Economy, Technology and the Environment in Europe After World War II

Abstract

In this chapter Pál concentrates on the economic history and history of technology of post-World War II Europe from human–nature, society–nature perspectives. He focuses on the postwar pollution issues of Great Britain and the Rhine river. Pál points out how postwar reconstruction led to the acceleration of pollution problems in Western Europe. He also focuses on the societal change caused by economic shifts and new technologies, and how these events contributed to the growth of the environmental movement in Western Europe. Lastly, Pál explains how locally discussed environmental problems evolved to be national and later global environmental discourses.