Formation: Ecological Roots of a Political Route

Abstract

The 1970s’ ecological awareness triggered anxieties on different levels: global (acid rain, Ozone layers, global warming, extinction of species, environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources), national (planning, construction, pollution), local (forests, rivers, roads), and personal (health, quality of life). Germany’s unique geopolitical and historical condition added a distinct feature to what may be termed the ‘Politics of Angst’ phenomenon. Thus, whereas in the Cold War context, the arms-race escalated and nuclear weapons threatened most countries, Germany, positioned on the front-line between the power blocks, with its special ties to the West, was pressurised to remilitarise.1 This generated a wave of anti-militarism, in addition to anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism and an identification with Third World movements, as part of a general condemnation of material society represented by the USA. At the European level, Germany’s geographical situation divided it between the West and the East, with a potential war between the two factions of the one nation. Many Germans called for a neutral, unified Germany in the tradition of Mitteleuropa. In the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the mounting disillusionment with the political system’s ability to provide existential security, reinforced by the recession following the oil crisis, questioned the system as a whole and gave momentum to the protest movements. The oil crisis manifested the new salience of the natural limits to economic growth.