Expanding the green public sphere: Post-colonial connections

Abstract

With the emergence of many environmentalisms, the terms of discourse in the green public sphere are changing, particularly now to take account of international, transnational and global contexts. As it expands in scope, the green public sphere encounters a planet divided not only in regard to rich and poor countries, but also in relation to the legacy of colonialism. Examining the practical tendencies and theoretical prospects of green politics that have arisen in the context of post-colonial connections, the article questions the goal of a unified, consensual movement. Green politics appears as an inescapably divided politics, rife with differences and conflicts. Despite such divisions, however, there remains a significant source of connection in the form of practical and theoretical challenges to convictions that, long guiding industrialism and colonialism, continue to exert substantial influence – an opposition, that is, to the tenets that nature is to be dominated and the earth, conquered.