Environmental Activism

Abstract

Environmental activism is defined by collective social action that is focused on issues related to the natural environment. Such action can be in support of the protection of environmental goods, such as a coral reef or a virgin forest, or in protest of the distribution of environmental bads, such as toxic waste that is released during industrial processes or the siting of a garbage landfill in a community. Environmental activism can take place at all scales of governance and can target actors at the local, national, or transnational levels. In recent years, environmental activism has increasingly targeted actors at multiple levels simultaneously.