The American Environmental Movement: Surviving Through Diversity

This Note examines the transformation of the American environmental movement into a social movement. First, it provides a history of the American environmental movement. The environmental movement is traced from its origins as an upperclass movement with a wilderness-centered ideology, to its transformation into a richer more diverse membership and an ideology inclusive of the urban environment. Next, the theoretical underpinnings of the environmental movement in social movement theory are highlighted. Finally, the question of whether grassroots environmental groups should protest or litigate, and how the legal system can be strategically used by grassroots environmental groups, is examined.