ABSTRACT
The ecological movement in western Europe is a child of the cumulative postindustrial crisis which has settled on the continent over decades. This chapter explains the patterns or indices of political behaviour at work across the spectrum of Green party politics in western Europe. The success of Green parties in building a base in national politics across the continent has been impressive but it raises more questions than it resolves. Green parties reflecting a spectrum of ideological persuasions from individual libertarianism to a form of radical reformism bordering on socialism have undoubtedly made an impact on the recent electoral politics of western Europe. Radical political movements operating on the margins of established polities and challenging their stewardship as resource managers and their legitimacy as guardians of the public interest are by no means a new phenomenon of western European politics. There are distinct analytical and empirical differences between the earlier expressions of protest movement, and the mode of 'alternative' politics.
