Civil society movements and NGOs in changing societies

Social movements and civil society organizations have played and continue playing a crucial role in environmental politics. They function as a way for citizens to actively participate in environmental policy-making. Moreover, they were successful not only in shaping agendas, but also essentially contributed to an institutionalization of environmental politics, e.g. by forming the basis for the development of green and environmental parties. The paper gives an overview of movements’ and civil society organizations’ roots and developments in the area of environmental politics, and it examines the relation of their actions to broader considerations of individual and collective action in the context of sustainable development. It discusses their repertoires of action, internal organization, networks of activism, and the different kinds of impact the movements and NGOs have. Furthermore, it ties this in with a discussion of how the most recent wave of environmental and climate activism comes with both strengthened ties to, and de-alignment from, political representatives and policy-making. Through the observation of a range of empirical cases, the paper illustrates the development and differentiation of environmental activism in the current and ongoing wave of civic participation and protest. Stemming from this, the contribution ends with a reflection of the roles for environmental NGOs and movements in a time of an ever-more pressing climate crisis and mounting challenges to citizens’ faith in the power of traditional politics and policy-making processes.