nationalism

2. Transnational Women’s Networks: Petra Kelly and her Global Alliance of Friends and Companions

2. Transnational Women’s Networks: Petra Kelly and her Global Alliance of Friends and Companions

Second chapter of Stephen Milder et al.’s virtual exhibition, Petra Kelly: Life and Legacy of a Transnational Green Activist.

Petra Kelly: Life and Legacy of a Transnational Green Activist

This exhibition considers the transnational life and legacy of the activist and cofounder of the West German Green Party, Petra Kelly. The exhibition shows how Kelly’s transatlantic childhood and education enabled her to become a transnational activist. It follows the connections to friends, companions, and fellow activists all over the globe that shaped her approach to green politics and underpinned her contributions to the peace movement. Examining how the German and international press reported on Kelly, the exhibition reflects on how her profile as a Green celebrity was shaped. An analysis of the spiritual dimensions of Kelly’s green politics demonstrates how “deep green” frameworks helped the activist to think beyond the boundaries of “politics as usual.” Finally, the exhibition looks at Kelly’s legacy, considering how her ideas and her career have resonated differently in different parts of the world.

About the exhibition

About the author

Scharf, Katharina
Scharf, Katharina

University of Graz, Austria

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Katharina Scharf is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Graz. She is currently working on her research project, “Environmental Women,” a biographically oriented environmental-history study from the perspective of women’s and gender history. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Salzburg. Her dissertation, Alpen zwischen Erschließung und Naturschutz: Tourismus in Salzburg und Savoyen 1860–1914 (The Alps between development and nature conservation: Tourism in Salzburg and Savoy, 1860–1914), was published in 2021. Katharina holds a master’s degree in history and a bachelor’s degree in German studies. Her research interests focus on women’s, gender, environmental, tourism, and regional history, and the history of National Socialism.

orcid.org/0000-0002-1469-2525

Browse the exhibition

Exhibition Overview
Introduction
The Transnational Education of Petra Kelly
Transnational Women’s Networks
Green Politics and Spirituality
A Green Celebrity
Asserting Women’s Power
Petra Kelly’s Legacy

Erämaa—Finnish

Erämaa—Finnish

This chapter of the “Wilderness Babel” exhibition, written by historian Mikko Saikku, explores central concepts for understanding the traditional Finnish relationship with nature and use of natural resources.

Wilderness Babel: What Does Wilderness Mean in Your Language?

What does wilderness mean in your language? Listen to words for “wilderness” and learn about their political and historical meanings in different regional contexts. “Wilderness Babel” is a collaboration with the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich, edited by Marcus Hall and Wilko Graf von Hardenberg. Its international contributions are still growing.

This version 2, published in 2020, includes minor updates to the original 2013 virtual exhibition (view PDF here) and applies the Environment & Society Portal’s responsive layout.

Marcus Hall and Wilko Graf von Hardenberg, eds.

About the author

Saikku, Mikko
Saikku, Mikko

University of Helsinki, Finland

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Mikko Saikku is Professor of North American Studies at the University of Helsinki.

Browse the exhibition

Exhibition Overview
About the Exhibition
Aims, Methods, and Mapping
Catalonian
Chinese
Dutch
Early English
England's English
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Ancient Hebrew
Modern Hebrew
Hungarian
Icelandic
Japanese
Italian
Nez Percé
Swedish
Latin American Spanish

Ice Blink: Navigating Northern Environmental History

Northern Canada’s distinctive landscapes, its complex social relations and the contested place of the North in contemporary political, military, scientific and economic affairs have fueled recent scholarly discussion. At the same time, both the media and the wider public have shown increasing interest in the region. This collection extends our understanding of the environmental history of northern Canada—clarifying both its practice and promise, and providing critical perspectives on current public debates.

The Environment & Society Portal is a project of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, an institute founded in 2009 as a joint initiative of LMU Munich and the Deutsches Museum. Read more about the Portal in English and in German.