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of 'ecopolitics' - the fusion of politics with environmentalism (see, for exam-
ple, Doyle & McEachern, 1998) - rapidly gave rise to the formation of protest
groups which coalesced into an influential environmental movement, capa-
ble of expressing its advocacy for political and social re-orientation in an
'emotive and morally engaged way' (Hughes, 1996).
Thus, the broad environmental movement embraces a variety of fre-
quently competing political philosophies. For example, social ecology,
which espouses collective human control over nature, albeit at the local com-
munity as opposed to state level, directly opposes deep ecology which pic-
tures an equitable, interconnected ecosystem where no one species is
dominant. Conversely, 'eco-feminism' locates gender in the environmental
arena, contending that the subordination of women and environmental
degradation are linked (see Mellor, 1997). Nevertheless, these political
movements have come together within a 'new social movement', manifest
in such socio-environmental organisations as Greenpeace and Friends of
the Earth. Their influence over single-issue environmental campaigns -
most notably in respect to nuclear power, stratospheric ozone depletion
and global warming - has transformed the political scene (Mowforth &
Munt, 2009).
This politicisation of environmentalism is also, of course, evident in tour-
ism. Generally, calls for more appropriate forms of tourism development have
as much, if not more, to do with social equity as they do with environmen-
tal concerns, whilst specific campaigns, such as Tourism Concern's Burma
Campaign which, during the late 1990s, fought against the publication of
tourist guide books to that country, are overtly political. However, the
important point here is that, collectively, the environmental movement has
continued to gain momentum. Not only is it fuelled by over $450 million in
grants and a variety of private sources of income (Chase, 1995), but also
green politics gained prominence in the 1990s, particularly through such
channels as the red-green coalition in Germany. By the end of the decade,
the environmental ministries in many European countries were led by 'green
politicians' (Bowcott et al. , 1999). However, their influence has arguably
diminished during the first decade of the new millennium, particularly since
the global financial crisis of 2007.
Nevertheless, as noted by Eckersley (1992: 7), 'the environmental crisis
and popular environmental concern . . . prompted a considerable transforma-
tion in Western politics over the last three decades'. Moreover, 'whatever the
outcome of this realignment of Western politics, the intractable nature of
environmental problems will ensure that environmental politics . . . is here to
stay' (Eckersley, 1992: 7). It is against this background of growing environ-
mental consciousness and the evolution of 'ecopolitics' that the notion of
sustainable development has come to permeate development policy and
planning, not least within the realm of tourism. The following section
briefly reviews its emergence in mainstream development policy.