Values and the environmental/green movement of South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The emergence and growth of the environmental/green movement has been linked to avalue shift from materialism towards postmaterialism. In this study, the emergence of theSouth African environmental/green movement and its growth potential is investigatedwithin the context of Ronald Inglehart's value change theory and its implications fordeveloping societies.The positive link between postmaterialism and environmentalism is well researched andwidely accepted. However, many researchers focusing on developing societies argue that ashift towards postmaterialism does not adequately explain the emergence ofenvironmentalism, because environmentalism is taking root in developing societies despitepostmaterialist values not being prioritised. This relationship is investigated by means of aliterature study about the values, principles and issues addressed by theenvironmental/green movement. It is argued in this study that environmentalism canindeed be linked to postmaterialism, but that prematerialist values could also playa role,especially in developing societies.The South African environmental/green movement is discussed as an example ofenvironmentalism in a developing society. The South African movement is often describedas a white middle class movement. It is argued on the basis of a literature study that themovement has changed considerably and incorporates a wide range of interests rangingfrom more conservative forms of environmentalism to radical political forms ofenvironmentalism such as environmental justice. This change is linked to the concepts ofprematerialism and postmaterialism emphasising that both sets of goals seems to beprioritised by different discourses within the movement. Issues concerning both the welloffand the poor are addressed by the movement.This is followed by an analysis of the 1995 World Value survey data set to obtain ademographic and socio-economic profile of the active members of an environmentalorganisation and the environmentally concerned. The relationship between activemembership of an environmental organisation, the environmentally concerned and theconcepts of prematerialism, materialism and postmaterialism is also established. Thepositive relationship between postmaterialism and environmentalism is confirmed, butcontradictory results have been found regarding the relationship between prematerialismand environmentalism. This can possibly be attributed to the inadequate survey materialthat is available. Although active membership of an environmental organisation correlatespositively with prematerialism, no relationship could be found between environmentalconcern and prematerialism. Lastly, a demographic and socio-economic profile of thedon't know response group has also been compiled as this group is an important targetgroup for the expansion of the environmental/green movement.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University