The Left Libertarianism Of The Greens

This book offers a systematic and multifaceted analysis of the Greens on the levels of political philosophy, political concepts, social movement, political parties, and political ideology. The originality of the book lies in the determination of the political philosophy of the Greens as left libertarianism. Such a determination of the Greens can already be found in the writings of Herbert Kitschelt, but while he only makes a cursory mention of it, this book offers a detailed elaboration of the points of contact between left-libertarianism and the Greens. The book also attempts to explain the acceptance of left-libertarianism by the Greens with social processes in Western Europe, the emergence of a new middle class and post-materialist values. At the same time, the book examines the relationship between the left-libertarian political philosophy of the Greens and the organizational structure of the Green parties, their relationship to the state, and to democracy. Contents 5 List of Tables 9 Chapter 1: Introductory Remarks About the Greens 10 1.1 Introduction 10 1.2 The Organizational Structure of the Book 17 1.3 The Difference Between Environmentalism, Ecologism, and the Greens 21 1.4 A Brief Prehistory of the Development of Green Political Thought 26 1.5 Greens and Modernization 30 1.6 Greens and Industrialism 32 1.7 Greens and Science 37 References 40 Chapter 2: Environment Protection in a Left-Libertarian Political Philosophy 42 2.1 Introduction 42 2.2 Protection of the Environment Through Respect for the Right to Property 48 2.3 The Principle of Non-Aggression and the Protection of Nature 53 2.3.1 Application of the Principle of Non-Violence in Green Politics 55 2.4 Extreme Variants of the Libertarian Conception of Nature Protection 56 2.5 The Libertarian Explanation of the Way Nature Works 57 2.6 Environmental Protection and Eco Balance 59 2.7 The Attitude Toward the State 60 2.8 Differences Between Welfare State and Green State 63 2.9 Bioregionalism 66 References 70 Chapter 3: Green Political Thought 73 3.1 Introduction 73 3.2 Return to Nature 74 3.3 Human Nature 76 3.4 Environmental Justice 77 3.5 Green Ethics 81 3.6 Sustainability 83 3.6.1 Areas of Sustainable Development 85 3.6.2 Sustainability of Economic Growth 86 3.6.3 Limitation of Economic Growth 88 3.7 Green Citizenship 91 3.7.1 Green Citizenship in Practice 93 3.7.2 Green Citizenship and Cosmopolitanism 94 3.8 The Attitude Toward Animals 95 3.8.1 Peter Signer’s Utilitarianism 96 3.8.2 Tom Regan’s Animal Rights Theory 97 3.8.3 Animal Rights Protection Policies 98 References 99 Chapter 4: The Greens as a Social Movement 102 4.1 Introduction 102 4.2 The Evolutionary Development of the Environmentalist Movement 107 4.3 Basic Characteristics of the Environmental Movement 112 4.4 Environmentalism and New Social Movements 115 4.5 Environmentalism Today 122 4.6 The Social Basis of Environmentalism 123 4.7 The Demographic Characteristics of the Environmentalist Movement 127 4.8 The Difference Between Movements and Parties (Why Movements Grew into Parties) 128 References 130 Chapter 5: The Green Parties 133 5.1 Introduction 133 5.2 The Reason for the Emergence of the Green Parties (New Social Cleavages, Emancipatory, and Post-Materialist Values, Crisis of Established Political Parties) 136 5.2.1 Hierarchy of Needs 138 5.2.2 Reasons for the Change in Values 139 5.2.3 The Consequences of Changing Values 140 5.2.4 Critical Reviews of Post-Materialist Values 142 5.3 New Conflicts 143 5.4 Issues Politics 146 5.5 The Organizational Structure of the Green Parties 150 5.6 The Social Structure of the Green Parties 155 5.7 The Policies of the Green Parties 156 References 164 Chapter 6: The Ideological Orientation of the Green Parties 167 6.1 The Difference Between Ideology and Politics (Is Environmentalism an Ideology or a Policy) 167 6.2 The Ideological Direction of the Green Parties 173 6.3 Theoretical Determination of the Place of the Greens in the Political Spectrum 174 6.4 Neither Left nor Right, but Ahead 175 6.5 The Greens as a New Type of Parties 180 6.6 Concluding Observations Regarding Ideological Orientation of the Green Parties 181 6.7 The Response of the Mainstream Parties to the Emergence of the Green Parties 183 6.8 The Green Parties Family 184 6.8.1 The Greens in the European Parliament 186 References 190 Chapter 7: A Critical Review of the Green Political Ideology 193 7.1 The Greens and Democracy 193 7.2 Why the Greens Do Not Have the Success of the Populists 203 7.3 Criticisms Toward the Greens 207 7.3.1 Intellectual Incoherence 209 7.3.2 Scientific Unreliability 211 7.3.3 Difficulties in the Practicing of Politics 214 References 217 Index 220