The Unrealised Potential of Green Politics: a Study of Four Green Parties

Abstract

This thesis describes, analyses and critiques green politics in the late twentieth century. It does this by drawing on the common experiences of four green parties, including the first green party in the world, New Zealand's values party, and three more recent European equivalents. The thesis explores whether or not green parties are as effective as they could be in modern pluralist societies. Chapter 1 discusses the significance of green parties in modern industrial nations, and surveys the existing literature on green politics. Chapter 2 records the recurring themes in the green ideology, including decentralisation, the rejection of modern urban life, and a redefinition of human needs. Chapter 3 to 6 include the data on each of the four parties: New Zealand's Values Party, the Finnish Greens, the German Greens, and the Swedish Greens respectively. The subsequent chapters draw out recurring themes from the experience of all four green parties. Chapter 7 focusses on the green emphasis on decenralisation and the reconstitution of existing power relationships, arguing that this has negative consequences for green parties, both because of the non-hierarchical internal structures which they develop in response to the decentralist imperative, and because of the infatuation with the 'grass-roots' in the external political environment at the expense of an analysis which acknowledges the distribution of power at many different levels of society. Chapter 8 argues that green politics is not as new as it would appear, but represents a continuity of Romantic and ethical concerns, suggesting the possibility of green-socialist alliances around important issues in contemporary society, such as the defence of human rights. Chapter 9 concludes by focussing on green strategies for change, arguing that the frequent foundation of such strategies in hopes of a general cultural transformation are naїve at best, and totalitarian at worst. Concrete suggestions are made as to possible green strategies which respect the plurality of interests in post-modern society. The thesis concludes that unless issues of internal organisation and external strategy are given more realistic attention, the examples of the Values party and, more recently, the German Greens, would suggest that green parties many not realise their fullest potential in advancing green goals in modern societies.