Invention of Environmental Norms in Regional Society

Abstract

In order to recognize and solve environmental problems, there are two different approaches, utilitarianism and normativism. Today the former approach is popular in the domain of environmental policy, e.g. population policy. But in this paper we emphasize the necessity of the latter approach, especially for understanding environmental activities or movements of residents in local community. So, we examine a typical neighbourhood protest movement in Nara prefecture and describe the process of movement in terms of invention of environmental norms and formation of environmental representations by inhabitants. Our theoretical conclusions are that (1) people participate environmental activities or movements not by their personal preferences, but by inducements from their own norms or representations about environmental change, and that (2) at first these norms or representations for using and conserving natural resources occur spontaneously in the movement but immediately begin to place restriction on members slowly but rigorously, so logic or power of norm invention (representation formation) is a crucial problem for environmental activities, and that (3) normativism approach is efficient in understanding political bargaining between local community and administrative authority, and dynamics of norm invention in local community. At last we discuss that utilitarian approach has limits in grasping the otherness of environmental representations and invention of environmental norms.