many Enlightenment thinkers, humans are naturally
good and ethical, so democracy makes the best
regime. This rejects the traditional Judeo-Christian
view that humans are sinful and only good by God’s
spirit.
Enlightenment ideas influenced the DEMOCRATIC
revolutions in Europe and America in the 1700s. They
were carried on by the socialist and communist ideas
of Karl MARX, Friedrich ENGELS, and V. I. LENIN. These
Enlightenment views were criticized by many conser-
vative thinkers (such as Edmund BURKE), the Catholic
Church, and other traditional philosophers. By the
mid-20th century, the failed social revolutions in
France, Russia, and China; two world wars; and the
brutality of fascism challenged the Enlightenment
optimism over the goodness of humans, social
progress, and human reason. POST-MODERNISMis partly
a response to this disappointment with Enlightenment
Modernism, as are revivals of conservative, Christian,
and other pre-Enlightenment ideas.
Further Reading
Hampson, N. The Enlightenment.New York: Pelican, 1968.
environmentalism/environmental
A social and political movement that seeks to pro-
mote laws and policy that protect the natural earth
environment, conserve natural resources and wild-
life, prevent harm from pollution and toxic industrial
wastes, and restore healthy natural living and work-
ing environments in the world. Early environmen-
talists John Muir and Aldo Leopold in the 19th
century emphasized preserving unspoiled natural
environments in the United States through national
parks and preserves. Such approaches to environ-
mentalism continued in the 20th century through
such groups as the Audubon Society and the Sierra
Club. These groups lobby the government to have
legislation passed promoting preservation of nature
areas from commercial development. This led in the
1960s to environmentalists working to regulate busi-
nesses (such as factories, chemical companies, the
automobile industry) that pollute the natural
environ-ment (air, rivers, lakes, oceans, land). The
American Clean Air and Water Act legislated much of
the environmentalist cause. Laws concerning toxic
waste disposal, workers’ environmental safety, animal
population control, and food labeling also emerged
from the environmental movement. Because much of
its focus is on economic sources of environmental
damage, this environmentalist agenda is often seen as
in conflict with business activity and interests.
A recent development in the political thought
of environmentalism is the environmental-justice
movement. Emerging in the 1980s in the United
States, this section of environmentalism blends MARX-
ISM, COMMUNISM, FEMINISM, and racial awareness with
concern for the natural environment. Using Marxist
economic class analysis, it identifies attacks on the
environment with CAPITALISTimperialist exploitation
of workers, the poor, women, people of color, and the
developing world. For example, it argues that most
dangerous toxic waste dumps are placed near African-
American neighborhoods in the United States or near
“people of color” in the developing world (Africa,
Latin America, Asia). So, environmental protection
cannot be accomplished without attacking racism,
sexism, classism, and capitalism. A recent statement
by an environmental group stated: “Environmental
racism is seen by the environmental-justice movement
as an extension of institutional racism in housing,
education, employment, and so on.” In its National
People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in
1991 a statement was issued that included “Environ-
mental justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth,
ecological unity and... the right to be free from eco-
logical destruction.” The radical environmental move-
ment is often very critical of the earlier “white middle
class” environmentalism as mere collaborators with
the business establishment that is exploiting and
destroying Earth and its peoples. So, the environmen-
tal movement is really several different movements
that often disagree with each other as much as with
the polluters.
Activities of environmentalists range from lobbying
the government to peaceful demonstrations and cam-
paigns, to CIVIL DISOBEDIENCEand unlawful blocking of
nuclear power plants, waste sites, etc. Criticized by
some conservatives as fanatical extremists, worshipers
of “Mother Earth” or “tree huggers,” the environmen-
tal movement nevertheless has been effective in influ-
encing U.S. public policy, especially in the DEMOCRATIC
PARTY. Albert Gore has been a prominent representative
of this movement and its concerns.Further Reading
Jagtenberg, Tom. Eco-Impacts and the Greening of Postmodernity:
New Maps for Communication Studies, Cultural Studies, and
Sociology.Berkeley, Calif.: Sage, 1997.environmentalism/environmental 95