Emergence of Albanian Environmental Movements

Environmental movements emerged in Albania is a relatively underexplored topic. This book discusses how and when the environmental movements started in Albania, what incidents or occurrences triggered these movements and the characteristics of these movements. The book states the conceptual and theoretical background of social movements, origins of environmental movements in the World, the Albanian case for environment, Albanian legislation on environmental protection and political alignments of Albanian environmental movements. The results show that Albanian environmental movements emerged as a reaction to cruel exploitation of natural heritage of Albania. In the first decade of democratization, the movements were relatively weak due to post-communist turmoil period. In the second decade, the movements had grown simultaneously as civil society grew in Albania. The results suggested that among many sporadic cases of environmentalism, two cases have been very prominent: Vlora Industrial and Energy Park case, and Alliance against Waste Import case. These two cases of Albanian environmental movements gained and showed several characteristics of modern social movements.