All the women are white, all the Blacks are men, but what about the greens? – an intersectional analysis of modern environmentalism in Britain

In recent years, environmentalists have been capturing the attention of the popular press and the general public in Britain – but not without controversy. Since 2019 in particular, the movement has received heavy criticisms both internally and externally for centring particular forms of middle-class whiteness. In light of these criticisms, this doctoral project uses political ethnographic methods to examine discourses, strategies, and theories of environmentalism in Britain today through the lens of intersectionality.

Using the empirical data collected for this project, this thesis argues that the ways in which intersectionality is conceptualised profoundly shapes the way in which it can be operationalised within environmentalist organising. It shows how the way that social movement actors understand intersectionality (if at all) impacts both how they shape and communicate their political demands as environmentalists, as well as the literal spaces in which they do. And fundamentally, it reaffirms the importance of intersectionality for environmentalist organising in Britain.

The findings are divided thematically into intersectional absences and presences, analysing the different ways in which intersectionality can be conceptualised, operationalised, and/or precluded. Finally, the thesis uses its primary qualitative data and findings proposes several questions which seek to contribute to the building of ‘a billion green Black feminisms’. It offers reflections on building of environmentalisms which are radically curious and energetic about responding to the challenging but crucial questions around how we address inequality, power, and marginality on a warming planet. Using the theoretical and empirical explorations, this thesis argues that it is vital to filter environmentalist problematics through intersectional lenses to recognise how power and inequality frame climate and environmental issues, and therefore the organising strategies and demands that we devise to address these issues.