ABSTRACT
This article elaborates on the notion of ecological modernisation as cultural politics [ Hajer, 1996 ] by exploring structural tensions and institutional learning among civic, bureaucratic, and economic actors in Lithuania, from 1957 to the present. More particularly, it tests the eco-modernist claim that a shift has occurred in environmental activism from a grass-roots, radical and conflict orientation in the 1970s and 1980s, to a professional, reform and consensus orientation in the 1990s. The study finds that both types of environmentalism were present in Lithuania throughout the time studied. It suggests that the environmental movement’s critical, grass-roots, nonconformist aspect is likely to remain along with a more professionalised and dialogue-oriented component, even while such manifestations continue to evolve in form.
