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Chapter 2 Contested Meanings of
Environment
Two early movements in the United States that
challenged dominant views about the exploitation of
nature- a 19th-century preservationist movement and an
early 20th-century ethic of conservation of nature.
The rise in the 20th-century of a challenge to urban
pollution and a movement to protect human health.
The discourse of environmental justice, which contests a
view of nature as a place apart from the places where
people live and work.
The related movements for sustainability and climate
justice, addressing global climate change.
Chapter 2
In the history of the U.S. Environmental movement, particularly,
four major antagonisms define such recognition of limits, where
new voices challenged the prevailing views of society:
Preservation or conservation of nature versus human exploitation of
nature
Human health versus unregulated business and pollution of the commons (
air, water, and soil)
Environmental justice versus a view of nature as a place apart from the
places where people live and work
Sustainability or climate justice versus unsustainable social and economic
systems
Chapter 2
Challenging the Exploitation of Nature
Romantic and primitivist aesthetics in art and literature- In the 18th and
early 19th centuries, English nature poets and aestheticians such as
William Gilpin “inspired a rhetorical style for articulating and
appreciation of uncivilized nature”
A search for U.S. national identity- Believing that America could not
match Europe's history and soaring cathedrals, advocates of a uniquely
American identity championed the distinctive characteristics of its
landscape.
Transcendentalist ideals- The 19th century philosophy of
transcendentalism also proved an important impetus for revaluing wild
nature. Transcendentalists held that “natural objects assumed importance
because, if rightly seen, they reflected universal spiritual truth.”
Chapter 2
John Muir and the Wilderness Preservation
Movement
Muir’sinfluence and the support of others led to a
national campaign to preserve Yosemite valley.
By 1890, these efforts had resulted in the U.S.
Congress’s creation of Yosemite National Park.
Chapter 2
Conservation: Wise use of Natural Resources
Utilitarianism: The idea of the greatest good for the greatest
number, some in the early 20th century began to promote a new
conservation ethic.
Pinchot, believed that conservation meant, “the wise and efficient
use of natural resources.”
The tension between the discourses of wilderness preservation
and conservation continues to be a feature in some current
debate.
Today, both regional and national environmental groups in the
United States continue to press for measures of protection for the
nation’s remaining wild areas, while different economic interests-
logging and mining companies, real estate developers, and
others- also seek access to many of these same areas.
Chapter 2
Public Health and Pollution of the Commons
By the 1960s, a second antagonism had arisen in the United
States that contested an accepted view of nature as a
space in which an industrialized society could simply dispose
of its air or water pollutants.
With her prescient writings, Rachel Carson is widely
considered the founder of the modern environmental
movement.
By the end of the 1970s, concerns about health also arose
at the local level. Communities became increasingly worried
by the chemical contamination of their air, drinking water,
soil, and school grounds.
Chapter 2
Environmental Justice: Challenging Nature as a Place
Apart
By the 1980s new activists from low-income groups and
communities of color had begun to challenge the view of
nature as a place apart from where people lived and
worked, disclosing a third antagonism in prevailing views of
the environment.
Emerging from these struggles was a robust vision of
environmental justice.
At its core, environmental justice also was a vision of the
democratic inclusion of people and communities in the decisions
that affect their health and well-being.
Chapter 2
Movements for Sustainability and Climate Justice
These challenges often are similar to the antagonisms
described earlier-efforts to protect natural systems,
safeguard human health, and secure social justice.
A fourth antagonism has, therefore, begun to emerge-
the challenge of building a more sustainable world in
the face of disruptive or unsustainable social and
economic systems.
Chapter 3 Social-Symbolic
Constructions of Environment
This social-symbolic perspective focuses on the
sources that constitute or construct our perceptions
of what we consider to be natural or an
environmental problem.
Terministic Screens and Naming
Terministicdescribes the way our language orients us to
see certain things, some aspects of the world, and not
others.
Naming means by which we socially represent objects
or people and therefore know the world, including the
natural world.
Chapter 3
Constructing an Environmental Problem
The social-symbolic construction of nature arises from this ability to
characterize certain facts or conditions one way rather than another
and, therefore, to name it as a problem or not a problem.
A Rhetorical Perspective
The study of rhetoric traces its origins to classical Greek philosopher-
teachers such as Isocrates(436-338 bce) and Aristotle ( 384-322 bce)
Aristotle defined rhetoric as the ability of discovering “in any given case
the available means of persuasion”
Traditionally rhetoric has been viewed as an instrumental or pragmatic
activity- persuading others-its use clearly has a second function: The
purposeful use of language also helps to shape (or constitute) our
perception of the world itself.
Chapter 3
Rhetorical Tropes and Genres
Rhetorical tropes refer to the use of words that turn a
meaning from its original sense in a new direction for a
persuasive purpose.
Rhetorical genres are generally defined as distinct
forms or types of speech that “share characteristics
distinguishing them” from other types of speech.
Chapter 3
Communication Frames
Theterm frame was first popularized by sociologist
Erving Goffman (1974) in his book Frame Analysis.
