Environmental Movement Research Articles

Nature and the extended city: Wasteland governmentality, the sacred, and anti-wasteland politics in the Aravalli region

Wasteland governmentality has long shaped colonial and postcolonial landscape governance across the planet. While historically wasteland classification was deployed for agrarian land settlement and silviculture, with extended urbanisation it is increasingly used to consolidate landscapes of extended urban nature. These landscapes are in turn subjected to state-led land enclosures for urban and infrastructure development and for greenwashing. This paper investigates the political construction of one such landscape of extended urban nature, the Aravalli region, a geological feature which runs parallel to the extended corridor urbanisation in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). Particularly, I examine how in the name of regulating mining, urban development, and pollution in the Delhi NCR, the revenue wastes including sacred groves, hills, and other village commons falling in the Aravallis have been consolidated as a state space. I examine how the patchwork of communities assembled in the extended urban fabric of the region deploys the sacred to counter land enclosure and the emptying out of meaning. I discuss three such modalities of the sacred in the region, namely, its use by agrarian villages to assert land rights over sacred forests, the misuse of the sacred by temple committees to produce faux nature, and its use by emergent urban environmental movements in the region to frame an anti-wasteland politics. Focusing my attention on the state, I discuss the need for a nuanced understanding of emergent urban environmentalism in the region as restorative commoning beyond the binary framings of bourgeois versus the poor.

Greening labour? The role of the SDGs in fostering sustainability integration within trade unions

ABSTRACT The effective integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability by actors in all sectors is a core objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Do trade unions, as important socio-economic actors, contribute to this agenda by aligning with environmental concerns? We conducted a qualitative content analysis of primary documentary sources from the International and European Trade Union Confederations focussing on the 2012–2022 period. We complemented this with in-depth interviews from The Netherlands and Belgium. We found that trade unions have been ‘greening’ their discourses and initiatives, and cooperating more with environmental movements. They also use the SDGs not only as discursive frames, but also to shape concrete initiatives. However, they overwhelmingly see greening still in instrumental terms rather than as a transformative prioritization of environmental concerns. This is reflected in their engagement with the SDGs, as unions shape the implementation of the SDGs according to their priorities.

From controversy to common ground

Abstract Once a concept of the radical environmentalist movement, the term sustainability was incorporated into the hegemonic discourse. Prior research argues that this occurred through a process in which the original controversy between ecological and economic issues has evolved from an antagonist opposition to a broad concurrence. While this development has mainly been analysed qualitatively, we apply quantitative analysis of mass media in Austria between 1990 and 2020 to trace the changing use of the term. Applying methods of corpus linguistics, topic modelling, and dictionary based analysis, we find that the discourse has become less polarized over time, deploying increasingly positive language, and catering more and more towards the conservative parts of the population. Political actors’ presence declines significantly after 2000, and simultaneously, commercial and individual solutions are more widely discussed – everyone is responsible, and no one is to blame.

“Hope dies – Action begins”

Abstract Drawing upon motifs of death, mass extinction, and predictions of chaos and collapse, the UK-based Extinction Rebellion (XR) demarcates itself as a different kind of environmental movement precisely because it “tells the truth” (in XR’s own words) about the climate crisis during a time of supposed false hope, denial, and delusion. In this paper, I analyze – through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) – how XR’s postnatural visions shape (and limit) the movement’s demands and proposals for change. My analysis reveals how XR’s calls for action are guided by a sense of loss and mourning for a future after nature’s end that are embedded with nostalgic undercurrents of a very particular mode of green nationalism. The potential exclusions and limitations of XR’s green nationalism are explored in this paper.

Nature Spirituality, Environmental Movements, and Radical Politics

Nature Spirituality, Environmental Movements, and Radical Politics

Study on the equity of urban green space: Origin, progress, and enlightenment.

Urban green space equity focuses on whether different social groups can equally share the well-being from green space, which is an important issue in the realm of environmental justice. We systematically introduced the origin and development of green space equity, explored its multidimensional progress in conceptual connotation, measurement methodology, phenomenon, mechanism, and regulation, and proposed the enlightenment for deepening the related studies. The green space equity originated from environmental social movement and environmental justice studies, and experienced multilevel evolution in topic constriction and theoretical interpretation. Although the connotation of green space equity was interpreted from various perspectives, its core idea was distributional equality. There was a frequently-used framework for measurement methodology of green space equity, whose spatial scale issue was critical. Due to the differences of characteristics, developmental stages, and institutional backgrounds between Chinese and Western cities, the phenomena and driving mechanisms of green space equity were different. The regulation strategies of green space equity could be summarized into three types, including green distributional equitable strategy, social recognitional justice strategy, and procedural justice orientated strategy. Future studies should deepen the research from the hierarchical logics for practice management, the fine-scale measurement methodology, the interpretation of mechanism for green space inequity in Chinese context, and simulation of differentiated regulation strategies. Social development endows green space equity with more practical tasks and theoretical logics, which is urgent to clarify the research progress to support the future research.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure and 24-h movement guidelines in Spanish young people.

