Environmental concern, race and socio-economic status in post-apartheid South Africa, 1996-2006

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines longitudinally the nature of environmental concern in post-apartheid South Africa. During the years of colonialism and apartheid, environmental policy making and implementation was characterised by environmental racism that focused on ecocentric notions of nature conservation and protection, to the exclusion of black, coloured and Asian South Africans. The post-apartheid government has attempted to rectify the exclusion of black people from environmental rights, by enshrining in the Bill of Rights the right to an environment that is not harmful to South Africans' health or well-being. In light of the Bill of Rights unique political and practical implementation in South Africa, and on the basis of a comprehensive review of the empirical and theoretical literature on environmental concern, two hypotheses were formulated for testing in this thesis. The first, which is informed by an environmentalism of the poor or 'empty-belly environmentalism theory, proposes that South Africans have become more environmentally concerned since the end of apartheid. The second hypothesis is informed by the post-materialist thesis, and examines whether controlling for socio-economic status eliminates difference in environmental concern amongst the various race groups. The research design applied in this thesis is a longitudinal analysis of secondary data, in particular World Values Survey data. The results of this analysis led to a rejection of the first hypotheses, and a partial rejection of the second hypothesis. Additionally, the results reveal that since 1996 environmental concern has become less influenced by race and class. The thesis also contributes methodologically to future research on environmental concern, by raising concerns about the operationalisation and conceptualisation of environmental concern in the World Values Survey.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University