Research Planning Grant: Global Partners? Environmental Organizations in India and the U.S

这笔9312139周的研究规划补助金将使研究人员能够改进理论和方法，用来研究世界体系中的政治和经济不平等对建立对环境问题的共同理解的影响。这项研究本身将使用人种学访谈、书面材料分析和基本组织分析来进行两组比较：世界野生动物基金会印度和美国世界野生动物基金会；世界野生动物基金会印度和受博帕尔气体影响的职业妇女联合会。第一个配对可以比较跨国共享的分析和规范性社会科学系统的性质；第二个配对是研究各国在环境主义建设上的从属关系的性质，以确定是否存在印度环保主义所独有的分析类别。这项为期15个月的计划资助的目标是：1)制定面试时间表；2)完善理论框架；3)改进分析文本和访谈材料的方法；4)撰写一份完整的研究计划。这项请求中包括的规划活动包括：收集将被研究的组织的背景材料；前往印度，与印度合作者一起规划在印度的实地工作；确定潜在的受访者；与一名政治学家和一名语言学家协商，以完善理论框架和方法。这项研究应该为跨文化共同理解环保主义的产生提供新的见解，或者提供关于它受挫的条件的新见解。***

9312139 Weeks This research planning grant will allow the investigator to refine the theory and methods with which to examine the effect political and economic inequalities in the world system have on the construction of a shared understanding of environmental problems. The study itself will use ethnographic interviews, analysis of written materials, and basic organizational analysis to make two sets of comparisons: between World Wildlife Fund India and World Wildlife Fund U.S.; and World Wildlife Fund India and Bhopal Gas Affected Working Women's Union. The first pairing allows comparison of the nature of transnationally shared analytical and normative socio-scientific systems; the second, study of the nature of national affiliation on construction of environmentalism to determine whether there are analytic categories unique to Indian environmentalism. The goals of this fifteen month planning grant are: 1) develop the interview schedule; 2) refine the theoretical framework; 3) refine methods to analyze textual and interview materials; and 4) to write a full research proposal. Planning activities included in this request are: the collection of background materials on organizations to be studied; travel to India to work with the Indian collaborator to plan field work in India; identifying potential interviewees; consulation with a political scientist and a linguist to refine the theoretical framework and methodology. The reserach should provide new insights on the conditions under which a cross-culturally shared understanding of environmentalism arises, and alternately, the conditions under which it is thwarted. ***