ECOLOGICAL NATIONALISM

I. What is eco-nationalism?

• Eco-nationalism (also known as ecological nationalism or green nationalism) is a combination of nationalism and green politics. Environmental nationalists come from all walks of life, all of whom are bound by the idea that nation-states and citizens have a special obligation to protect the environment.
• According to Jane Dawson, eco-nationalism is the emergence of social movements that closely connect environmental issues with nationalist concerns. Dawson also conjectured that eco-nationalism is “a synthesis of environmentalism, national identity, and the struggle for justice”.
• History professors K. Sivaramakrishnan and Gunnel Cederlöf have defined eco-nationalism, whether indigenous or international in nature, as “when the state appropriates environmental and environmental policies as forms national pride, thus strengthening and legitimizing the nation.

II. The relationship between eco-nationalism and others

• Eco-nationalism versus civic eco-nationalism: Nationalism believes that the nation-state should be built primarily around a single people, while civic nationalism believes that the nation-state should be built around a diversity of people, all of whom share the same values, beliefs, and culture.

• Bio-Regionalism: Bioregionalism is the belief that political, cultural, and economic systems are more environmentally sustainable only if they are organized around naturally defined areas known as bioregions. The idea that a country should conform to the physical geography of the land is compatible with the older nationalist concept of natural borders, which also believes that physical geography should define a country’s borders. Because of the compatibility of these two ideas, Bio-Regionalism is often a tenet of eco-nationalist thought.

• Ecotourism and cultural eco-nationalism: Eco-nationalism can manifest in ecotourism, which can enrich the local economy but has drawn criticism from a variety of perspectives.

III. Countries where eco-nationalism exists in the world

Eco-nationalism exists in a number of countries around the world, such as:

+ In Africa: Nigeria.

+ In Asia: India and Taiwan.

+ In Europe: Baltic states and Ukraine, Scotland, Spain, France, Hungary, and Russia.

+ In Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

[References]

1. Dawson, Jane (June 2000). “The Two Faces of Environmental Justice: Lessons from the Eco-nationalist Phenomenon”. Environmental Politics. 9 (2): 22–60. doi:10.1080/09644010008414523. S2CID 144853362. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
2. Solberg, Erik (2008). “Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihoods, and Identities in South Asia. Edited by Gunnel Cederlof and Kalayanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan”. Environmental History. 31 (1): 187–188. doi:10.1093/envhis/13.1.187. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
3. Ginn, Franklin (2008). “Extension, Subversion, Containment: Eco-Nationalism and (Post) Colonial Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand”. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 33 (3): 335–353. doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2008.00307.x. JSTOR 30131222.