Vancouver Island's old growth temperate rainforest has been the focal point in the
conflict between environmentalists and forestry workers. While a substantial body of
sociological literature exists on participants in the environmental movement (EM), there
is a dearth of literature on participants in anti-environmentalist countermovements.
Share Our Resources of Port Alberni (Share) is a countermovement organization that
emerged to act as a voice for forestry workers and resource dependent communities and
to counter the 'misinformation' being spread by environmentalists. The conflict over
forestry and conservation is fuelled as environmentalists become the "other" against
which Share members mobilize and construct their collective identity - an collective
identity characterized by a core of pro-industry, pro-community and anti-environmental
sentiments.
This thesis addresses two research questions: First, what are the underlying
differences between members of the two movements with respect to their socio-demographics,
values, networks, and collective identities? Second, if certain factors are
important in explaining identification with the EM, then what factors are important in
explaining identification with Share.
Using bivariate correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, three sources of
data are analyzed: self-administered questionnaires sent to both Share (N=129) and EM
members (N=381); and a telephone survey of the general public of Port Alberni (N=100).
My results show that Share respondents are predominantly older, working class men
employed in the forest industry without a great deal of formal education. Share members
more highly value anthropocentrism and are more politically conservative. Identification
with the forest industry is the strongest and most significant predictor of identification
with Share. The most theoretically interesting and surprising finding is that out-group
ties or ties to environmentalists, is a positive and statistically significant predictor of
identification with Share.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11723 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Mauboulès, Céline |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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