Liesbeth van de Grift's presentation explored the politicization of the environment and the interconnectedness of environmental policy with other issues – for instance, consumer policy. While there is widespread understanding of what must be done to address environmental challenges, she said, the politicization of environmental policy has contributed to the prevention of effective environmental action.

Van de Grift analyzed the evolution of environmental politics in the context of consumer policy, focusing on the discourse within the International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU, since 1995 Consumers International). Established in the 1960s by Western European countries and the U.S., the IOCU aimed to empower consumers to navigate a complex marketplace, addressing information asymmetry between producers and consumers. Its early focus was on product testing and standardization. As developing countries joined the organization, its agenda expanded to encompass broader issues such as pollution, clean drinking water, waste dumping, and poverty.

Van de Grift emphasized the IOCU's increasing collaboration with diverse entities, including environmental and religious organizations. For example, it allied against Nestlé's promotion of baby formula over breastfeeding, which had devastating consequences in impoverished regions lacking clean water. Such collaborations reflected a broader politicization of consumer movements, as they tackled inequality and environmental justice alongside product concerns. This evolution demonstrated a growing recognition of the interconnectedness between consumer practices and environmental outcomes.

A focus of the presentation was the dynamic framing of environmental problems. Critical questions are, what constitutes an environmental issue, who defines it, and how these definitions have changed over time. Van de Grift illustrated this with the painting "Eisenhüttenstadt" by East German artist Bernhard Kretzschmar, which shows a family picnicking in nature with the smoking chimneys of the city's industry in the background. While black smoke clouds are today seen as symbols of degradation and pollution, they may have been symbols of progress and modernization in the GDR. Similarly, van de Grift noted, the environmental discourse has shifted from bipartisan consensus in the 1980s to being predominantly associated with left-wing politics.

According to van de Grift, the IOCU has contributed to framing environmental concerns through consumer rights also in a United Nations context, reflected in the UN's Sustainable Development Goal No. 12, "responsible consumption and production". She noted, however, that there is no such thing as a universal consumer and that individuals differ by economic, cultural, and societal background.

The mid-1980s marked a turning point as global deregulation and market liberalization became dominant. Countries and organizations from the Global South lost their channels as the UN lost influence to organizations like the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. The environmental discourse started to be dominated by a view that saw "the environment as a consumer issue" rather than "consumers as an environmental issue". Van de Grift argued that historians play a crucial role in unpacking these discursive shifts, helping to understand how political, economic, and cultural forces have shaped the framing of environmental problems.

During the Q&A session the audience raised several questions including on the EU's model of regulatory diplomacy, the institutional set-up of the IOCU, and the tension between environmental protection and countries' right to develop.

hosted by Professor Mark Gilbert


Liesbeth van de Grift is Professor of International History and the Environment at Utrecht University.

She specializes in the history of political representation through the lens of rural and environmental governance in the twentieth century. A guiding question in her research is how the rise of 'nature' and 'the environment' on the political agenda has changed ideas and practices of democracy and interest representation. Her VIDI project 'Consumers on the March' studies the role of (public) interest groups and bottom-up mobilisation in the history of European governance. Topics that she has worked on before include practices of land reclamation and rural resettlement in interwar Europe and the post-1945 political transitions in Soviet-occupied Europe.

At Utrecht University, Van de Grift is involved in the interdisciplinary research programmes Institutions for Open Societies and, as programme board member, within Pathways to Sustainability. She is the initiator of the Network for Environmental Humanities at the UU and a member of the De Jonge Akademie (Dutch Young Academy). van de Grift teaches in the BA programs History and International Relations, the MA History of International Relations, and the Research Master History.