2. Research Problem.
The issues surrounding the natural environment, and those measures necessary to save it, are pervasive themes in current Australian political and social discourse; awareness is high, and opinions are divided. With impending generational replacement, the environmental movement, represented by Environmental Movement Organisations’ (EMO), is of increasing importance in attempts to shift public opinion and behaviours. This research considers it important to understand how the attitudes of Generation Y on the importance of contemporary environmental issues relate to their support for environmental movement organisations’ (EMOs). This research is an investigation into whether self-professed pro-environmental attitudes predict actual pro-environmental behaviour.
3. Project Background and Rationale.
It is generally accepted that the planet is in crisis, and that drastic and immediate action is imperative; this is a sentiment increasingly pervasive on a global scale. The movement to preserve and protect our planet’s natural environment and ecosystems has accordingly gained momentum, attributable to greater levels of awareness and knowledge on environmental issues. This can be credited to the progressive politicisation and routinisation of environmental issues, and ongoing media coverage (Tranter 2010; Crook & Pakulski 1995). The role of environmental activism and environmentalism in this process is noteworthy.
The ‘New Environmentalism’ movement of the late twentieth century is particularly relevant here. With its inception popularly placed in the early 1960’s, New Environmentalism saw a more urgent and global conception of the natural environment come to the fore. Here, environmental activism took shape...
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McCrindle, M. 2009, The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Milfont, T.L. & Duckitt, J. 2010, ‘The Environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes’, Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 80-94.
State of NSW & Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW 2010, State of NSW & DECCW, Sydney.
Tranter, B. 2010, ‘Environmental activists and non-active environmentalists in Australia’, Environmental Politics, vol. 19, no. 3, pp.413-429.
Tranter, B. 2011, ‘Political divisions over climate change and environmental issues in Australia’, Environmental Politics, vol. 28, no.1, pp. 79-96.
Veal, A.J. 2006, Research Methods for Leisure, Sport and Tourism, 3rd edn., Pearson Education Limited, Essex, England.
The environment has always been controversial topic. Global warming, fossil fuels, and climate change usually are the main topics, when talking about the environment. Many people feel strongly about the issues pertaining to the environment, while others seem not to care. Though some of the populace seems to not care about the environment, many people do not fully understand what is going on. Most of the population is not fully educated on the issues of the environment. While some people are, they are not sure what to do with what they know. If more people had knowledge and knew how to help, would they?
He delves into the history of the word “environmental” as well as the history of environmental activism. He pinpoints the beginning of the movement to Rachel Carson. According to Quammen, she began the revolution by publishing her book Silent Spring. He says the negative connotations of the word began with her book, pairing “environment” and “the survival of humankind” as if they go hand in hand. This played a major role in the distortion of the word and the intentions of environmentalists.
Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. H. (1996). Betrayal of science and reason: How anti-environmental rhetoric threatens our future. Washington, D.C: Island Press.
It is a melancholy object to those who travel through this great country to see isolated corners of this fair realm still devoted to protecting the environment. The wretched advocators of these ideals are frequently seen doling out petitions and begging at their neighbours’ doors to feed their obsession, which keeps them in the contemptible poverty that they so richly deserve.
Rudel, K. Thomas, J. Timmons Roberts and JoAnn Carmin. 2011. “Political Economy of the Environment.” Annual Review of Sociology 37: 221-238.
Hawken writes that the movement, a collective gathering of nonconformists, is focused on three basic ambitions: environmental activism, social justice initiatives, and indigenous culture’s resistance to globalization. The principles of environmental activism being closely intertwined with social justice rallies. Hawken states how the fate of each individual on this planet depends on how we understand and treat what is left of the planet’s lands, oceans, species diversity, and people; and that the reason that there is a split between people and nature is because the social justice and environmental arms of the movement hav...
