The Social Significance of the Environmental Crisis

Among the many monographs written on the environmental crisis during the 1960s and 1970s, Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle (1971) has arguably maintained its immediate relevance more than any other because of Commoner’s ability to articulate the social ramifications of environmental decline. This close reading of The Closing Circle proposes to situate Commoner’s most important book in its social and historical context. Particular attention is paid to the significance of Commoner’s four laws of ecology and to his role in changing the fight for the environment from a scientific debate to a public one.