A partir de uma síntese conceitual entre as teorias do Processo Político e dos Novos Movimentos Sociais, o artigo analisa as dimensões estratégicas e simbólicas do processo de formação do movimento ambientalista brasileiro. Argumenta-se que três estruturas de oportunidades políticas -o processo de Redemocratização, a Assembléia Constituinte e a Rio-92 -deram os parâmetros para que grupos de ativistas ambientalistas se constituíssem e enfrentassem dilemas comuns relativos a seus frames e estratégias de mobilização, constituindo, ao longo desse processo, uma identidade compartilhada.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: movimento ambientalista; estrutura de oportunidade política; identidade coletiva; estratégias de mobilização. SUMMARYRelying on a conceptual synthesis provided by the Political Process and New Social Movement theories, this article analyses the strategic and symbolic dimensions of the Brazilian environmental movement' s formation process. The authors argue that three political opportunity structures -Redemocratization, Constituent Assembly and Rio 92 -provided the parameters for environmental groups to arise and face common dilemmas regarding their frames and mobilizing strategies. Through this process, a shared identity came about.

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Analisa-se o enfoque que vê as relações entre as instituições jurídicas e as instituições políticas sob o prisma da "judicialização". Dois livros recém-publicados nessa área (Ministério Público e política no Brasil, de Rogério Bastos Arantes, e A democracia e os três poderes no Brasil, organizado por Luiz Werneck Vianna) são examinados.

In the past decade, environmental activism in Brazil has experienced a substantial tactical shift. Many activists have gained access to national political offices, the most prominent of whom is Marina Silva at the Ministry of the Environment. This research shows that protest groups of the 1980s paved the way for a professionalized form of environmental activism that relies on a firm-like organizational profile and expert staffing. Today, far away from confrontation, environmental activism in Brazil builds on cooperative relationships between political authorities and scientific elites. In this article, the authors argue that the transmutation of the profile of activism was largely stimulated by the availability of new resources and opportunities and the presence of national and transnational alliances available after Rio-92. The argument presented here draws on an analysis of the two biggest and most important environmental organizations in Brazil, namely, the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA).

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