In Nature and the Iron Curtain, the authors contrast communist and capitalist countries with respect to their environmental politics in the context of the Cold War. Its chapters draw from archives across Europe and the U.S. to present new perspectives on the origins and evolution of modern environmentalism on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The book explores similarities and differences among several nations with different economies and political systems, and highlights connections between environmental movements in Eastern and Western Europe. “At the edge of yet another apocalypse, in the midst of wars, political turbulence, and ecological crisis, Astrid Mignon Kirchhof and J.R. McNeill bring us back to another time of great anxiety for the future of the planet. Through a compelling exploration of the two sides of the Iron Curtain, with a unique richness of first-hand research, Kirchhof and McNeill show the divergent and convergent paths of environmentalism and its intertwinement with national stories and global trends. The result is a unique history book which offers original insights into the Cold War but, hopefully, it will also tell us something about our (possible) futures.”—Marco Armiero, Director of the Environmental Humanities Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Author(s): Astrid Mignon Kirchhof, J. R. McNeill
Publisher: University Of Pittsburgh Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 321
Tags: Russian History, World History, Environmental Science, Environmental Policy, Social Movements
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 8
Introduction. Environmentalism, Environmental Policy, Capitalism, and Communism / Astrid Mignon Kirchhof and J. R. McNeill......Page 12
PART I. Communist and Capitalist Systems Revisited: A Comparison of Their Environmental Politics......Page 24
1. Building a Soviet Eco-Power while Looking at the Capitalist World: The Rise of Technocratic Environmentalism in Russian Water Controversies, 1957–1989 / Laurent Coumel......Page 26
2. Water Pollution and Protection in the Lithuanian Soviet Republic / Anolda Cetkauskaite and Simo Laakkonen......Page 45
3. The Fallout of Chernobyl: The Emergence of an Environmental Movement in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic / Tetiana Perga......Page 64
4. Keeping the Air Clean?: Environmental Policy, Utility Companies, and Social Movements in West Germany since the 1970s / Hendrik Ehrhardt......Page 82
5. From Anti-Nuke to Ökopax: 1970s Anti-Reactor Activism and the Emergence of West Germany's Mass Movement for Peace / Stephen Milder......Page 96
6. An Unguided Boom: Environmental Policies of Cold War Italy / Wilko Graf von Hardenberg......Page 111
7. Nuclear-Free Montana: Grassroots Environmentalism and Montana's Antinuclear Initiatives / Brian James Leech......Page 125
PART II. The Porous Iron Curtain......Page 144
8. Building a Socialist Environment: Czechoslovak Environmental Policy from the 1960s to the 1980s / Eagle Glassheim......Page 146
9. Protesting Pollution: Environmental Activism in East Germany and Poland, 1980–1990 / Julia E. Ault......Page 160
10. About Environmental Policy in Socialist Yugoslavia / Hrvoje Petrić......Page 178
11. "It Makes No Sense to Work against Nature": Cold War Modernization in West German Agriculture / Scott Moranda......Page 192
PART III. Environmentalism and Détente?......Page 212
12. An American Miracle in the Desert: Environmental Crisis and Nuclear-Powered Desalination in the Middle East / Jacob Darwin Hamblin......Page 214
13. East Germany's Fight for Recognition as a Sovereign State: Environmental Diplomacy as Strategy in Cold War Politics / Astrid Mignon Kirchhof......Page 228
Notes......Page 242
Contributors......Page 308
Index......Page 312
