The Power of the Periphery How Norway Became an Environmental Pioneer for the World

"Where does Norwegian self-confident environmental well-wishing come from? Spanning thirty years of Norwegian history, this book begins with the translation of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 and ends with Norwegians attending the Earth Summit in 1992. It tells a story of how scientists considered outdoor life and environmental research to be superior. The Power of the Periphery was that of a pristine, ideal natural environment contrasted with the dirty center of society in need of change. At the local level that could manifest as an unspoiled mountain contrasted with an overcrowded city. At the global level it became a beautiful Norway contrasted with a polluted troubled world. Peder Anker is following the footsteps of the social anthropologist Fredrik Barth's students, the ocean explorer Thor Heyerdahl, the archeologists Helge Ingstad (who found Viking settlements in the United States), the Deep Ecology movement that congregated around the philosopher Arne Næss, along with the "shallow" ecologists Jørgen Randers (co-author of The Limits to Growth), the Chair of the Brundtland Commission, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change, Jens Stoltenberg. They all provided different visions of how Norway should be an environmental pioneer for the world"--