Mainstream organizations such as the Sierra Club and
National Wildlife Federation often define the environmental
movement. In Forcing the Spring, writer Robert Gottlieb shows that
alternative groups, such as Mothers of East Los Angeles, are
equally important. These grass-roots groups rely on community
members more than experts, concentrate on changing the social order
rather than negotiating within it, and work on protecting and
empowering people in cities more than conserving or protecting
forests. Gottlieb argues that environmentalism has had two distinct
branches since the early 1900s “- one concerned primarily with the
natural environment, which has traditionally been the most
professional and widely accepted branch, and the other concerned
with the human environment. In Gottlieb’s view, environmentalism
involves both protecting wilderness areas and improving urban
living and working conditions. Forcing the Spring describes the
fascinating lives of environmentalists Bob Marshall, Alice Hamilton
and Rachel Carson and chronicles the development of popular
environmental organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund
and the Natural Toxics Campaign.
Island Press,
Washington, D.C., 1993. $27.50, cloth. 412
pages.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Forcing the spring.
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