Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Working Class And Ecological Crisis - An Interview With Victor Wallis, Victor Wallis

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Raju Das and Robert Latham interview Victor Wallis about his work and the environmental crisis of capitalism.

Examining Appalachian Realignment, Ali Graham

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The Appalachian region is a unique case within American politics, yet it has not been given much attention by political scientists. In the 1990s and 2000s, the area underwent a political realignment, shifting from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican one. I plan to examine proposed theories of realignment in the context of Appalachia to determine the root cause of this shift. I expect to find a relationship between the adoption of environmentalism as a Democratic principle and the change in Appalachian voting behavior because of the prominence of the coal industry in the region. I will use statistical analysis …

The Violent Narrowing Of Animal Life, Tony Weis

Animal Studies Journal

Mainstream environmentalism has long prioritized wild animals and their habitats while paying little attention to the explosive growth of global livestock production and consumption. However, this blind spot to livestock is changing quickly, in large part because of the rising general awareness of the resource and emissions intensity of animal-based foods and how it relates the interwoven crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This paper considers both the fertile ground for animal advocacy to be found in the mounting scientific evidence about environmental inefficiencies of animal-based foods, and the need to be attentive to the risks it bears. The …

It's Hard To Believe There Are People There, Lily Rose Peña

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Masculinity is a precarious and highly valued social identity. Threatening masculinity leads to a range of compensatory responses to recover manhood, which may also impact men’s engagement in sustainable behaviors. Men might embrace or avoid pro-environmentalism when a masculine or feminine gender identity is signaled. The current research applied processes of gender socialization and identity maintenance to the context of environmentalism across two studies. Overall findings showed that masculinity threats can have varied consequences in sustainable contexts, moderated by men’s level of identification with their gender. Study 1 (N = 208) examined if pro-environmental behaviors acted as a threat …

A Material Stratum: Black Bodies And Environmental Exploitation In Edward P. Jones' The Known World, Julia Woodward

The Quiet Corner Interdisciplinary Journal

This paper seeks to reckon with the entwined realities of black lives, environmental degradation, and the Anthropocene through engagement with Edward P. Jones’ 2003 novel The Known World and Kathryn Yusoff’s recent critical work on the Black Anthropocenes. Yusoff contends that, “Literally stretching black and brown bodies across the seismic fault lines of the earth, Black Anthropocenes subtend White Geology as a material stratum,” (xii). This paper will examine the ways in which Yusoff and Jones are in conversation, and try to elucidate the ways in which the Anthropocene is both built upon and a harbinger of mass death. How …

Persuasive Campaign: Pepperdine Climate Action Initiative, Dawnielle L. Wright, Ruth Childress

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

What does it do to a university's credibility if they do not believe in science? 97% or more of climate scientists agree that climate warming over the last century is due to anthropogenic activity (NASA, 2022). However, Pepperdine University is a climate denier in the face of a scientific consensus (Levens, 2022). The Pepperdine administration has refused to admit that anthropogenic climate change is real with the reasoning of "encouraging debate" on the topic (Levens, 2022). Students are upset at this claim due to the implication that climate change is negatively affecting vulnerable populations around the globe, and Christians are …

Reduce, Reuse And Deny: How Sustainability Is Judged By Consumers, Madison E. Hill

Student Research Symposium

This research was an analysis of a series of interviews regarding what factors are considered when deciding if a given product is environmentally friendly or not. Participants were asked to select between products or practices as the generally more sustainable option, and were asked to explain their reasoning for that decision. Participants were encouraged to describe their reasoning behind each choice, but it was noted when certain choices were more challenging than others. Products that green-wash effectively generate trust between consumers trying to ‘do their part’ and industries attempting to capitalize on each side of environmental crises. Most sustainable practices …

Wilderness Is Not A Safe Space: How Nature Has Been Used As A Form Of Oppression Towards Black People Throughout American History, Dorothy Irrera

English Honors Theses

This Capstone won Skidmore's Racial Justice Student Award. An analysis of literature, American history, and pop culture, Wilderness Is Not a Safe Space: How Nature Has Been Used as a Form of Oppression Towards Black People Throughout American History uses a sociological lens to approach the inherent relationship between racism and wilderness.

