SOCIAL ECOLOGY WORKING PAPER 1 6 9 Stefan Wendering Env ironmental Conflicts in Austria from 1950 to 2015 ISSN 1726 -3816 May 2016 Stefan, Wendering (2016): Environmental Conflicts in Austria from 1950 to 2015 Social Ecology Working Paper 169 Vienna, May 2016 ISSN 1726-3816 Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) Alpen-Adria-Universitaet Klagenfurt, Vienna, Graz (AAU) Schottenfeldgasse 29 1070 Vienna, Austria www.aau.at/sec sec.
[email protected] © 2016 by Institute of Social Ecology Vienna Environmental Conflicts in Austria from 1950 to 2015* von Stefan Wendering * Masterarbeit verfasst am Institut für Soziale Ökologie (IFF-Wien), Studium der Sozial- und Humanökologie. Diese Arbeit wurde von Assoc. Prof. Mag. Dr. Martin Schmid betreut und von Dipl. Ing. Dr. Willi Haas vorbegutachtet. Abstract During the second half of the 20th century, Austria experienced a fundamental transition of its energy regime. Within few years oil replaced the predominant regime of biomass and coal. This change had not only radical impacts on society's production and consumption patterns but most notably on society's relationship to nature. During the post-war modernisation process, nature and landscapes were dramatically transformed by human biophysical activities. However, with growing impacts, this development was increasingly questioned by parts of society and environmental conflicts emerged. The master thesis assembles Austria's environmental conflicts that took place around the transition's material manifestations dams, power plants, infrastructure projects described through the prism of social ecology. A comprehensive review of literature, newspapers and the internet, supplemented by selected experts and contemporary witness interviews, created an extensive list of 108 environmental conflict cases in Austria after World War II.