No prior research has investigated how exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is related to the combination of 24-h movement behaviors among young populations thus far. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between exposure to secondhand smoke and the 24-h movement guidelines. This is a cross-sectional study using data from the last available wave of the Spanish National Health Survey [2017], a nationally representative survey of the Spanish children and adult population. The final sample included 4,378 (49.0% girls) Spanish young people aged 2-14 years. A lower likelikood of meeting screen time (ST) and all three 24-h movement guidelines were found in those exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in unadjusted models. After adjusting for several covariates, meeting screen time [odds ratio (OR) =0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.59-0.97], sleep duration (OR =0.75; 95% CI, 0.58-0.96), and all three 24-h movement guidelines (OR =0.63; 95% CI, 0.44-0.91) reached significance after adjusting for potential confounders. Given the inverse associations found, environmental tobacco smoke exposure should be a relevant factor to consider when promoting 24-h behaviors in the young population. Avoiding exposure to tobacco smoke in the environment is essential, as it can potentially influence the 24-h movement behaviors of young people, and consequently, the health benefits associated with such behaviors.

Climate change, disasters and social work practice in Greece

In times of repeated crises, social work is more than ever linked with politics. In contemporary societies, neoliberal welfare, health policies (such as the case of COVID-19), climate change, poverty and wars have a direct impact on people and nature, as well as social services, professionals and users. Particularly in regard to climate change, we need to accentuate its implication for people’s lives, animals and nature, as well as its connection with social work. In this direction, this article presents the findings of research that took place in 2019 in Greece regarding social work practice in disasters and suggests the reclaiming of community work by a radical perspective and in coalition with environmental justice movements.

Deadlock in transition to a net-zero socially robust knowledge

Although Taiwan proposed 2020 to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it has encountered difficulties making this transition. This research argues that climate issues involve epistemic politics and competition and those different discourses require the construction of socially robust knowledge (SRK) in reflexive, contextual confrontation, and competition. A society with strong SRK can lead the country’s net-zero carbon emissions decision, system, and transformation. This article analyses the types of environmental movements and the strength of their production of SRK with two cases that discusses the current lag of net-zero transition.The study found that the elements of successful transition include the same object of resistance, based on rational risk knowledge debate, and multi-level social mobilisation, which constitutes a strong SRK. A solid SRK package successfully reframes the development thinking of Taiwanese society. The net-zero movement needs a transparent object of resistance; environmental groups need to familiarise themselves with the issue of climate warming, resulting in a gap in appeals, mobilisation strategies, stages, and dominance. Although the latter still presents a certain degree of SRK and constitutes a policy of confrontation or competition with the government, the issues of appeal are pretty diverse, showing scattered initiatives. Folk-focused issues and discourses cannot build a strong agora, thus failing to reframe the social development framework and create more elements or opportunities for social transformation to a green path; as a result, Taiwan’s sluggish climate governance and net-zero transition have encountered dilemmas both at home and abroad.

Eco-ELT for environmental research and praxis in ELT

Global environmental catastrophes affecting present planetary ecosystems necessitate immediate and coordinated actions from all sectors and disciplines, including English language teaching (ELT). ELT shares the responsibilities with other disciplines to address ecological crises like climate change and biodiversity loss. However, environmental research and praxis in ELT lack of movement due to lack of unifying concept. An existing related concept, Eco-ELT, focuses solely on ecocriticism approach in ELT, limiting its scope. In fact, environmental research and praxis in ELT can take many forms, approaches, and models. For that reason, this conceptual article extends the Eco-ELT by elaborating on its philosophical standpoints: ontology, epistemology, and axiology. It also presents the Eco-ELT principle and framework of practice for English teachers, curriculum designers, and policymakers to implement the Eco-ELT intervention in English education. Finally, it elucidates the Eco-ELT research principle and area. These complete elaborations of the Eco-ELT aim to enhance and organize the structure of environmental movement in ELT and advance the contributions of ELT in decolonizing the Earth.