The Research And Design Of Sustainlnk: An Online Hub Of Sustainability Resources In Lincoln, Nebraska, Kayla Kremke

Honors Theses

SustainLNK (www.sustainlnk.org) is a website serving as a hub of sustainability resources in Lincoln, Nebraska. The site began as a personal project before becoming my UNL Honors Program Senior Project in Spring 2021, and consists of a website of resources along with two social media accounts providing more timely updates on sustainability-related events. This document outlines the thought and planning that was behind the development of the resource, along with relevant links to grow a deeper understanding of this new community resource.

The Future Of Humankind: Comparative Cross-Cultural Study Of Youth Environmental Engagement And Environmental Outcomes, Lyudmyla Tsykalova

All Dissertations

Throughout history, the relationship of humans with nature evolved with culture. Climate change calls for a cultural shift in how we relate to nature and fellow humans, pointing to the need to rethink most human activities. Youth are frequently seen as agents of change. However, the widespread understanding that youth environmental engagement is necessary and brings more sustainable outcomes has almost no supporting empirical evidence. Research is needed to reveal whether youth environmental engagement is related to climate policies and ecological consequences and how this engagement varies across cultures.

Based on data from over 300,000 15-year-olds from 40 countries across …

Fear And Skepticism: A Changing Climate During The Trump Era, Devin Lopez

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Public awareness of the climate crisis has increased over the past several decades due in part to increased exposure to climate science and the drastic reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This report uses the past four years of the Chapman Survey on American Fears to track the groups most fearful of climate change and those who have high levels of environmental concern. The variables tracked across these years include individual income, education level, age, political ideology and party identification, as well as the extent to which one believes the Bible is literal in its content. These …

The Role Of Sex: An Analysis Of U.S. Attitudes Toward Climate Change, Chloe Riggs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the intersection of sex, environmental risk perception of climate change, and feminism. More specifically, with a sample size of 8,280 respondents from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2020 Times Series Study, this research examines the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and sympathy for feminism, controlling for sex, as well as if a measure of sympathy for feminism influences pro-environmental attitudes, controlling for demographic (age, education, race, sex, and income) and political preference (political ideology and party affiliation) variables. Previous literature strongly supports a sex gap in risk perception, a pattern known as the White Male Effect (WME) …

The Stages Of Environmentalism And How The Movement Can Be Maintained Through Generation Z, Emma Jean Vanden Brink

Masters Theses

The state of a social movement is characterized by the stages through which it progresses. The environmentalism movement began hundreds of years ago when humans first noticed how significantly their actions influenced the nature around them. The movement advanced with the arrival of the industrial era and modern society. According to Stewart et al. (2012), there are five main stages through which a social movement proceeds: genesis, social unrest, enthusiastic mobilization, maintenance, and termination. Today, environmentalism is in the maintenance stage, as determined by the current organizational structure of the movement. The objective of this study was to determine how …

Online Activism And Real Life Environmentalism, Emily Grace Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Past and present human activities have created and accelerated an array of environmental catastrophes and various systems in the environment remain under threat as a result of human behavior. In hopes of mitigating environmental consequences, a social movement has arisen to encourage people to behave in ways that are more environmentally sustainable. Research shows that individual behavior choices impact the environment, and this influence can be used to positively affect the environment through engagement in pro-environmental behavior. Like with many other social movements, the internet has been a tool in spreading awareness of a cause and allowing people the opportunity …

Discrepancies Amongst Utc Students' Diets And Their Understanding Of Their Role In Environmental Activism, Claire Reticker

