In the name of the planet. An analysis from political theory on possible articulations of environmentalism

Abstract

The sustainability of the planet has been occupying political and institutional agendas on a global scale over the last decades. We will analyse, from the perspective of political theory, to what extent it is correct to understand the preservation of the environment as a purely scientific matter that can be dealt with outside of politics. In turn, we will question the capacity of politics to transcend ideologies in major issues such as the climate crisis. Subsequently, we will analyse whether it is possible to conceive of environmentalism as a univocal concept or whether, on the contrary, we are faced with a floating signifier, a concept whose meaning remains in open dispute between different political articulations that struggle to give it a concrete meaning, harmonising it with the whole of their ideological corpus. Thus, for example, ecosocialism, the Green New Deal, neoliberal environmentalism or ecofascism would be some of the different possible political articulations that dispute the meaning of environmentalism in our time.