Umweltschutz und völkische Degenerationsängste

Günther Schwab und die ökologische Rechte in Österreich

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between ecological movements and far-right ideologies in Austria. It focuses on Günther Schwab, a highly decorated environmental protection pioneer and writer, who is presented as an example of the ecological right combining völkisch ideologies, biologism, and social Darwinism with nature and environmental protection issues throughout the twentieth century. As well as looking at Schwab’s involvement in National Socialism, the article shows how he integrated right-wing ecology into new environmental movements, such as the anti-nuclear movement, in the post-war period. This analysis of the long tradition of the ecological right aims to raise awareness that protecting nature and the environment has never been exclusively the domain of the left, but that right-wing actors have also been involved.