Politics: Seeing Green — the Simplicity of Radical Realism

Abstract

The new national executive changed the logo of the Ecology Party into ECO ‘free of the cumbersome suffix “logy”’¹ because, as Jonathon Porritt, the best-known proponent of British Greens, and the newly elected co-chair conceded, ‘“Ecology” is still a rather daunting word, perhaps too scientific, too specialised to convey the full scope of the green perspective.’² The controversy over the logo points to the difficulty of balancing scientism with political sound-bite in the hope of legitimating the message and appealing to a wider audience. However, ‘Discussion of type and style revealed a deeper ideological project, Porritt and Fleming sought to show that ‘ECO’ was a serious and professional Party, a Party able to govern, Doomsday was no longer on the agenda.’³ Survivalism proved unsustainable for long-term ecological politics, and the main change of ECO lay in its cautiously optimistic tone: ecologism is a necessity, but it is not too late — provided there is immediate action — to transform society; ecologism is a consequence, not a contradiction to an enlightened democratic creed.