Dialogue or Deception?

Dialogue or Deception?

This article is by Andy Rowell and is reprinted with permission. It first appeared in 1999 in DELTA #4, the Newsletter of the Ogoni Support Group in Britain

The last few years have seen a significant change in the philosophy of some leading development and environmental NGO's in the UK. Gone is the air of hostility towards many old adversaries and the emerging consensus is that dialogue with companies and even stakeholder partnerships is the preferred new way for environmentalism. Sworn old enemies now sit round the table and exchange pleasantries. Amongst others, we now have dialogue forums set up between greens on the one hand and biotech, oil mining and nuclear industries on the other.

When trying to understand whether this is a positive trend, we have to realise that it is not a new one. Just as British politics has followed the American lead, British environmentalists are now copying their colleagues from across the Atlantic. In the US, many environmental groups openly solicit support and money from multinationals and now openly want to engage in dialogue with industry. Mark Dowie, an influential American writer, labels this "third wave environmentalism", as he calls it, "the institutionalisation of compromise". He criticises it as undemocratic, as it stinks of back-room deals done by powerful companies and equally powerful environmental organisations, without the consent of the people.

Dowie also warns that the closer environmental or development organisations get to companies the harder it is for them to maintain their independence or their identity as adversaries. He argues that there are already signs that environmentalists are falling prey to the "Stockholm syndrome", a psychological condition in which prisoners of war come to embrace the culture and ideology of their captors.

Due to the increasingly murky divide between the NGO and business community, there has been an increasing debate as to whether this is a wise, who it benefits and why industry is suddenly very keen to jump into bed with their old enemies.