Green ideology: A discursive reading

Abstract How is Green ideology structured? What differentiates it from other ideologies that include ‘Green’ components? Does it really constitute a new ideological articulation or not? These are some of the still unresolved questions that this article attempts to explore. A discursive theory of ideology, based on the innovative work of Jacques Lacan as well as on a plurality of other theoretical insights on ideology (here the work of theorists such as Žižek, Laclau and Moujfe, Freeden, and Lefort is of great importance) provides the tools necessary in order to articulate some plausible answers to these and to many more relevant questions. Green ideology, I shall argue, is a new articulation of pre‐existing ideological elements. It is new in the sense that it is articulated around a new, distinct nodal point (or family of nodal points). The establishment of this nodal point gives a new meaning to a series of pre‐existing elements, transforming them into moments of Green ideology. This essay also examines the nature of this nodal point and the consequences of its operation on the stability of Green ideology.