Promoting Ecological Citizenship: Rights, Duties and Political Agency

Citizenship has been a hot topic of debate within the green literature since the 1990s. Concepts like ecological and environmental citizenship capture the linkage between green politics and theories of citizenship. Although a significant number of contributions to the meaning of ecological/environmental citizenship have been made, their practical implications remain under-theorized. With the purpose of addressing this gap, my paper explores the conditions necessary for ecological citizenship to flourish. Two main trends are highlighted and analyzed, namely, the rights approach and the personal duty approach. I explain why I find these two tendencies problematic, and contend that a third approach is needed, one that transcends the individual. Finally, I turn to the issue of political agency. After considering the role of the state and the green state in transforming citizenship, I conclude by claiming that a civil society perspective must be introduced when thinking about the promotion of ecological citizenship.