The Light-Green Society: Ecology and Technological Modernity in France, 1960-2000 - Hardcover

"[Bess] provides a novel paradigm through which historians can consider the evolution of environmental policies in France and other industrial countries. . . . One of the few English-language histories on the French environmental movement. As such, it is a must read."--W. Brian Newsome "Canadian Journal of History " "This is an exciting and original examination of the knotty history of environmentalism and how it has permeated every aspect of French political and cultural life. . . . Bess's style is engaging and conversational. This is a tour de force of environmental history. . . . An outstanding scholarly contribution to the relationship between technology, culture, and the green environment."--Rosemary Wakeman "Technology & Society " "A much-needed environmental history of France during the late twentieth century, this book covers the growth of the country's environmentalist organizations, as well as their effects on French consumers and policy-makers. . . . The best kind of social history."--Edwar Ousselin "French Review " "Bess's philosophical training gives this perennial interrogation a rather Pascalian turn, offering a none-too threatening wager--this light-green France may well represent the shape of things to come."--Pierre Claude Reynard "Journal of Social History " "Through its hitorical subject and methodology, The Light-Green Society demonstrates how nature and technology are critical to understanding the politics, culture, and society of modern France."--Sara B. Pritchard "French Politics, Culture & Society " "This is a very readable academic work. The author places happenings in France in a broader context of environmentalism in general. . . . Even those with a cursory knowledge of modern French history will find this not to be a huge handicap." --Christine Taft "E-Streams " "Bess's well-researched, elegantly written book should help put France back on the environmentalists' map. Bess documents how the French have made strides in improving environmental quality. . . . More interestingly, he argues that their humanistic traditions provide conceptual resources for an attractive, generally applicable model of responsible environmental management. . . . Future historians will want to turn to Bess's fine account of France's environmental choices to understand what went wrong--or right." --Kerry H. Whiteside "Environmental Values "

Bess traces the technological transformations that shook post-war France, and shows how they led, in turn, to the rise of environmentalist ideas. As technological modernity merged with environmentalism, he contends, the boundaries between nature and society became profoundly blurred.