Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain

Over the last four decades national environmental groups have become an important means of political participation for many British citizens. Since the mid-1980s these organizations have established a number of local groups. There are still some gaps in our understanding of these groups, particularl...

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Main Author: Vickers, Robert
Published: Loughborough University 2010
Subjects:
320
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.540819
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spelling ndltd-bl.uk-oai-ethos.bl.uk-5408192015-03-20T04:27:37ZThinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in BritainVickers, Robert2010Over the last four decades national environmental groups have become an important means of political participation for many British citizens. Since the mid-1980s these organizations have established a number of local groups. There are still some gaps in our understanding of these groups, particularly relating to participation at the grass-roots level. This investigation examines the British environmental movement, focusing on those who become coordinators of local groups, and attempts to find the correlates of their environmental activism. The research reviews the existing empirical data relating to environmental activism, and theoretical accounts relating to participation. It also considers the significance of the emergence of postmaterial values, and looks at the theoretical framework that informs environmental activism. The hypothesis that the conservation and ecology movements are effectively sub-groups within the broader ecology movement is tested, and the thesis explores the possibility that those who participate in these movements have different socio-demographic and cognitive profiles, and methods of activism. The history and development of environmentalism in Britain is discussed, revealing the fundamental differences between the conservation and ecology movements. To test the hypothesis a national, internet based, questionnaire was conducted. In total, 380 activists were surveyed, all of whom were coordinators of local environmental groups that were affiliated to one of six nationally prominent environmental organisations. The findings of the research indicated that although many national environmental organizations seem to have become closer together in terms of their core beliefs and objectives. There are some notable differences between conservationists and ecologists at the grass-roots level, particularly in relation to sociopsychological variables, and means of participation.320Environmentalism : Conservation : Ecology : Green : Activism : Participation : Pressure group : Social movementLoughborough Universityhttp://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.540819https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/12165Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
collection NDLTD
sources NDLTD
topic 320
Environmentalism : Conservation : Ecology : Green : Activism : Participation : Pressure group : Social movement
spellingShingle 320
Environmentalism : Conservation : Ecology : Green : Activism : Participation : Pressure group : Social movement
Vickers, Robert
Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
description Over the last four decades national environmental groups have become an important means of political participation for many British citizens. Since the mid-1980s these organizations have established a number of local groups. There are still some gaps in our understanding of these groups, particularly relating to participation at the grass-roots level. This investigation examines the British environmental movement, focusing on those who become coordinators of local groups, and attempts to find the correlates of their environmental activism. The research reviews the existing empirical data relating to environmental activism, and theoretical accounts relating to participation. It also considers the significance of the emergence of postmaterial values, and looks at the theoretical framework that informs environmental activism. The hypothesis that the conservation and ecology movements are effectively sub-groups within the broader ecology movement is tested, and the thesis explores the possibility that those who participate in these movements have different socio-demographic and cognitive profiles, and methods of activism. The history and development of environmentalism in Britain is discussed, revealing the fundamental differences between the conservation and ecology movements. To test the hypothesis a national, internet based, questionnaire was conducted. In total, 380 activists were surveyed, all of whom were coordinators of local environmental groups that were affiliated to one of six nationally prominent environmental organisations. The findings of the research indicated that although many national environmental organizations seem to have become closer together in terms of their core beliefs and objectives. There are some notable differences between conservationists and ecologists at the grass-roots level, particularly in relation to sociopsychological variables, and means of participation.
author Vickers, Robert
author_facet Vickers, Robert
author_sort Vickers, Robert
title Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
title_short Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
title_full Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
title_fullStr Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
title_full_unstemmed Thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in Britain
title_sort thinking globally acting locally : an overview of local environmental activism in britain
publisher Loughborough University
publishDate 2010
url http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.540819
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