Populism och ekopoliotik. Sammanfattning

Stockholm Studies in Politics 12


POPULISM OCH EKOPOLITIK

Framväxten av en ekopolitisk ideologi i Norge
och dess relationer till ett mångtydigt populismbegrepp



Summary




In the end of the 1960's the word ”populism” began to be used in Norway
as a broad designation for a policy of prevention of further depopulation
of the countryside and coastal areas and for the stimulation of development
in the existing local communities. As time went on, the term even began to
include political ideas concerned with structural and environmental ques-
tions in a considerably wider perspective. From an ecological perspective.
the solution to democratic, resource-related, allocational, and environ-
mental issues is seen in terms of a system structured in the self-suffici-
ent and, to a high degree, self-governing local communities. For this
reason, and others, the designation was changed to ecopolitics,


The purpose of the investigation is to analyze how Norwegian populism de-
veloped into an ecopolitics, if this ecopolitics can be said to be a spe-
cial political ideology, and how it compares to other populistic movements
within the Nordic region and to those movements outside this region

The dissertation consists of three parts. In the first part, which comp-
rises chapters 1-5, the development and prevalence of the populistic and
ecopolitical ideas in Norway is described along with a discussion of the
relationship of these ideas to the so-called protest parties. In the second
section, comprising chapters 6-8, an account is given of the use of the
populism concept in non-Nordic countries. An analysis of the American de-
bate on populism is discussed along with the attempts made at defining the
concept.



In the third part, which is solely comprised of chapter 9, the
relation of Norwegian populism and ecopolitics to populism in non-Nordic
countries is analyzed. Chapter 10 comprises the summary

The analytical model used in this dissertation is based on the following
definition of a political ideology: it is a degree of conviction embraced
by a large social group which retains central values and concepts of rea-
lity that co-vary and perform political functions and contain action-re-
lated political thoughts.


In the investigation into the ideas of the Norwegian populists and eco-
politicians, an ideal model, aiming at a high degree of consistency prin-
cipally between goals and means/strategies, has been constructed on the
basis of individual theoretical works. The relationship between goals and
means is seen as two-dimensional. The horizontal axis indicated the pos-
sible means/strategies ranked in degrees of ris ing efficiency from right
to left – from stopping the depopulation of local communities in sparsely-
settled areas to nationalization. The vertical axis indicated the goals
ranked from a higher degree of specificity to a high degree of universa-
lity – from stimulation of the economic development in the existing local
communities to ecological balance.

The ideal model is used in the analysis of the prevalence of the populis-
tic/ecopolitical ideas in both those movements which label themselves as
opulistic/ecopolitical and in those which are externally perceived as em-
racing populistic/ecopolitical ideas. The ideal model has even been relä-
ted to the so-called protest parties of the Nordic countries. The basis for
these analyses has primarily been the platforms of the respective movements.


The investigation shows that the populistic/ecopolitical ideal model is
strongly established in a number of parties, youth associations, and groups
even though variations, from an emphasis on the section of the ideal mo-
del concerned with the original populistic – depopulation-centered – parts
to a stronger emphasis of the ecopolitical perspective, exist. Pronounced
differences also exist in the specificity of goal and means/strategies.








Irregardless of the basis, the local community idea is, nevertheless, an
idea which is acceptable to all movements which are clearly populistically/
ecopolitically-oriented. Those movements which begin from a limited view of
populism see the local community as a possible means for safeguarding and
further developing the sparsely-settled areas of the country. Those move-
ments which attack great importance to the conditions for developing a
good social environment where people can learn to know each other in dif-
erent rolls and Iives in a secure relationship to their surroundings also
come to the conclusion that the local community is a necessary prerequi-
site. This also applies for those movements which attach great importance
to the democratic aspects or emphasize the ecological, economics of resource.
or allocation-related issues,


One conclusion from this part of the investigation is that the ecopolitical/
populistic ideas, which are constructed in the ideal model, are quite pre-
valent in established parties and unaligned organizations. With regards
to both the content and prevalence of the ideas, it seems correct to state
that a populistic/ecopolitical ideology exists in Norway. For the remain-
der of the text, this ideology will be termed ecopolitical

Another conclusion is that the so-called protest parties, which are occa-
tionally termed populistic, express ideas which greatly diverge from the
ideal model. The progressive parties in Denmark and Norway can be prima-
rily characterized as ultra-liberal. The Finnish Rural Party comes closer
to the ideal model in that the party attaches great importance to the si-
tuation of the small farmer and demands development of the rural sector.
the demands, however, are not part of a unified ideology and, should
therefore be designated as exclusively class-based.

The second part of the investigation deals with populism in non-Nordic
countries. This part shows that, on the whole, two parties or movements
have existed which termed themselves to be populistic but,which, never-
theless, represent different ideologies. One type is represented by the
Russian Narodniks who aimed at building a decentralized socialist society
through preservation of Russian ”mir”. They did not accept the Marxist
position concerning the development of a socialist state only after capi-
talism had reached its highest stage. Instead, they believed that a unique
historical possibility to pass directly from the feudal Society into the
socialist was present in Russia.




This would facilitate the creation of a system of production with a minimal
division of labor and specialization which was precisely what the Narodniks
wanted to achieve.

