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Petra Kelly

Caroline Lucas explores the impact of the radical German politician Petra Kelly who founded Die GrĂŒnen and inspired a generation of European Green politicians.

Petra Kelly did more than perhaps anyone else to raise the profile of green politics. As the most prominent member of West Germany’s Green Party, Die GrĂŒnen, Kelly’s energetic campaigning played a critical role in catapulting her party to electoral success in the 1983 Bundestag elections, where they won 27 seats.

Outside Germany, Kelly was an internationally famous campaigner against nuclear weapons and nuclear power, issues which galvanised the early green movement. But in 1992, at the age of just 44, Kelly was found dead in mysterious circumstances, alongside her lover Gert Bastian.

The Green Party MP Caroline Lucas looks back on the career of a politician who inspired her and considers Petra Kelly’s relevance to the environmental movement today.

“For Petra Kelly, green politics was never confined to Parliament,” she says, “it happened out on the streets, embracing non-violent protest and direct action.”

Producer: Dan Hardoon
Series Editor: David Prest
A Whistledown Production in association with The Open University.

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14 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Aug 2021 14:45
±«Óătv Radio 4

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Broadcasts

  • Wed 8 Jan 2020 13:45
    ±«Óătv Radio 4
  • Sun 1 Aug 2021 00:15
    ±«Óătv Radio 4
  • Sun 1 Aug 2021 14:45
    ±«Óătv Radio 4

Hear our ‘Stories of Change’ interviews with various experts and campaigners for further in depth discussions.

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