Download Selling a multicultural environmentalism

Selling a multicultural
environmentalism: Participation,
representation and discourse
Exploring connections between ethnicity and environmentalism, and the
application of social marketing
Rachael Chong – 203 414 96 – