The New Zealand Environmental Movement and the Politics of Inclusion

Abstract

Engagement with the state has rarely been a comfortable association for environmental movement groups. As Dryzek (1996) illustrates, the conditions for the benign inclusion of environmental and other social movement groups are quite complex, usually requiring not just an intersection between movement and state aspirations but also the continued presence of movement groups in civil society as a democratic counterweight to state power. New Zealand's environmental movement, after a decade of relative political obscurity, may once again be presented with opportunities for political inclusion following the election of a LabourAlliance coalition and seven Green Party representatives in late 1999. This article reflects on the New Zealand environmental movement's past engagement with the state in the light of Dryzek's criteria for benign political inclusion, highlighting the extent of the challenge presented to groups in the movement and the opportunities for future reconciliation with the state.