Utan folkmakt, ingen framtid: En ideologianalytisk studie av Hans Palmstiernas miljöpolitiska texter

Sammanfattning: Hans Palmstierna was a biochemist and writer on environmental issues who became the foremost public voice of the early environmental movement in Sweden during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The books he authored warning of escalating environmental concerns became bestsellers, and he wrote a large number of articles on matters of scientific progress, energy politics and pollution in Swedish newspapers from 1965 until his death in 1975. He was closely tied to the social democratic party, who recruited him to help draft their first environmental political manifests. On many issues, however, he contradicted the ideas of the establishment with great vehemence. This thesis examines the ideological dimensions of Palmstierna’s texts on environmental issues. By identifying the underlying political ideas that shaped and guided Palmstierna’s political thought, and by relating them to the green ideological family, the distinctive character of his political activism is illuminated. Furthermore, by relating his ideological character to that of the early Swedish environmental movement and the social democratic party, this study analyses the temporally and nationally specific character of his role as a translator of scientific discourse to the general public.