Historically speaking, the Narodniks can be classified into three groups:
the pre-populistic revolutionary movements of the 1860's, the fully deve-
loped revolutionary populistic movements of the 1870's and 1880's, and the
liberal or legal populists of the 1880's and 1890's. With regard to the
strategy adopted, the Narodniks can also be divided into three groups:
those who tried to achieve a social revolution, those who worked for a po-
litical revolution, and those who strived for a democratic development,

Another type is represented by the American populists of the 1880's. They
were non-socialistic in orientation and worked to improve the conditions
of the farmers and workers without advocating any sweeping change in the
American social system. They did, however, challenge the established par-
ties and economic power-holders by demanding electoral reforms, stimula-
ion of the economy to help cure the depression, and nationalization of
various enterprises including the railroads and postal service. Another group of movements and parties are those which are judged to be
populistic by various observers. Large similarities between African soci-
alism, Gandhiism, the Mexican rural populism, Maoism and the Russian po-
pulistic ideas are indicated in the investigation. CCF in Saskatchewan,
likewise, is similar in many ways to the Populistic Party.

The Latin American ”populism”, especially those movements in Argentina
and Brazil, is not so similar to the two main types. In these cases, the
term populism was probably chosen either because the movements are not
lass-based and, thus, according to a Marxist perspective, are populistic
because they are seen as typical mäss phenomena, as determined by Ame-
rican theories of mass society. During the 1950's, the term populism was
defined by its adherents representing a pluralistic point of view. It is
perceived that, in a democratic and pluralistic society, all interests can
channelled through intermediary organizations. These interests are, in
turn, considered by political elites who are popularly elected. A stable
democratic system views all new movements with suspicion since they
are not seen as being rationally motivated. This movements were termed po-
pulistic.

This new use of the term populism lead to a reevaluation of the Populist







Party. It was questioned whether the party was based on a realistic con-
ception of the world or whether the campaign was not just nutured by em-
tional motivations. Research, inspired by the reevaluation of the Populist
Pdirty and the insuing debate, showed that theories of the origin of mäss
movements, which are based on explanations such as the loss of status or
other psychological models of explanation, are not helpful in explaining
the populist movement. It was primarily a rational response of the rural
population to a difficult economic situation and was, in many cases, sup-
cratic, demagogic tactic which later functioned as a model for action
for politicians of various political colors. This tactic became the de-
cisive criterium for calling them populists.

The concept of populism had now become so ambiguous that it began to be
unusable. An attempt to correct this situation was made at a conference
on populism that was held in London in 1967. The desire for a definition
acceptable to the conference participants lead to the rejection of the
pluralist interpretation. The adopted definition can, nevertheless, be
considered too general to be applicable.

The investigation shows that the concept of populism is principally used
in six different ways. The American and Russian populists, naturally, have
helped define the term. The term also denotes a particular kind of tactic.
Certain cases it has, as in East Europe, been association with various
kinds of farmer parties. The American pluralists have let the term designate
ill kinds of mass movements which are outside the realm of the established
political parties. Lenin's ultimate characterization of populism considered
it to be an idealistic petty bourgeois ideology which denied the neces-
city of capitalistic development, believed that the Russian system to be
specifially distinct from other systems, and which also believed the Russian
such characteristics as the farmers and their village communities, coope-
ratives etc. This definition has subsequently developed into a definition
purely based on class analysis. Populism, thereby, is considered to re-
present a number of varying ideological positions which all aim at safe-
guarding the position of the small producer. Consequently, populism should
not be used as a concept which is generally agreed upon.







In the third part of the dissertation, which offers a comparison between
Norwegian populism and ecopolitics and populism in non-Nordic countries,
is shown that common features exist primarily between ecopolitics and the Russian version of populism. One basic similarity is that both agree
on the importance of the small local community with respect to a demo-
cratic and humanistic point of view. From an idealistic social perspective,
the Russian populists wanted to achieve a direct transformation to the so-
cialist state from the feudal society. From a similar perspective, the
ecopoliticians want to choose a balanced society which is restrictive in
the use of resources and which is built upon self-sufficient and relative-
y self-governing local communities. Furthermore, both see such a strategy
as essential for the attainment of national independence which is deemed
necessary for the faciliation of economic policies differing from the
economic policies of the surrounding areas. The local communities, as seen
from a democratic perspective, also represent the best possibility for
the exercise of democratic influence which, according to both movements.
is extremely important,

This chapter also mentions that the so-called protest parties
can be termed populistic on the basis of both the pluralistic definition
and by their choice of tactic. None of the parties are populistic accor-
ding to Lenin's original definition, but, according to the general version
wich later won sympathy among the Marxists, the parties would be termed
populistic,

Finally, the ecopoliticians, as well as the populists, can hardly be
placed on a left-right continium with any high degree of precision. The
choice of strategy varies between different groups and, thus, both socia-
listic and non-socialistic movements can be characterized as having an
ecopolitical ideology

















Given this consideration, it seems apparent that any comparison of the
ecopolitical and traditional parties ought to utilize a two-dimentional
model in which the parties can be characterized by both their respec-
tive positions on left-right continuum and by their respective affinity
to the ecopolitical goals. Such a model can function, for example, as a
suitable basis for analysis of the possibility of coalition formation for
the ecopolitical parties with other parties and even for analysis of
diversity of opinion within the political parties.The last as-
pect should be given a great amount of attention since the future party
situation will probably, to a high degree, be decided by how successful
political parties are in handling the politically explosive issues which
are inherent in ecopolitical thought.