2008 Lecture

The 2008 Lynn W. Day Distinguished Lectureship in Forest and Conservation History welcomed Dr. Robert Gottlieb, Professor of Urban Environmental Studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. The lecture was held November 11th at 4:30 p.m. in White Lecture Hall on Duke University’s East Campus.

History shows that the environmental movement has periodically experienced a shift in focus and organizational priorities following key elections. Of particular note are the 1970 and 1972 congressional elections; the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, which created ripple effects throughout the environmental movement; and the 2000 election of George W. Bush, which witnessed the most significant shift in environmental policymaking in more than three decades. In this lecture Gottlieb explores the nature of those sometimes surprising historical changes.

Robert Gottlieb is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban Environmental Studies and Director of the Urban Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental. He is the author and co-author of eleven books, including: Reinventing Los Angeles (MIT Press, 2007); The Next Los Angeles: The struggle for a Livable City with Mark Vallianatos, Regina Freer and Peter Dreier (UC Press, 2006); Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement (Island Press, 1993, 2nd edition forthcoming); and Environmentalism Unbound: Exploring New Pathways for Change (MIT Press, 2001). He is also the editor of the MIT Press series, Urban and Industrial Environments.