How May Local Identities Contribute to the Environmental Orientation of Russia?
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概要
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The specific sociocultural and environmental characteristics of contemporary Russia and Russians were researched. It is proved and illustrated in the article that the local identity as one of the main human characteristics is not only sociocultural but environmental parameter as well. The most important environmental indices of local identity are the following: 1) the level of support of the local "green" movements given by the inhabitants of towns as a form of a local community and the environmental solidarity; 2) the local patriotism development; 3) the perception of the environment pollution as a specific measure of the degree of environmental degradation in towns. In the environmental context the development of local patriotism may by measured by the part of the inhabitants of town that do not want to abandon the town and prefer to live just their. The investigation is based on the official information about 96,300 inhabitants of towns in former USSR (1990), according by the State Statistic Committee of the USSR, other information (1996) and our own material (2002-2003, 3050 respondents). Using the criterion of the ratio between proponents and opponents of "green" movements, we identified macroregions that may be interpreted as various civilizations: Western Christin civilization (Latvia, Lithania, Estonia - the ratio 3:1); Slavic civilization (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine as well as Kazakhstan - the ratio 1:1); Islamic civilization (Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzberistan - the ratio 1:10) as well as the limitrophe civization zone: Armenia, Georgia, Kirghizia, Moldova - the ratio 1:3. Superposition of the two directly proportional dependences that determine the level of support of the local "greens" (accompanied by the growing local patriotism and degradation of environment) accounts for the cyclical dependence that contains two "turning points". Initially, the level of support extended to "green" movements is rather high (relatively clean environment; high level of local patriotism). However, as local patriotism dwindles, its role as the determinant of environmental activity declines visibly: it ceases to be the leading determinant of environmental activity and gives way to the factor of environmental degradation, in which case the level of support of "green" movements is abruptly accelerated (even though the factor of local patriotism, albeit reduced, remains as an important "background"). Yet, when environmental degradation reaches its maximum, there comes "environmental depression", i.e. an abrupt drop, to zero, of the support given to "green movements" ("fear followed by apathy"). The resultant curve is similar to the well-known A. J. Toinbee's formula: "The most stimulating impact is one generated by a challenge of average force"; "excessive harshness of challenge determines delay of civilization growth, short of its death". Interestingly that the directly-proportional dependence between the level of environmental pollution and support of "green" movements, complying with the "European common sense" and economic logic, can be easily reproduced, if we add up the number if respondents supporting the "green" movements, and the number of their opponents (aggregate interest to the problem of environment", which brings together those "not indifferent to the "greens" as distinct from "undecided" and "ignorant of the "greens" activity). However, in this case, too, we are faced with an insufficiently high (insufficiently modernized?) level of local identity. The data for 2002-2003 indicate that the level of ecocultural movements is higher by an order of magnitude, yet these movements do not have proper institutions. The dependence of much greater support of local "green" movements in medium-size towns was shown. The specificity of the environmental reactions of Asian Russia population is similar to that of single-sidedly industrial towns population; while the environmental reactions of European Russia population is similar to that of polyfunctional towns population.