Despite many successes in the field of conservation, species extinction rates continue to climb and wild areas and habitats continue to be lost. Many look to more (or better) biology and ecology to solve the problem but the obstacles are not just scientific but political. To stop the 6th great extinction the conservation movement must become much stronger, more tenacious, and more effective. By learning from its own history and especially from the movements that abolished slavery, brought down apartheid, changed gender relations, and expanded democratic rights, conservationists can become more successful.
This book brings together in one place and in a highly usable format the lessons of those movements culled from practitioners and academic analysts.
Acknowledgments.Introduction-Hard Times.Part 1. The Gauntlet: We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us and Them.1. Us.2. Them, Inertia, Resources and Propaganda.3. Them and Power.4. Why We Act-From the Double Helix to World Systems and Sunspots.Part 2. Conservation as if Life Depended on It.5. The Role of Vision.Part 2.A. Forging the Hammer.6. The Centrality of Mobilization to Politics.7. From Vision to Goals.8. From Goals to Strategy: Answering Strategic Questions.9. Who Will Do the Heavy Lifting: Targets of Mobilization.10. Understanding the Targets of Mobilization; and Opponents.11. Messengers and Channels of Mobilization.12. Mobilization and Messages.13. Messages as Story and Symbols.14. Mobilization and Action.15. Overarching Tactical Concerns.16. Monitoring and Evaluation.Part 2.B. Care and Maintenance of the Hammer.17. Organization and Identity.18. Organization, Action and Ritual.19. Organization, Efficacy and Repression.20. The Life Cycle of Organizations.21. The Need for Many Organizations.22. A Final Question.Bibliography.Index.
An activist and teacher, David Johns has co-founded and directed NGOs doing science-based large-scale conservation. He teaches politics and law at Portland State University. David has also been active in a variety campaigns, worked for elected officials, advised government, and published widely on conservation politics.