Another Turn of the Screw on the Environmental Opinions: Utilising Surveys and Social Discourses to Investigate the Social Perception of Environmental Issues

摘要

In this paper, we explore the nature of the contradictions between capitalism and the environment as they emerge under new conditions of stress and austerity in Spanish contexts. These contradictions show how shallow the roots of urban post-materialism can be. They also show that post-materialism, which is embedded in the different habitus that can characterise rural lifestyles can have a stronger base. Ironically, however, it is precisely these lifestyles which are being threatened by top-down nature conservation practices being pursued in the Spanish State. We analyse the results of several surveys centred on enviromnental issues and compare the results with social discourses that arise from a specific study carried out in protected areas located in the Spanish State. In the introduction, the researchers present theoretical arguments that have played a fundamental role in shaping the social opinions on the topic of the environmentalism. In the first part, we explore the opinions revolving around enviromnental concern. In the second part, we focus on practices and social profiles that reflect enviromnentally sustainable behaviours. In the third part, we concentrate on our qualitative study and evaluate a paradoxical situation with respect to conservation. In protected areas, top-down conservation is imposed; however. many of these areas are also located in rural populations where a type of environmental conservation related to their way of life and everyday practices is part of their traditional knowledge.