the cause, if not the actions taken. The mass media also took on a ‘powerful pro-environment’ voice in its ‘own right’ through programmes such as Band Aid and Seeds of Despair.  However, whilst the media often supported the general message of radical groups, it also exaggerated their ‘violent actions’. This discouraged people from joining the inherently anti-establishment sector of the environmental movement, which would have undermined the interests of media stakeholders (and went against the conventions of contemporary society as a whole). 

However, Rik Scarce emphasises the importance of these extreme groups to the overall efficacy of the environmental movement, as their actions encouraged ‘bolder positions by the mainstream’, and indeed more individual activism was encouraged by their decentralised structures. Subsequently, a form of ‘lifestyle politics’ developed, which became a key component of environmental activism into the twenty-first century.  

International Politics

Furthermore, the increasingly socially-conscious framework of modern environmentalism (linked to the criticisms of social issues exacerbated by capitalism amongst other phenomena) became linked to fighting global inequalities. This was expressed in the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development, or the Brundtland Commission, which brought together twenty-two representatives from developed and developing countries ‘to identify long-term environmental strategies for the international community’.  

British Politics  

The British political landscape was evidently influenced by activism, as the electorate increasingly voted for green policy. Indeed, the Green Party was founded in Britain in 1973. However, by the time it had developed a politically-persuasive strategy that made the possibility of a Parliament seat more likely, the environment had already been ‘discovered’ as a persuasive political issue by the two major parties. The value for politicians to appeal to environmentalists is evident when considering that environmental organisations’ membership constitutes ten times the three largest Westminster parties combined. Although governments may be motivated by the popularity of environmentalism rather than an intrinsic belief in the cause, their support may be crucial to achieving the movement’s objectives.

The Significance of Radical Environmentalism

The development of increasingly radical factions in the modern environmental movement accompanied its transition into the mainstream. Regardless of their motivation, environmental imperatives were finally being reflected in political decision-making. However, environmentalism was not yet fully embodied in British culture.

What You Can Do

In the third and final part of this environmental history series, I will be looking at the movement in the 21st century, including internationally-known activists like Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion.

You May Also Be Interested In: The Origins of British Environmentalism (Part 1)

Return to The Collective.

References:
Joosse, P., ‘Elves, Environmentalism, and “Eco-terror”: Leaderless Resistance and Media Coverage of the Earth Liberation Front’, Crime, Media, Culture, 8/1 (2012). 
Lamb, R., Promising the Earth (London, 1996). 
Leader, S., and Probst, P., ‘The Earth Liberation Front and Environmental Terrorism’, Terrorism and Political Violence, 15/4 (2003).
Long, D., Ecoterrorism (New York, 2004).
Marwick, A., The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy and the United States (London, 2011).
Pearce, F., The Last Generation: How Nature Will Take Her Revenge for Climate Change (London, 2007).
Prendiville, B., ‘British Environmentalism: A Party in Movement?’, Revue LISA, 12/8 (2014).
Robin, L., ‘The ‘Big Here and the Long Now’: Agendas for History and Sustainability’, <https://www.histecon.magd.cam.ac.uk/history-sust/files/Big_Here_and_Long_Now-presentation.pdf>.
Scarce, R., Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement, Updated Edition (New York, 2006).
Wedlock, T., Preserving the Nation: The Conservation and Environmental Movements 1870-2000 (New Jersey, 2007).

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