Globally Visible Environmental Protest: A Cross-national Analysis, 1970–2010

Abstract

We examine the global rise of environmental protest events reported in major news outlets from 1970 to 2010, based on a new cross-national dataset. The paper addresses conventional arguments regarding resources and political opportunities, but focuses principally on the international dynamics that affect local protest and its visibility. World society theory as well as scholarship on transnational movements and advocacy networks suggests that international organizations and institutions play an important role in bringing resources, opportunities, and global media attention to local movements. We argue that international forces will be especially important in nondemocratic countries. Cross-national quantitative analyses suggest that nations with strong organizational ties to the international community have more protests that get covered in international media, and that the effects of international forces are stronger in less democratic societies.

Negotiations of Science and Religion in Nordic Institutions: An Ethnographic Approach

“…World Society Theory has been used to explain remarkable similarities in institutions all around the world, from mass education (Meyer et al 1992;Schofer and Meyer 2005) and university mission statements (Mizrahi-Shtelman and Drori 2020) to organizing global environmental protests (Evans et al 2020) and beyond. Here, the term "institution" takes on a distinctly sociological flavor.…”

Çevre Etiği Bağlamında Medyanın Çevre Sorunlarına Yönelik Sorumluluğu: Kırgızistan Gazeteleri Örneği

“…world show that the more frequent environmental problems come to the agenda in the public sphere expand the social resistance movements (Tong, 2014;Evans, Schofer, & Hironaka, 2000). It is important to strengthen awareness of environmental problems in the media in order to change Kyrgyz society to a society where environmental risks can be reduced.…”

“…Çünkü insanların çevre sorunlarına iliĢkin tutumları, bu sorunları en aza indirmek için potansiyel sosyal değiĢikliklere yol açabilmektedir. Nitekim dünyanın farklı bölgelerindeki deneyimler, çevresel sorunların kamusal alanda daha sık gündeme gelmesinin sosyal direniĢ hareketlerini geniĢlettiğini göstermektedir (Tong, 2014;Evans, Schofer ve Hironaka, 2000). Kırgızistan toplumunun, çevre risklerinin azaltılabileceği bir topluma doğru geliĢmesi için de medyada çevre sorunlarına yönelik farkındalığın güçlendirilmesi önemlidir.…”

News coverage of social protests in global society

“…Scholars have further extended this approach by linking social movement theories with world society theory to explain news attention to protests in recent years. World society theorists argue that global norms, institutions, and actors can facilitate the mobilization of local social protests and help activists gain international media attention by providing tangible and intangible resources, creating political opportunities for local movements, and diffusing international norms for human rights and freedom of association and expression (Evans et al, 2020). For instance, Evans et al (2020) show that environmental protests occurring in less democratic nations with strong organizational ties to the international community attract more attention from international media.…”

“…However, prior empirical work testing these different theoretical perspectives often focuses on a limited number of news outlets in a single country, a comparative study of major news outlets in a few countries, or a single type of social movement across different countries (Amenta et al, 2009; Evans et al, 2020; Humprecht and Udris, 2019). First, due to data constraints, existing studies tend to focus on limited media sources (e.g.…”