by Randy Le
The sustainability movement exemplifies the reformative social movement type: a social movement aimed at creating a specific and limited change in a social structure. In the case of the sustainability movement, the movement hopes to protect the environment and align the current human generation with the needs of future generations. These goals are targeted at the entire population; however, the impacts and strategies displayed only cause a change in how the political system handles environmental issues, not the entire system. This can be seen through the movement’s advocating of specific ecological laws and/or policies. Overall, the sustainability movement is broad in its definition, meaning that the movement targets change in any situation where the environment can be protected.
In the 19th century, the public became more concerned about the environment due to the advancements from the Industrial revolution. Oil and coal were used heavily which led to pollution, disease, and other detrimental harms to the environment. As concerns grew larger, the sustainability movement began to take form. People expressed discontent with the current social conditions since there was little emphasis on protecting the environment and its people. In the movement’s early stages, discontent was shown through unorganized actions. Many brought concerns to the longevity of humanity and the number of resources the earth holds. Soon enough, in the late 1950s, leaders began to emerge, and communities demanded there be measures taken to minimize the impacts of air and water pollution. At this time, the movement moved towards the coalescence stage where individual action turned into collective action. Many campaigns were launched such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act in the 1970s. This continued to the point where the movement no longer needed member participation as the movement became an established organization.
Today, the sustainability movement has declined through being established with the mainstream. This means the movement’s goals and ideas have been integrated into society. Thus, the sustainability movement achieved its goals and will impact the perception of the environment for upcoming generations. Although the sustainability movement may have achieved its goal of raising awareness for the environment, smaller yet more focused social campaigns have been created to specialize on other issues like climate change. In addition, many corporations and government operations have turned their attention to how their actions may affect the environment. Some corporations and politicians have even used sustainability and environmentalism to attract people to their ideas or services. All in all, the sustainability movement technically has not entirely succeeded but has created a substantial impact that puts the environment in the conversation of future radical decisions by establishing with the mainstream.