Honors Theses

The present research attempts to analyze why university students claim a love for the outdoors but do not use means of dietary action to protect the environment. Through an extensive analysis of corresponding literature, the effects of gender, age, motivation, barriers, and attitudes are examined as they relate to diet. To obtain data regarding these effects, students enrolled in online or hybrid classes at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) were sent a survey via Google Forms, with 129 students willingly responding. Previous to survey collection and statistical analysis, I hypothesized that if students rated their love of the outdoors …

Moral Circles And Mind Perception Shift Perceptions Of Effective Altruism, Kyle Fiore Law

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Across a re-analysis of an existing dataset (Study 1; N = 96) and a higher-powered new study (Study 2; N = 300), we reveal that moral valuation of environmentalism over humanitarianism predicts less favorable moral judgments of effective altruism (i.e., welfare-maximizing socially distant altruism directed at humans) that is performed at the exclusion of helping animals in need. Furthermore, this relationship is explained by tendencies in mind perception to dehumanize outgroup members and stigmatized humans, rather than tendencies to anthropomorphize animals (Study 2). These findings reveal that granular versus aggregate individual differences in moral circles and mind perception may be …

Changing Fashion: An Analysis Of Social Media Activism Targeting The Fashion Industry, Grace Scully

Honors Scholar Theses

The fashion industry is a primary contributor to the climate crisis. Fast fashion in particular has accelerated the industry’s harm to the environment by encouraging exceedingly fast production, greater consumption, and the disposability of clothing. It also has social impacts - the working conditions of and wages paid to garment workers consistently endanger their health and well-being, as well as the well-being of their families. Industry-wide changes are needed to solve these environmental and social issues. Collective action plays a crucial role in movements pursuing large-scale change. The environmental movement would benefit greatly from a focus on collective action, but …

Gary, Indiana And The Us Steel Corporation: An Examination Of Race, Class, And Environmental Injustice In Early Twentieth Century Urban Planning, Laura Rose Allaben

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Gary, Indiana was widely regarded as one of the most successful and promising industrial American cities of its time. Gary was founded by the United States Steel Corporation to be a "model" industrial city created by a private corporation. Gary is unique in that the city was conceptualized, planned, and constructed by a private entity, with little public or governmental input, for the purpose of serving the US Steel industry. As "groundbreaking" and "innovative" as the urban planning of Gary was supposed to be, conditions of segregation in the city caused by a divide between the premiere steel mills and …

Waste Politics In Asia And Global Repercussions, Adam Liebman

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond Jair Bolsonaro: The Making Of Brazil’S Environmental Crisis, Emma E. Sandman

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

What Makes Green Parties Successful: A Comparative Analysis Of Germany, Austria, And France, Macy Miller

Honors Theses

Starting in the 1980s, green parties began to make their debut. Their establishment was considered to be largely in response to environmental and anti-nuclear movements. Although their history has been quite brief, these parties have been making waves throughout the world. Throughout this research, a pattern arises between economic stability and quality of life, mainstream party competition, policy positions, and green voters themselves when examining the success of the green parties. In particular, they have demonstrated great success in the European Union. In an attempt to explain this success, this research explores three specific green parties: the German, the Austrian, …

Distinction Between Indigenous And Western Cultural Conceptions Of The Earth And Its Relation To The Environment, John M. Zak

Student Publications

The differences between Indigenous and Western cultural conceptions of the Earth is a major cleavage between both communities and a source of tension and misunderstanding. Native American religious beliefs in communal ethics, the belief in the Earth and nature more broadly being a source of spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment, has encouraged Native Americans to work to safeguard the environment they feel a spiritual connection to. This is contrasted in Western notions of human centrality that encourages Western consumer economies to exploit resources for commercial profit that has led to the dispossession of Native lands and desecration of its sacredness in …

