Colonial and post-colonial aspects of Australian identity

Since the 1988 Bicentennial and the 2001 centenary of federation celebrations colonial images have flourished in Australia, highlighting the roles of convicts and free settlers during early colonization. Old sites, such as Port Arthur have been re-invigorated, and in 2004 Tasmanians celebrated the bicentenary of ‘white’ settlement. However, social scientists have given little attention to the role of colonial and post-colonial figures and myths as aspects of Australian national identity. We seek to address this issue by examining how convicts, free settlers, bushrangers and ANZACs are associated with contemporary identity in Australia. We examine evidence from the 2003Australian Survey of Social Attitudes and find that historical figures such as the ANZACs and post-World War II immigrants comprise important aspects of national identity.A substantial majority of Australians judged ANZACs to be important, countering recent claims of the ‘demise of the digger’. Sporting heroes are also at the core of Australian identity. Colonial figures appear to be far less important, although views on national identity vary according to social location. In particular, left-wing, university educated, younger, postmaterialistAustralians view convicts and bushrangers as relatively important, indicating the salience of the larrikin in Australian identity

The social bases of environmentalism in Australia

The nature of support for environmentalism - conceptualised here as attitudes and behaviour supportive of ecological prudence and the green movement - has grown to become a major issue of contention among contemporary social scientists. Some researchers suggest that support for environmentalism stems from a 'new' or 'new middle' class, post World War II generation and, in particular, from among highly educated and left leaning urban dwellers. Others maintain that social location has diminishing utility for explaining social phenomena, and claim instead that new value orientations are the key to understanding support for environmental movements and concerns. This research aims at reviewing and evaluating these claims. Part I reviews the theoretical arguments underlying the diverse class, generation and social status accounts of environmentalism. Critical evaluation of these accounts forms a springboard for empirical analysis. Part II examines empirically the social bases of environmentalism in Australia using nationally representative survey data. The impact of (new) class, status group, generation/cohort, and other aspects of social location, as well as 'postmaterial' values on environmental concerns and activism is assessed using multivariate techniques. Particular attention is paid to the hypothesis that support for environmentalism in Australia comes from certain status categories of people sharing similar lifestyles. In general, there is a weak relationship between social location and environmental commitment and activism, although the relative explanatory value of social location varies according to the aspect of environmentalism under consideration. Age, new class location, postmaterialist value orientations and political partisanship are the best predictors of environmental concerns and activism, while lifestyle also has an impact upon environmental group support. While 'social base' effects are discernible, they have limited utility for explaining environmental new politics. Like other aspects of the new politics, environmental concerns and activism in Australia are detached from the 'old' social bases of class, generation and status. Green supporters and sympathisers in Australia do not form clearly circumscribed social groupings, and they do not seem to be motivated by the traditional group interests that propelled 'old' politics. The social constituencies of environmentalism appear to be vague and fluid thus posing a major challenge to the established sociological approaches to environmentalism

It's only natural: conservatives and climate change in Australia

With near consensus over the causes of climate change among scientific experts, only two-thirds of Australians believe that most scientists are in agreement. Ninety per cent claim climate change is occurring, yet almost one third claim climate change has ‘natural‘ causes. Women, ’global citizens’, those who mainly consume public broadcast news and those with high self-assessed knowledge of climate change are most likely to believe that climate change is occurring and has mainly anthropogenic causes.As in other advanced industrialised countries, political divisions over the causes of climate change run deep in Australia. Australians who identify with conservative political parties are far more likely than those aligned with other parties to reject anthropogenic climate change, with conservative men, those living in rural areas, and on the right of ideological spectrum most likely to believe climate change is happening, but has mainly ‘natural’ causes. Politically conservative Australians remain sceptical of the risks of climate change, although even the majority of conservatives believe that climate change will seriously threaten the lifestyles of the next generation

Climate scepticism in Australia and in international perspective

The 2016 State of the Climate report produced by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO states that ‘Global average annual carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are steadily increasing’ and that ‘Australia’s climate has warmed in both mean surface air temperature and surrounding sea surface temperature by around 1°C since 1910’. While the rate of planetary warming remains a topic of scientific interest, estimates of the proportion of climate scientists who agree that anthropogenic climate change is occurring range between 90 and 100 per cent (Powell 2015; Cook et al. 2013; Anderegg et al. 2010; Doran and Zimmerman 2009; Oreskes 2004)

