An investigation into the effectiveness of US environmental groups. Using data collated from over 100 such groups, the book shows how critical theory can expand our understanding of the social causes of environmental degradation and the political actions necessary to deal with it.

In this book Robert Brulle draws on a broad range of empirical and theoretical research to investigate the effectiveness of US environmental groups. Brulle shows how Critical Theory - in particular the work of Jurgen Habermas - can expand our understanding of the social causes of environmental degradation and the political actions necessary to deal with it. He then develops both a pragmatic and a moral argument for broad-based democratization of society as a prerequisite to the achievement of ecological sustainability. From the perspective of frame analysis, resource mobilization and historical sociology, using data on more than one hundred environmental groups, Brulle examines the core beliefs, structures, funding and political practices of a wide variety of environmental organizations. He identifies the social processes that foster the development of a democratic environmental movement and those that hinder it. He concludes with suggestions for how environmental groups can make their organizational practices more democratic and politically effective.