Conservatism, the Far-Right, and the Environment

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Abstract

Sociology operates with an impoverished understanding of conservatism and the natural environment. The discipline’s focus on anti-regulatory and anti-science dimensions of conservative politics obscures a more comprehensive, historically deep, and theoretically rich understanding of conservatism’s connection to nature. We review and integrate sociological research with a large multi-disciplinary global literature on conservative and far-right environmental thought. We discern the formation of an intellectual tradition built around three commitments concerning the moral order of nature and society: (a) Naturalism, (b) Organicism, (c) Pastoralism. We trace their history, before considering several contemporary manifestations, often in ways that are counterintuitive to sociology’s dominant understanding of conservatism. Conservative thought, including its far-right edges, maintains a firm hold on global politics while climate change transforms the planet. To better understand these dynamics, sociology must integrate work from other socio-environmental fields. This review corrects this neglect and charts a path for future research at this increasingly impactful intersection.

Author

• Jesse Callahan Bryant, Yale University