Postmaterial Values and Environmental Policy Change

Abstract

This paper advances the proposition that environmental policy may be particularly suited as a vehicle for the articulation of post‐material values in advanced industrial societies, and that recognition of this is likely to prove enormously helpful in future comparative and cross‐national research into the origins of environmentalism and the causes of environmental policy change. The paper notes the salient characteristics of postmaterialism and the overlap of these with the leading indicators of environmentalism. Possible structural causes for this overlap are noted and opposed to the prevailing socialization explanation for the adoption of postmaterial and environmental values. To help understand the impact of environmentalism on policy an idealized development of the movement is sketched. This leads to the description of a set of general factors likely to be related to the way environmentalism finds political expression in various countries. In the final section, the focus is on what we might want to know about the policy process in order to be able to gauge environmentalist influence on policy outputs.

The social bases of environmentalism in Australia

“…In fact, age effects are entirely absent for environmental group membership, and participation in demonstrations. This is an important finding, as previous studies show that the young tend to be more supportive of environmental groups (for example, Van Liere and Dunlap 1980, Watts and Wandesforde-Smith 1981, Inglehart 1990a, 1990b, Eyerman and Jamison 1991, Abramson and Inglehart 1992, Inglehart and Abramson 1994. Again, there is some variation in the impact of age on different aspects of environmentalism.…”

“…The research literature on environmentalism indicates that environmental concerns and support for environmental groups is strongest among younger people (for example see Van Liere and Dunlap 1980, Watts and Wandesforde-Smith 1981, Inglehart 1990b, Eyerman and Jamison 1991, Abramson and Inglehart 1992. A correlate of support for environmentalisminvolvement in 'radical' political activities such as protests and demonstrations -is also stronger among the young (Bean 1991:265).…”

“…Postmaterialist value orientations are often associated with increased involvement in new social movements, especially environmental movements (lnglehart 1990a, 1990b, Watts and Wandesforde-Smith 1981, Milbrath 1981. Inglehart (1990a:66) explains the rise of these new political phenomena by claiming that a "process of intergenerational value change is gradually transforming the politics and cultural norms of advanced societies.…”

Political Ecology and the Social Sciences – The State of the Art

“…Recently, there has been a wave of articles drawing on the concept of 'post-materialist value change' as a major explanatory factor for the rise of environmentalism, though some of them do express reservations about one or other element of Inglehart's theory (Watts 1979;Watts and Wandesforde-Smith 1981;Muller-Rommel and Wilke 1981;Handley and Watts 1981;Muller-Rommel 1982a. Corroborating survey data suggest that 'postmaterialists' are more likely than 'materialists' to:…”

Public policy for dangerous inventions

“…Their focus is on society-wide risk assessments. Many social scientists have provided support for the Douglas-Wildavsky conclusion that objective measures of dangers are not reliable predictors of how a society will treat a given cause of death and injury (Schwing 1979(Schwing , 1980Bower 1968: 111-15, Watts andWandesforde-Smith 1981).…”