PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS
European Social Forum. Not surprisingly, we have seen similar processes in
theinternational arena as have occurred at the domestic level, with estab-
lishment NGOs expressing criticisms of the confrontational tactics of the
direct action protesters as counter-productive, whilst the latter see the mod-
erate tactics of the former as an ineffective ‘sell-out’. Others, notably Friends
of the Earth, which in the UK has made great efforts to adopt a transna-
tional global justice agenda (Rootes 2005 ), prefer to see these differences as a
creative tension, which will help propel issues onto the public agenda. How-
ever, whilst many environmental activists have thrown themselves whole-
heartedly into the GJM, it is noticeable that, beyond the inclusion of some
green rhetoric, the GJM has not given priority to environmental issues. Many
of the biggest anti-globalisation events, such as the Prague demonstration
against the IMF/World Bank in 2001, have had little direct environmental
input. One reason may be the important role within the direct action anti-
globalisation movement of left-wing activists, who have a wider political
agenda and perhaps retain lingering suspicions of environmentalism. The
growing significance within the GJM agenda of climate change, an explicitly
environmental issue but one with profound social justice implications, may
rectify this imbalance against the environment.Critical question 4
Is the global justice movement an effective defender of the environment?◗ The impact of the environmental movement
The environmental movement has clearly become an important political
actor in most advanced industrial liberal democracies, but it is very diffi-
cult to measure its overall impact, or to draw any firm conclusions about the
relative effectiveness of conventional and unconventional strategies. It may
be possible to assess the impact of an action in specific cases, such as the
Greenpeace Brent Spar campaign, but how can the influence of the broader
Greenpeace campaign for climate change prevention be measured? At best,
wemay only be able to make generalised, unquantifiable assessments. This
section offers a tentative step in this direction by applying a framework that
distinguishes five kinds of impact: individual identity, sensitising, procedu-
ral, structural and substantive (see Table6.4).
One direct political aim of collective action is to raise the ecological
consciousness of activists (who might then convert others to the cause).
One yardstick is thus whether involvement in environmental groups affects
individual politicalidentity. This kind of politicisation is most likely in
activist grassroots groups where individuals engage personally in a collective
struggle. Involvement in those ecological social movements located in the
counter-cultural milieu, such as Earth First!, is likely to provide a particularly
powerful political experience, as illustrated by the anti-roads eco-protesters.