He defines frames as the cognitive maps or patterns of
interpretation that people use to organize their
understanding of reality.
Theexample of a public health frame illustrates the
role of framing in the construction of a problem or
recommendation of a solution.
Chapter 3
Dominant and Critical Discourses
This concept of discourse reminds us that rhetorical resources
are broader than any single metaphor, frame, or utterance.
Discourse is a recurring pattern of speaking or writing that has
developed socially, that is, from multiple sources; it functions to
“circulate a coherent set of meanings about important topic”.
When a discourse gains a broad or taken-for-granted status
in a culture or when its meanings help to legitimize certain
practices, it can be said to be a dominate discourse.
Alternative ways of speaking, writing, or portraying nature
in art, music, and photographs illustrate critical discourse.
Chapter 3
Visual Rhetorics: Portraying Nature
Visual images have been influential in shaping
Americans’ perceptions of the environment at least since
the 18th and the 19th centuries, particularly in paintings
and photographs of the American West.
Two ways in which visual rhetorics of the environment
function to persuade:
By influencing our perceptions or the way we see certain
aspects of the environment
By constructing what the public believes is an environmental
problem
Chapter 3
Visualizing Environmental Problems
The lack of visual evidence of climate change has been
a problem for scientists in educating the public of the
problem.
Visual images can be sites of contestation, that is,
opponents my challenge or seek to suppress a powerful
image, or they may use a very different image to
visualize the same set of conditions.
Chapter 4 Public Participation in
Environmental Decisions
Public participation is the principle that “those who
are affected by a decision have a right to be
involved in the decision have a right to be involved
in the decision-making process.”
The right to know reflects the principle of transparency
The right to comment reflects the principle of direct
participation in democratic decisions.
The right of standing assumes the principle of
accountability.
Chapter 4
As a result of public pressure for grater access to
information, the U.S. Congress passed the Freedom
of Information Act in 1966.
In 1996 the Congress amended FOIA by passing
the Electronic Freedom of Information Amendments.
Chapter 4
Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know
Act
Passed in 1986
The law requires industries to report to local and state
emergency planners the use and location of specified
chemicals and their facilities.
Chapter 4
Right to Public Comment
Public comment typically takes the form of in-person,
spoken testimony at public hearings exchanges of views
at open meetings, written communication to agencies
and participation on citizen advisory panels.
The right to comment is listed under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1970.
NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare a detailed
environmental impact statement (EIS) for any proposed
legislation or major actions “significantly affecting the
quality of the human environment.”
Chapter 4
Public hearings and Citizen Comments
Public hearings are forums for public comments before
an agency takes action that might significantly affect
the environment.
The comments themselves at public meetings may be
polite or passionate, restrained or angry, or informed
or highly opinionated and emotional.
Chapter 4
Standing and Citizen Suits
The right of citizens to standing developed originally
from common law, wherein individuals who have
suffered and injury in fact to a legally protected right
to seek redress in court.
In 1946 Administrative Procedure Act broadened the
right of judicial review for persons “suffering a legal
wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected
or aggrieved by agency action.”
The second expansion of standing came in the form of
citizen suits in major environmental laws.
Chapter 4
Landmark Cases on Environmental Standing
Citizens’ claims to the right of standing are subject not only
to the provisions of specific statutes but also to judicial
interpretations of the cases and controversies clause in
Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
To determine if a party is a “true adversary,” to U.S.
Supreme Court uses three tests
Persons bringing a case must be able to prove an injury in fact
This injury must be “fairly traceable” to an action of the
defendant
The Court must be able to redress the injury through a favorable
ruling
Chapter 4
Growth of Public Participation Internationally
In the past decade more and more nations have begun
to guarantee public access to information and
implement various forms of public participation in
governmental decisions about the environment.
Chapter 5 Managing Conflict:
Collaboration and Environmental
Disputes
The dissatisfaction with some form of public
participation, such as public hearings, has pushed
people to find alternatives for managing
environmental conflicts: citizens’ advisory
committees, natural resources partnerships, and
community-based collaborations.
Chapter 5
Collaborating to Resolve Environmental conflicts
Collaboration is less competitive.
Collaboration features mutual learning and fact finding.
Collaboration allows underlying value differences to be explored.
Collaboration resembles principled negotiation, focusing on the interests
rather than positions.
Collaboration allocates the responsibility for implementation across may
parties.
Collaboration’s conclusions are generated by participants throught an
interactive, iterative, and reflective process.
Collaboration is often an ongoing process.
Collaboration has the potential to build individual and community
capacity in such areas as conflict management, leadership, decision
making, and communications.
Chapter 5
Two other forms of conflict resolution
Arbitration is usually court ordered and involves the
presentation of opposing views to a neutral third-party
individual or panel that, in turn, renders a judgment
about the conflict.
Mediation is a facilitated effort entered into voluntarily
or at the suggestion of a court, counselor, or other
institution.
Chapter 5
Requirements for Successful Collaboration
Relevant stakeholders are at the table.
Participants adopt a problem-solving approach.