Environmentalism and Education in Australia

Tertiary education, seen as an indicator of new class and/or highly developed cognitive capacities, is a key characteristic of environmental activists and supporters. The relationship between higher education and environmental activism can be usefully explored through analyses of nationally representative survey data from Australia, and various aspects of education can be operationalised, including social background, cultural consumption, and level and type of tertiary qualifications. Controlling for other factors, tertiary education can be shown to be a moderate predictor of joining environmental groups, but to be far more important for explaining environmental activism. The propensity to be environmentally active is fostered through education in the more 'radical' humanities disciplines. The results of such an enquiry highlight the salience of an 'intellectual' status category as a base of environmental activism

Political divisions over climate change and environmental issues in Australia

Willingness to pay to address environmental problems is influenced by partisanship in Australia. Ceteris paribus, the support base of environmental concerns is generally much stronger among Labor and Green supporters, postmaterialists, those who engage in eastern spiritual practices and professionals. Women are more likely than men to favour environmental protection over economic growth, to pay extra tax to protect the environment and to believe global warming will pose a serious threat during their lifetime. Support for renewable energy is stronger among younger Australians, suggesting demand may increase with generational replacement. Political leaders influence public concerns over global warming and other environmental issues across the partisan divide, yet while political elites remain divided over the implications of climatic change, the shift in public opinion and behaviour necessary to avert such problems is unlikely to occur

Political Knowledge and its Partisan Consequences

The study of political knowledge is an established field of research in the United States, although there is a dearth of such research in Australia. Knowledge of political facts and issues is important for making informed political choices. Age, gender, educational attainment and occupational status all distinguish knowledge of politics in Australia, although their impact varies across domestic and international political issues. Political knowledge also influences political behaviour. At the 2004 federal election, politically knowledgeable Australians were more likely to vote for the Greens than the Coalition in the House of Representatives, and more likely to vote for the Greens than for the major parties in the Senate. Political knowledge also increases the likelihood of voting strategically, particularly for the Labor Party in the House of Representatives and Greens in the Senate

Leadership and change in the Tasmanian environment movement

Semi-structured interviews with key environmentalists conducted in 2002 suggest strategic decision makers, organisational spokespeople and Green politicians are key leaders of the Tasmanian environmental movement, although charismatic leadership persists following movement routinisation. Routinisation is associated with the rise of non-protest environmental movement organisations addressing mainstream issues such as soil erosion, while protest oriented organisations champion the protection of old growth forests. Disproportionate federal government funding of nonprotest organisations underpins tensions between movement leaders. An environmental council representing the diverse interests of the groups and organisations comprising the movement mitigates tensions and strengthens leader integration. Entrenched leaders from the ‘baby boom’ generation hinder the rise of younger leaders. Leader mentoring schemes adopted by movement organisations offer a potential solution to leadership succession in a mature social movement

Environmental activists and non-active environmentalists in Australia

The environmental movement is no longer a ‘new’ movement and what passed as ‘new’ and unconventional forms of action have waned, increasingly displaced by cyber campaigns and conventional lobbying of governments by environmental movement organisations. Examination of the social and political backgrounds of Australian environmental group members shows that members of protest-oriented environmental groups tend to be leftwing and younger than average. However, those who play active roles in environmental groups are not young and are far less likely to join protest groups. While young Australians are more environmentally aware than ever before, they may associate participation in environmental groups beyond monetary donations and virtual activism with the behaviour of their protest-oriented parents and grandparents

Paying for environmental protection in cross national perspective

The threat of global warming has attracted considerable attention from policy makers around the world. We analyse public support for environmental protection and the main drivers of support in Australia and crossnationally using survey data from the International Social Survey and the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes. Support is measured as a series of trade-off questions based on willingness to pay extra taxes or prices, or accept cuts to one’s standard of living to protect the environment. Willingness to pay more for environmental protection has decreased across a range of countries from 1993 to 2000 with the ‘routinisation’ of ‘the environment’ as a political issue. Risk perceptions regarding the dangers of global warming, having a tertiary education and holding post-materialist value orientations all increase the willingness to pay for environmental protection. In Australia, environmental support is still divided along partisan lines and global warming was as an important issue in the 2007 federal election