Ecology Contested

Environmental Politics between Left and Right

Peter Staudenmaier

In an age of climate crisis and political confusion, ecology seems to offer clear answers to urgent questions about the current global predicament. Yet ecology has always been politically ambivalent. Environmental ideals appeal to radicals and reactionaries alike; ecological concerns can align with both the left and the right, including the extreme right.

In Ecology Contested, Peter Staudenmaier examines the complex and conflicting politics of environmentalism with a critical eye, offering challenging perspectives on the historical, philosophical, and political dimensions of ecological engagement in a troubled world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Staudenmaier teaches History at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a faculty member of the Institute for Social Ecology. He is the author of Between Occultism and Nazism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era (Leiden: Brill, 2014), and co-author of Ecofascism Revisited: Lessons from the German Experience (New Compass Press, 2011).

Language: English
Publisher: New Compass Press
Release year: 2021
Pages: 196
Formats: Paperback
Print ISBN: 978-82-93064-57-2

Table of Contents:

Preface

Introduction: Ecofascism Past and Present

1. The Politics of Nature from Left to Right: Radicals, Reactionaries, and Ecological Responses to Modernity

2. A Revolution Against Technology: The Unabomber Manifesto in Historical Context

3. Disney Ecology

4. Ambiguities of Animal Rights

5. Blood and Soil Revived? Ecological Politics on the Far Right

"At just under 200 pages, the book’s analytical and political punch far exceeds its size. [...] Staudenmaier rearticulates and updates many of the core themes that make social ecology distinct, especially the insight that concepts like ecology, just as much as anticapitalism and antistatism, are not automatically emancipatory but also available for right-wing interpretations."

— Blair Taylor in a review on the ISE blog

 

"In recent years, eco-esoteric belief systems such as Anastasianism have formed alliances with the far right, and references to “a natural state of being” are common in the blend of libertarianism, conspiracy theory, and “anti-vax” sentiments that has emerged as a political force during the corona pandemic. [...] We are facing a crucial battle over the direction that environmentalism will be taking. We don’t know how it’s going to play out, but Staudenmaier’s book helps us to be well equipped."

— Gabriel Kuhn in a review on LeftTwoThree

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