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Issue 7.2 Abstracts

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Identities and Actions within Environmental Groups

By Anne Kitchell, Willett Kempton, Dorothy Holland, and Danielle Tesch

Individuals' self-described identities were hypothesized to change as a result of participation in voluntary face-to-face groups engaged in environmental action. Semi-structured interviews and a standard interview test of identity were conducted with 159 members of 20 environmental groups and 2 non-group comparison samples from North Carolina and the Delmarva Peninsula. In agreement with the theoretical literature, interview text suggests that individual identity forms and changes over time-we refer to these transitions as "reformulations." Definitions of self that prevent the further development of an identity as an environmentalist, or that lead to an unwillingness to perform a particular environmental action, are here called "barriers." Interviews were coded for identities, reformulations, barriers, and actions taken, revealing significant differences across types of groups. Although some of the variation among groups may be explained by prior individual differences leading a person to join a compatible group, the qualitative interview data suggest that many of the differences come about in the processes of participating in the group and carrying out actions encouraged by the group. This perspective on action, that it leads to identity formation, is in contrast to a traditional view that environmental actions follow from attitudes, values, or knowledge of environmental damage.

Keywords: environmental groups, identity, new social movements, civic action, identity change

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Grassroots Leadership, Personality, and Urban Neighborhood Environments: A Case Study in New Jersey

By Michael Greenberg

Grassroots leaders are crucial in stabilizing and improving neighborhood quality. But who are they? What are their demographic and personality characteristics? How do they perceive their neighborhood environments? A survey was conducted of 35 neighborhood leaders and 250 other respondents who chose them. The leaders participated in twice as many types of neighborhood activities as the people who selected them. The leaders were more optimistic, felt that they had considerable control over what goes on in the neighborhood, and coped with neighborhood problems using a multiplicity of outreach methods. Notably they were less reliant on television and radio for neighborhood information. Leaders also trusted the office of the mayor and officials elected to represent them in the state legislature, although much more so in high quality than in poor quality neighborhoods. Leaders were not markedly different from other respondents with regard to demographic characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity, education and perceptions of their neighborhoods.

Keywords: urban neighborhood, grassroots leadership, civic activities, personality

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Natural Amenities and Population Growth in the Greater Yellowstone Region

By Ray Rasker and Andrew Hansen

Much of the recent growth in population, jobs and income in the Greater Yellowstone Region, as well as other parts of the rural West, has been driven by ecological and social amenities, in contrast to the historical dependence on resource extractive industries and agriculture. This shift has been fueled by an increase in service occupations, retirement and investment income. Using the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and the Greater Yellowstone Region as examples, statistical tests were conducted to test the relative influence of ecological, amenity, social and economic variables on rural population growth. The results indicate that ecological and amenity variables are necessary conditions for growth, but they are not sufficient. An educated workforce and access to larger markets via air travel are also important.

Keywords: rural development, amenities, Greater Yellowstone

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Cockroach Is Good for Asthma: Zootherapeutic Practices in Northeastern Brazil

By Eraldo M. Costa-Neto and Maria Vanilda M. Oliveira

This paper deals with the use of 34 animals that are prescribed as folk medicines, cosmetics, and charms in the county of Tanquinho, Northeastern of the State of Bahia, Brazil. Data were obtained by performing semi-structured interviews with local residents from Tanquinho community. The animal-based medicines come from insects, arachnids, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. These resources provide 46 raw materials that are recommended to treat a wide range of common illnesses and injuries. The results show how important this ethnozoological phenomenon is, and indicate that traditional knowledge on zootherapy is to be studied in order to lead to the discovery of new sources of drugs.

Keywords: ethnozoology, folk medicine, zootherapy, sustainability, Brazil

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Fishing and Niche Dimensions for Food Consumption of Caiçaras from Ponta do Almada (Brazil)

By Natalia Hanazaki and Alpina Begossi

In this research we analyze the diet of the caiçara population in Ponta do Almada (Brazil), regarding to the items of animal origin such as fish, and its connection to local fishing activities. Observations of fishing activities and diet were made every two months during 1995-6. Diet data were collected from a total of 436 meals of 12 randomly selected families and 89 fishing trips. Fish was the main animal protein consumed, but there was no direct relationship between fish catches and fish consumed per month, even though some of the most frequently caught species were observed in the diet. Niche breadth for animal protein consumed was larger for families of full time fishermen. The reduction of traditional occupations (such as fisheries and small-scale agriculture) and the increasing dependence on urban centers and on activities related to tourism may result in changes in the dietary patterns of caiçaras.

Keywords: diet, fishing, caiçaras, Atlantic Rain Forest, Brazil

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The Phenomenology of Global Warming: The Role of Proposed Solutions as Competitive Factors in the Public Arenas of Discourse

By Jerry Williams

Even in the face of growing evidence that global warming is a very real threat to human social systems, global warming has received relatively little media coverage. From a phenomenological perspective this paper explores the possibility that one reason for this limited coverage may be that on an experiential level, proposed solutions offered for global warming have not provided closure to the loss of taken-for-grantedness associated with the problematic disturbance of the everyday life-world brought about by the initial problem claim. To address this issue the public arenas model of social problems (Hilgartner and Bosk 1988) is extended through a discussion of social action and typification drawn from the phenomenology of Alfred Schutz. A content analysis of UPI wire reports, Readers Guide articles, and Science articles from 1976 to 1998 suggests that the types of proposed solutions to global warming in these sources have largely not permitted the taken-for-grantedness of the life-world to be maintained. As a result media coverage of global warming has declined over the last twenty years and counter claims have become a significant part of the discourse.

Keywords: phenomenology, global warming, environmental problems

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