Human Confusion: Why There Must Be Justice For Non-Humans, David Johns

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last twelve millennia—since agriculture first emerged—humans have increased their exploitation and efforts to control other species and to colonize the Earth. Human on human hierarchy and colonization of other humans follows on the colonization of the natural world. The task of conservation is to undo that colonial relationship. We have been causing the extinction of other life-forms, including hominid species, since we left Africa at least 60,000 years ago. In the last 50 years, or just about two human generations, nearly 68% of all vertebrate animals have disappeared due to human activity (WWF 2020). Humans go into an …

Consumer Response To Green Brands Vs. Traditional Brands On Digital Platforms: An Analysis Through A Series Of Case Studies, Madison Busick

Honors Scholar Theses

In the age of environmental crisis, consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their decisions. Accordingly, many companies seek to provide more eco-friendly and sustainable products while building their brand around these values. Consumers also are increasingly using and engaging on social media and other digital platforms. But just how well do these "green" brands do in the digital space? This study aims to compare differences between brands that embody environmentalist values and traditional brands with a variety of case studies across several consumer goods segments including clothing, cosmetics, and technology. The data is collected from a variety …

Critical Reflections On America’S Green New Deal: Capital, Labor, And The Dynamics Of Contemporary Social Change, Alex Stoner

Journal Articles

The increasing urgency of the current climate crisis has been accompanied by a growing desire for constructive answers on how to confront the situation effectively and meaningfully. Yet, the pace of global climate change (GCC) continues to accelerate more rapidly than societal, institutional, and individual responses can be formed. The gap between increasingly sophisticated knowledge of objective biophysical threat, on the one hand, and our ability to transform society in accordance with this awareness, on the other hand, highlights the importance of ideology. Ideological barriers have become a major stumbling block for climate change activists and researchers. Focusing on the …

Mobilizing The Social Power Of Iconic And Performative Texts For Justice And Reform, James Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

In the ten years of its existence, SCRIPT has succeeded in promoting and publishing an increasing variety of scholarship on iconic and performative texts. Culturally specific studies have provided the basis for comparative theorizing about the phenomena. This body of scholarship has put us in a better position to analyze current events involving iconic books and performative texts. It can also enable us to make creative suggestions for strengthening movements for justice and social reform by ritualizing iconic and performative texts. Here, I provide three examples of how to employ SCRIPT research to strengthen contemporary movements for social and environmental …

Crawl Space: Driving Over The Anthropocene In A Jeep, Michael Pesses

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The automobile has long been directly and indirectly connected to human conceptions of nature, yet few studies linger with the act of driving as a practice that contributes to how nature is experienced. I argue that a more nuanced understanding of automobility is necessary for any scholars who study both social practices and environmental sustainability. Following the work of the human geographer Doreen Massey, I explore how relations between humans and non-humans, the social and the natural, ideology and practice work together to produce places specific to space and time. I also argue that American automobility is not simply transportation, …

Selling Just Preservation, Scott W. Danielson, Andrew J. Vonasch

Animal Sentience

Treves et al. argue for better representation of voiceless groups in current policy decisions. We agree with the argument but believe it will be challenging to convince enough people of its importance to change policy — especially those political groups who are not predisposed to agreeing with these kinds of arguments. We draw on the social psychology literature to recommend three principles for increasing the persuasiveness of the argument to the public: pre-suasion, framing, and tailoring for the audience. We apply these principles to make concrete recommendations for framing the argument to persuade the American political right.

Aesthetic Education In The Anthropocene, Nathaniel Williams

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This big picture study wrestles with the environmental crisis and the digital revolution, two grand themes of our century. Their grand scale is evident in their global significance, which we can anticipate will only grow in coming decades. Will these collective developments be met in such a way that democracy and individuality can be expanded and preserved? This study contributes to this query, offering a new articulation of aesthetic education that draws on a discourse reaching back to Friedrich Schiller, while incorporating many contemporary theorists. The study suggests that the environmental crisis and the digital revolution are creating a perfect …