Chapters 10 and 11 of Paul Steinberg’s Who Rules the Earth contained some several insights and thoughts that were new me. Some were simple, such as the question of should the clothing and food industries be required to show that new chemical compounds that they use are safe for consumers, or must regulatory officials prove that they are harmful. When trying to get friends to realize that they have a responsibility to themselves and the environment to at least be somewhat involved with politics, I will definitely bring up the quote that Steinberg used which said “You’re either at the table or you are on the menu.” As quasi-environmentalists who love experiencing the great outdoors, many of my friends shy away from being involved in politics simply because they don’t care to read and be informed, or sit down at a public meeting or to talk to their senator. This is very unfortunate because as Steinberg wrote, environmentalism stripped of its political content merely
The objective of this research was to compare and contrast the level of concern about climate change and the opinions towards climate change among overseas students studying in Australia with those of local people in Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Europe overseas students studying at Eynesbury College in Adelaide. The findings of this research rejected the hypothesis that both international students studying in Australia and local people in Australia, United Kingdom, United States and Europe have similar opinions about climate change, but overseas students have a higher level of concern about climate change than the local people in Australia, United Kingdom, The United States and Europe. This is because international students
Historically speaking, the American Environmental Movement was founded by small groups of people that discovered a common interest in preserving both nature and those that inhabit it. These types of groups are currently termed as grassroots organizations, which essentially means that the main body of the organizations are comprised of ordinary people (Tutman). The mid to late 1900s brought with it a dramatic change in the fundamental composition of the American Environmental Movement. Professionalism of environmental organizations began and as many groups became political they also revisited their views and specific goals, “Long-standing debates about protection versus management and recreation values versus development values came to be modified
Environmental Activism or the Release of Inner Rage? The concept of activism is rarely understood by any “normal” citizen. The donation of one’s time towards a certain cause or belief has always been envied by the working class citizen who feels it is important to give back, but is pushed away when those good intentions go bad, such as when “non-violent” protests or speeches turn reckless. With an intuition of activists having to be heard through harsh acts, for example the demolition of bridges, billboards or aqueducts, their cause is usually overlooked; their actions are looked down upon as people with internal rage.
During the 1960s through 2000s Americans started to worry about the future of humanity with the environmental changes and the movie “Waterworld” is a clear representation of their fears about the future. Starting in the mid- twenties people wanted to preserve nature because it was beautiful and some believed humans were spiritually attached to it, but the reasons change in the 1960s. The American people, in the 1960’s, started to realized that all the new technology was not eco-friendly and that the environment was seriously in danger. With this in mind, the growth of environmentalism was a result of the environmental degradation in the advanced industrial societies and the growth of the new science named ecology. Ecology provided the leaders of the movement called environmentalist with new and powerful arguments.
Chasek, P. S., Downie, D. L., & Brown, J. W. (2014). The Development of Environmental Regimes: Chemicals, Wastes, and Climate Change. In P. S. Chasek, D. L. Downie, & J. W. Brown, Global Environmental Politics (6th ed., pp. 101-173). Boulder: Westview Press.
Through this portion of class readings and discussions, we have sought deeper meaning and understanding of philosophies of individuals and organizations that revolve around the fundamental aspects and notions of deep ecology and eco-activism. These associations offer more views and attitudes on how an individual and society can create and maintain a kinship and positive influence with the natural environment.
Environmentalism is a segregated movement. According to Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, the authors of “The Death of Environmentalism,” environmentalist have created a special interest group in which they perpetuate the wrong picture of the environment. According to these men, poverty, war, labor, campaign finance reform and taxes should be categorized under the environmental movement, however due to the predefined image environmentalist have created we do not consider those issues as environmental issues(Shellenberger, and Nordhaus). Shellenberger and Nordhaus believe in using government power to enforce new regulations on uncommon environmental issues in order to resolve the major environmental issues we face today like global warming and pollution. One solution proposed by Shellenberger, and Nordhaus is to think differently about the problem, they claim if a tax credit is incorporated with a certain issue, like emissions, than the likelihood of
Vael, A.J. (2010), Research Methods for Leisure and tourism, A Practical Guide, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall.