A change in beliefs, a shift in perspective, and a disruption of the world’s culture is all it takes to start a movement, and the utilization of mass media is often a vital factor in doing so. The main focus and purpose of a movement is to provoke change and to bring attention to the issues that are being experienced around the world. World Wildlife Fund for Nature, also known as WWF, is considered a “contemporary movement” (Stolley 188) and its central focus is on environmental activism. Having started as a small group’s dissatisfaction towards how the world’s culture was affecting the environment, it has now grown into a large environmental organization. WWF increased awareness on endangered species through their recent #LastSelfie campaign …show more content…
WWF’s goal is to gain enough attention around the world so that each person living on this planet will be increasingly conscious of the footprint they leave on the surrounding wildlife. I found WWF to be incredibly engrossing because like many other newer social movements, its focus is “on bringing about social changes through the transformation of values, personal identities and symbols” (Stolley 193). Rather than being primarily political like many older movements, “they utilize networking and grassroots mass-mobilization efforts to change cultural values and lifestyle alternatives” (Stolley 193). For example, the #LastSelfie Campaign is a recent campaign used to create attention surrounding the issue of endangered species. Many of WWF’s campaigns are deliberately designed for the mass media (Rucht 40), and wittingly, as well as successfully, work to communicate their message to a younger generation using modern applications such as Snapchat. The #lastSelfie Campaign uses the slogan “Don’t Let This Be My Last Selfie,” which plays into the current selfie trend that is popular within the campaigns targeted audience, the millennials. WWF “uses Snapchat’s self-destruct count-down method of viewing photos as a bit of a metaphor for the quickly diminishing numbers of certain endangered species” (Burgett 1). The images are real and instantaneous, but within a few seconds the image disappears and the endangered species ceases to exist. For example, one of the campaign posters of a panda bear says “In 7 seconds I’ll be gone forever, but you can still save my kind #LastSelfie”. I thought that this particular idea was incredibly innovative because it connects with younger people in a way that gets the message across quickly while leaving a lasting impression. While the campaign gets its message across well through the social media
The Conservation movement was a driving force at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was a time during which Americans were coming to terms with their wasteful ways, and learning to conserve what they quickly realized to be limited resources. In the article from the Ladies’ Home Journal, the author points out that in times past, Americans took advantage of what they thought of as inexhaustible resources. For example, "if they wanted lumber for their houses, rails for their fences, fuel for their stoves, they would cut down half a forest at a time; and whatever they could not use or sell they would leave to rot on the ground. They never bothered their heads to inquire where more wood was coming from when this was gone" (33). The twentieth century opened with a vision towards the future, towards preserving the land that had previously been taken for granted. The Conservation movement came along around the same time as one of the first major waves of the feminist movement. With the two struggles going on: one for the freedom of nature and the other for the freedom of women, it stands to follow that they coincided. As homemakers, activists, and citizens of the United States of America, women have had an important role in Conservation.
The conservation movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the environmental movement which came about after 1950 had symbolic and ideological relationships, but were quite different in their social roots and objectives. A clear point is that especially in the beginning, only the elite, wealthy class, had time left to think and enjoy nature and joined the environmental movement organizations. It was born out a movement of amateurs. The organizations of the environmental movement viewed natural resources such as water, land, and air, as recourses that would improve the quality of life (Sandbach, 1980). The conservation movement grew out of the idea of how to use water, forests, minerals and animals, fearing that they would soon be exhausted.
“Earth First! is a verb, not a noun.” (Earth First! Journal.org/Direct Action). Founded in 1979, the Earth First! movement began in response to the increasingly corporate environmental community. The founders believed environmental activists were selling out rather than working to protect the environment. Frustrated by the direction of the environmental movement, they decided it was time to take aggressive action to defend Mother Earth. Their slogan became “No Compromise in the Defense of Mother Earth!” Supporters are composed of small groups that take it upon themselves to become familiar with the ecology of the area and the most immediate and serious threats to it by using litigation, education and civil disobedience (Earth First! Journal.org/About Earth First!). There is a broad diversity of groups ranging from forest defenders, fracking, wetlands activism, animal rights and agricultural activism but all agree on the need to take action. With views tied to deep ecology, supporters believe that all living organisms are valuable and that all forms of life are vitally connected. The life of the earth comes first and these beliefs are put into action by drawing public attention to the crises facing the natural world and succeeding in cases where other environmental groups have given up. Earth Firsters also believe the current technological system is unethical because it permits humans to prosper while other species become extinct. To save all species, humans must give up their technological luxuries ("If a Tree Falls in the Forest, They Hear It". New York Times News Archives, 04 November 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/04/magazine/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest-they-hear-it.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm). New ideas, strategies an...
The United States has earned the reputation of a rebellious country since its birth in the revolution against Britain. Over the course of history, Americans have repeatedly confronted oppression, both foreign and national, through various wars and rights movements. Unfortunately, when it comes to environmental issues the average American has grown increasingly complacent. With a renewed urgency, government is working to combat global warming, but lacks the necessary social backing. This social support could be supplied through a new environmental movement that differs from past efforts. Throughout American history there have been three categories of environmental movements: preservation, conservation, and modern reform, all of which have failed to bring a ubiquitous social change and substantial impact on the overall environmental health.
According to Perry and Pugh “Social movements are collectives with a degree of leadership, organization, and ideological commitment to promote or resist change” (Ferris and Stein 489). Unlike political campaigns, social movements attempt to alter the norms of a certain behavior or thing, a collective group sees as “wrong”. Perry and Pugh also argued that people start organizing social movements because they see inconsistency (real or perceived) between what they are getting and what they deserve (as cited in Ferris and Stein 494). These movements can be seen in a variety of matters, usually political or social, such as; feminist rights, animal rights, gay rights or organizations for a certain cause such as homelessness. The people who join these movements seek for the possibility of a better society, maybe not right away but for our future generations to come. In order for social movements to be successful, it is very important to address the public through mobilizing resources so more people come together and react to the same cause. The wider the audience, the better the results. This being said, social movements are what shapes our culture. Take as an example the civil rights movement, or the right to vote. If there would not have been a reform against these rights, our world today would be very different and would not be as free. These rights were attained by social reforms. There are going to be more rules as the year come, and they may give rise to oppression, making people want to reform against them. No matter what consequences the movement may bring because it is proven some movements fail and others strive, social activism will continue to exist in the future decades. Our society is made up from rights or fall they brin...
...al of these protests is the media and public attention that is gained. Earth First!ers don’t believe their actions will directly change discourse and policy, but more importantly will hopefully stir up a shift in public thinking and opinion on these environmental issues. Radical activists act on radical issues, and because of their efforts, those issues are publicized, where otherwise they may have been “swept under the rug.”7
"Ecoterrorism: Extremism in the Animal Rights and Environmentalist Movements." ADL Archive. Anti- Defamation League, 2005. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Hawken writes that the movement, a collective gathering of nonconformists, is focused on three basic ambitions: environmental activism, social justice initiatives, and indigenous culture’s resistance to globalization. The principles of environmental activism being closely intertwined with social justice rallies. Hawken states how the fate of each individual on this planet depends on how we understand and treat what is left of the planet’s lands, oceans, species diversity, and people; and that the reason that there is a split between people and nature is because the social justice and environmental arms of the movement hav...
Nazis, National Organization for Women, National Association for the Advancement of Colored people and even the Ku Klux Klan, may not seem to have much in common; yet they all share a common goal or interest. All these organizations are a part of different social movement or large groups of people who are organized to resist or promote social change. Why do people join social groups? What exactly draws all kinds of different individuals into forming a unity or a common alliance based upon a single idea? How many different types of social movements are there? To answer these questions an in-depth look is required either via the symbolic interactionalist viewpoint or the functionalist so that we may better understand the whole rationality of social movements.
David E. Wilkins once said, “A critical element in nearly all effective social movements is leadership. For it is through smart, persistent, and authoritative leaders that a movement generates the appropriate concepts and language that captures the frustrations, anger, or fear of the group’s members, and places responsibility where it is warranted.” Social movements are defined to be basic avenues by which social change takes place in societies, often the carries of innovation that shape attitudes, define public issues, and affect social policy in a variety of ways. The theory is that in order for a movement to be recognized and supported by a large population of the public the campaign must be prepared to compete for the support of people in a multi-organizational field. Many activists who are part of social movements maintain relationships with likeminded people, doing so allows them to recruit through their expanded networks. There have been many campaigns for numerous causes in the past, such as the Agrarian Populism Movement, the Labor Movement and the Progressive Movement. However one movement that has remained successful and consistent is the Environmental Movement in the United States. Holding its title to being the longest running social movement, the Environmental Movement has been able to precede other established modern movements because of its historical development, diverse support system, and economic resources.
According to Naess there were three great movements for global responsibility that occurred during the twentieth century. These great movements were social justice, environmental movements and peace (“The Three Great Movements”, Naess 2008). These different views became of interest of a great variety of people that held unique religions, nationalities, worldviews and cultures. The three great movements are all connected to one another in one form or another. For example, war and violence are not compatible with environmental responsibility, and destruction and degradation put on the environment do not coincide with social justice. Equality and liberty cannot be justified when there is violence and war and require respect and relationships that are civil through acts of peace. These three movements all require one central principle, social responsibility. During these movements the first to be initiated and recognized was the environmental movement. At first there was shallow and anthropocentric environmentalism, however environmental movements were supported and strengthened through peace movements and social justice (Naess 2008). Growth in the economy and increased consumption of natural resources are still the greatest value in our society and they are put first and before our environment.
Reviews and research reports are available. Anthrozoös, 8, 132-142. Herzog, H. A. & Co., Inc. (1993) The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of “The movement is my life”: The psychology of animal rights activism.
Subpoint A: Not long ago, a documentary film called “An Inconvenient truth” came out in 2006. This film raised international public awareness of climate change and reenergizing the environmental movement. A former U.S Vice president Al Gore campaigned to educate citizens about global warming through a simp...
It is generally accepted that the planet is in crisis, and that drastic and immediate action is imperative; this is a sentiment increasingly pervasive on a global scale. The movement to preserve and protect our planet’s natural environment and ecosystems has accordingly gained momentum, attributable to greater levels of awareness and knowledge on environmental issues. This can be credited to the progressive politicisation and routinisation of environmental issues, and ongoing media coverage (Tranter 2010; Crook & Pakulski 1995). The role of environmental activism and environmentalism in this process is noteworthy.
An environmental movement began around 1945 addressing the more pressing issues such as ocean oil pollution and nuclear weapons. It was wasn’t until after the Biosphere Conference and the UN Conference on the Human Environment, held...