The role of the Internet in shaping environmental concern. A focus on post-communist Europe
Journal Title: Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology - Year 2010, Vol 1, Issue 2
Abstract
Common sense, as well as scientific evidence, frequently use the generalization that compared to the citizens of the West, citizens of the ex-communist countries are less environmentally concerned as far as during the communist past they were not socialized to behave in an environmentally conscious manner and after the regime change were much more concerned with the economical survival than with environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviours. The paper tries to answer the question if new communication technologies, particularly the Internet, can have a decisive role in socializing people towards environmental concern and environmental practices in the postcommunist countries. For this purpose the data set of the Special Eurobarometer 68.2 is used. Analysis shown that in the post-communist member states of the EU Internet use has a significant role in enhancing people’s environmental concern both in terms of perceived environmental information, environmental attitudes and especially environmentally friendly consumerism. Energy saving behaviours and environmentally friendly travelling behaviours were not, or were less dependent on the Internet use when socio-demographics were controlled. Results suggested that technological flux, understood in terms of broadband Internet penetration, is also a decisive factor in enhancing environmental concern.
Authors and Affiliations
Laura Nistor
Narratives as instrumental research and as attempts of fixing meaning1. The uses and misuses of the concept of “narratives”
Narratives are the most important means of fixing the meaning of events and of the social and cultural construction of reality. This is the main assertion of this text, together with a detailed explanation of what is t...
Advertising identities: virtual galleries as places of identity
This paper is focused on the public presentation of self through virtual art galleries, singling out the field of photography. Photography has always been disputed as being part of the highbrow arts because of its popu...
Ageing well? A cross-country analysis of the way older people are visually represented on websites of organizations for older people
The ‘aging well’ discourse advances the idea of making older people responsible for their capability to stay healthy and active. In the context of an increased ageing population, which poses several challenges to count...
(Re)telling a dog story from Newfoundland: Voice, alterity and the art of ethnographic description
This paper addresses the question of how and why we (anthropologists and sociologists) tell stories of real people doing real stuff. It will consider this question by reflecting on three versions of a story that I have...
A love letter
This letter tells the story of a young woman and a man I met during fieldwork with some university students in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2007/08. Here, Hiranthi - the narrator - writes a letter to her boyfriend of nine mon...