Let us now turn to the music
of the environment, something many would argue is also linked to the globalisation of Capitalism, and to the growth of a new politics - or ideology - called 'Environmentalism'. Like class and human rights, in the 21st century, the protection of the environment has become a major theme in much Western Pop music. |
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the evidence of the effects of radiation contaminating the environment for years, and also after the prolonged US and French nuclear testing in the Pacific in the 1950s, the global community realised that the environment was a finite and fragile thing. It had to be protected, at least from the damages of nuclear weapons and nuclear waste. However, as we know, for awhile that was about the extent of such concern. Little was known and little was done about human induced pollution and its devastating consequences for the planet. |
Bob Dylan - Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
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But at the same time, human beings, in all
parts of the world, most particularly in the industrialized West, have demanded higher standards of living and greater affluence, which can only be achieved by using greater quantities of the earth’s resources. The result of this is that it is now apparent the natural resources available on the planet to feed, sustain and satisfy its human population are running out and in some cases are close to exhaustion. |
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad term which has now emerged mainstream. It has been used since the 1950s to refer to a range of ideas and theories, characterized by the central belief that human life can only be understood in the context of the natural world. Environmentalism covers a broad range of theories, scientific, religious, economic and political, rather than a particular set of policies, such as those endorsed by the contemporary Green movement. However, the term `environmentalism’ has the disadvantage that it is sometimes used to refer to a moderate or reformist approach to the environment which responds to environmental crises without fundamentally questioning conventional assumptions about the natural world. |
Earth First - The Politics of Radical Environmentalism
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Environmentalism In The Early 21st Century The growth of environmentalism as an ideology in the late 20th Century was provoked by the relentless progress of industrialization and urbanization. Also, environmental concerns became more acute and radical because of fears that economic growth threatens to endanger the survival of the human race and the very planet it lives on. |
Greenpeace
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Friends Of The Earth - The Big Ask
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Hedgehoppers Anonymous - Its Good News Week
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In the case of Midnight Oil, we have a band which effectively combined environmental issues with exploitation of workers in much of their songs. |
Midnight Oil - River Runs Red
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Enya - In Memory of Trees
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Ken Davis - Rainforest
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Fleetwood Mac - Albatross
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Icehouse - Great Southern Land
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