EAGER: Identifying Drivers of Political Action amid Environmental Change

EAGER：确定环境变化中政治行动的驱动因素

• 批准号: 2329619
• 负责人: Chloe Kessler
• 金额: $ 13.61万
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-11-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2329619&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Identifying; Drivers; Political; Action

The widespread recognition of the human role in environmental change inspires political action of all kinds, including extremist movements. This project considers environmental extremists who propose that revolutionary action will ease environmental pressures. While serious investigations of extremism to date have much to teach about these groups’ means, scholars know less about the utopic visions that fuel their resolve and growth. The stakes of this omission are high: both scholarly and policy efforts to address extremism will be hamstrung without a grasp on these groups’ driving aspirations. This study works toward such an understanding. It also builds capacity among qualitative social scientists to continue this research, by supporting students’ training in methods of scientific collection and analysis. Scientific results will be communicated to the public, as well as policy stakeholders interested in the drivers and development of environmental extremism.This early concept grant for exploratory research (EAGER) project involves extensive work among extremist environmental groups online. Such research is valuable in its own right, given the vital role of online organizing for extremist groups, but is also a crucial step toward securing the in-person access needed to conduct emplaced fieldwork among the same. Through archival research, media analysis, online observation, and interviews with extremist actors, researchers ask: What kinds of environmental futures do these groups seek and what are their historic precedents? Do these desired futures motivate action in the present and, if so, what kinds of action? And what role, if any, do extremists hold for violence in the path toward these futures’ realization? Methods include text analysis of online archival resources; passive online observation and discourse analysis; online participant observation and interviews; and a pilot in-person study to test the feasibility of a larger study. Findings will contribute to a more capacious understanding of environmental activism, while also providing insight into the affirmative visions that lend extremism its weight.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

对人类在环境变化中的作用的广泛认识激发了各种政治行动，包括极端主义运动。这个项目考虑了环境极端主义者，他们提出革命行动将减轻环境压力。虽然迄今为止对极端主义的认真调查对这些团体的手段有很多启示，但学者们对推动他们决心和成长的乌托邦愿景知之甚少。这一疏忽的风险很高：如果不抓住这些团体的驱动愿望，应对极端主义的学术和政策努力都将受到阻碍。本研究就是为了这样一种理解。它还通过支持学生在科学收集和分析方法方面的培训，培养定性社会科学家继续进行这项研究的能力。科学成果将传达给公众，以及对环境极端主义的驱动因素和发展感兴趣的政策利益相关者。这个探索性研究（EAGER）项目的早期概念赠款涉及极端主义环境团体的在线广泛工作。考虑到极端主义团体在线组织的重要作用，这种研究本身就很有价值，但也是确保在这些团体中进行实地调查所需的面对面访问的关键一步。通过档案研究、媒体分析、在线观察和对极端主义行为者的采访，研究人员提出了这样一个问题：这些群体寻求什么样的环境未来，他们的历史先例是什么？这些期望的未来是否会激发现在的行动？如果是，是什么样的行动？极端主义分子在实现这些未来的道路上对暴力有什么作用？方法包括在线档案资源的文本分析;被动的在线观察和话语分析;在线参与观察和访谈;和一个试点的人的研究，以测试一个更大的研究的可行性。调查结果将有助于更广泛地理解环境行动主义，同时也为赋予极端主义分量的积极愿景提供见解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的评估被认为值得支持影响审查标准。