Environmental movements in a material world. A relational perspective on single-use plastic in Penzance, UK

In the discursive battle about the big and important ideas, some topics are considered more important than others and more likely to mobilize society. More recently, marine plastic pollution has become a key topic for environmental movements. In this study, we aimed to contribute to a more detailed understanding of how specific issues of sustainability are brought forth. Conceptually, we argue that recourse to relational theories from science and technology studies might help to strengthen the conceptualization of social movement research. By drawing on the concept of “boundary objects”, we extend the range of social movement approaches in order to better understand how the process of framing is put to work materially. The focus on boundary objects can therefore explain the selective formation of environmental discourses and policies when applied to the field of environmental protection and sustainability.

Predicting food craving in everyday life through smartphone-derived sensor and usage data.

Food craving relates to unhealthy eating behaviors such as overeating or binge eating and is thus a promising target for digital interventions. Yet, craving varies strongly across the day and is more likely in some contexts (external, internal) than in others. Prediction of food cravings ahead of time would enable preventive interventions. The objective of this study was to investigate whether upcoming food cravings could be detected and predicted from passive smartphone sensor data (excluding geolocation information) without the need for repeated questionnaires. Momentary food craving ratings, given six times a day for 14 days by 56 participants, served as the dependent variable. Predictor variables were environmental noise, light, device movement, screen activity, notifications, and time of the day recorded from 150 to 30 min prior to these ratings. Individual high vs. low craving ratings could be predicted on the test set with a mean area under the curve (AUC) of 0.78. This outperformed a baseline model trained on past craving values in 85% of participants by 14%. Yet, this AUC value is likely the upper bound and needs to be independently validated with longer data sets that allow a split into training, validation, and test sets. Craving states can be forecast from external and internal circumstances as these can be measured through smartphone sensors or usage patterns in most participants. This would allow for just-in-time adaptive interventions based on passive data collection and hence with minimal participant burden.

Limits to fishing: the case for collective self-limitation illustrated with an example of small-scale fisheries in Catalonia

Is there a limit to the amount of fish that can be taken from the sea? This question echoes the concern of the broader environmental movement in asking: are there ‘limits to growth’? If the answer is ‘yes’, then what must be done to remain within sustainable limits? Fifty years after the publication of the landmark reportLimits to Growth, new theories about limits highlight the importance of collective self-limitation, also in the context of fisheries management, in place of external, top-down determination and imposition of limits. This paper considers the shift in fisheries governance from regulating and establishing Maximum Sustainable Yields to collectively co-managing territories and ecosystems as symptomatic of a general turn from externally-imposed to self-imposed limitations. We show how perceptions and practices of limits are changing based on an ethnographic study of six small-scale fisheries co-management plans located off the Catalan coast in the Northwestern Mediterranean. The study evidences the challenges fishers face in attempting to define the limits of their agency to manage external forces that are often beyond their control. It concludes by arguing for the adoption of an ethos of collective self-limitation in fisheries governance to protect and benefit local communities and their environments.

Environmental Movements and Satisfaction with Governments

Abstract Environmental movements are a special social movement against environmental injustice, as well as a political conflict regarding environmental issues. To understand the motivation to participate in environmental movements, it is necessary to explore the role of governments in environmental management. Using the cross-sectional data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2013, the author estimates the associations between participation in environmental movements and satisfaction with governments in environmental management. Results show that participation in environmental movements is not associated with individual satisfaction with the central government but is significantly associated with individual satisfaction with the local government when demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are adjusted in models. This finding suggests that public satisfaction and trust in local governments’ environmental governance can promote the public to participate in environmental protection activities. This study also reflects that Chinese individuals believe the local governments can undertake the responsibility of environmental management, suggesting that the central and local governments reach a consensus on environmental management in China.

Advancing Technical Performance in Smart-EcovBuildings Aim to Energy Efficiency: A Comprehensive Analysis for Sustainable Building

Contemporary societies are experiencing transformative changes across various industries, including construction. The surge in energy consumption, driven by factors such as population growth, industrialization, urban development, and the escalating demand for housing, has resulted in a worrisome increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Notably, the building sector accounts for a substantial portion of energy consumption, amounting to approximately 40% of total energy usage and corresponding CO2 emissions. The concept of sustainable architecture gained momentum in the late 20th century, catalyzed by the environmental movement and heightened awareness of the detrimental impact of human activities on the environment. Embracing environmental considerations and drawing inspiration from traditional architecture, sustainable design methodologies emerged, integrating indigenous design principles with modern technology in a harmonious manner. Another avenue toward achieving high-performance architecture lies in the integration of smart building systems. By concurrently emphasizing environmental factors and harnessing the potential of intelligent technologies, a new architectural paradigm termed "Smart-Eco building" emerges, encompassing sustainable architecture within the built environment. Smart-Eco buildings comprise diverse parameters, each containing its own subsections. This study specifically focuses on the parameter of "Technical performance," delving into its subcategories, such as facades, windows, shading systems, roofs, and others. This article examines the importance of window and shading optimization within the context of Smart-Eco buildings. By prioritizing the analysis of window ratios and shading systems, the authors aim to shed light on their role in enhancing technical performance to meet ASHRAE standards. Through an exploration of cutting-edge research and innovative approaches, this study seeks to contribute to the ongoing advancements in sustainable architecture and the creation of environmentally conscious built environments.

The legal status of Colombia’s Paramos: the socio-environmental conflicts

ABSTRACT This article surveys Colombia’s social and environmental conflicts. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world and has more than half of the world’s paramos. The article analyses the dynamics of these conflicts, describing the legal and political framework. Despite the achievements of the social and environmental movements before the high courts and the national and international commitments regarding the conservation of moors, the legal protection of these paramos continues to be uncertain.

Krise? Welche Krise? Die 1970er-Jahre in Österreich aus umwelthistorischer Perspektive

Due to oil prices and terror, the 1970s have been described as a decade of crisis, but in Austria, with a view to the “Kreisky Era”, also as aphase of societal renewal, democratisation, and modernisation. In environmental history, this decade marks the break-through of a consumer and throwaway society with the concurrent formation of a new environmental movement. This article attempts a combination of different historiographical interpretations of the 1970s. With a focus on material and energy flows (‘social metabolism’), the 1970s can be characterised as a decisive late phase of Austria’s transition from an agrarian to an industrial socio-metabolic regime. Austria saw a significant deceleration of economic growth, compared to the “Wirtschaftswunder”, and thus a slowdown in the consumption of nature. This situation was a ”crisis” for most political elites, also blaming the new environmental movement for conflicts over a future energy system.

Die Umweltbewegung in Österreich aus frauen- und geschlechterhistorischer Perspektive. Eine Lang-Zeit-Geschichte

Contemporary historical research on the environmental movement and environmental awareness in Austria essentially lacks two dimensions: the gender perspective and the long-term perspective. The article examines the potential of linking these three areas, environmental history, women’s and gender history, and contemporary history. Theoretical considerations and discussion impulses are grounded in empirical examples to identify continuities and breaks from the 19th to the second half of the 20th century. Aesthetics, health, and care are areas that are examined in terms of their continuities, taking into account the connection between ideas of nature, the environment, and gender. On the other hand, breaks are evident due to wars, technologies, or social changes in consumption. The spatial focus is on Austria, whereas the broader view is on the German-speaking countries.

THE AFFIRMATION OF ECOLOGICAL CAMPAIGN IN IWAN FALS ENVIRONMENT CRITICAL LYRICS

This study aimed to reveal the affirmation of the ecological movement through Iwan Fals' green lyrics. There are three lyrics song chosen in this study, entitled Isi Rimba tak ada tempat berpijak lagi, Tak biru lagi lautku, and Balada orang pedalaman. Actually, there are many liryca by Iwan Fals that told about the environment, but these three themes are taken as a form of musicians' rage towards the increasingly disturbed environment. Ecological Theory is the most effective approach to analyze each verse of this lyric. Garrard (2004) said that eco-critical perception helps to open, determine, explore, and even solve ecological problems in a broader and more detailed manner. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative method, content analysis method or content analysis to examine the contents of a document. The results of this study indicate that 1) Isi Rimba tak ada tempat berpijak lagi as a representation of corrupt capitalist criticism, 2) Tak biru lagi lautku as a figurative form of ecological anxiety, and 3) Balada orang pedalaman as a romance of human life and nature which is lost by the greed of capitalist humans .

Environmental Protest as a Transformative Force for Democracy: The Cases of Poland and Serbia and the Birth of a Different Democratic Matrix

The contribution of environmental movements to eastern Europe’s recent history is underexamined and widely seen as marginal. However, environmental movements were important forces in the democratic transition and continue to guard against authoritarian drift and the weakening of the rule of law. Especially after the Chernobyl disaster, environmental movements in 1980s Poland organised opposition against the military dictatorship and helped lay the ground for the democratic transition. In 2020s Serbia, environmental movements protesting against infrastructure projects that undermine the wellbeing and livelihoods of local populations have formed a democratic alternative to established political elites. Both cases demonstrate the historical and ongoing significance of environmental movements to eastern Europe politics and society and underline how environmental movements expose the flaws and vulnerabilities of undemocratic systems. Drawing on historical research and the experiences of participants, this article shows how environmental movements protect, deepen and shape democracy as practised and experienced.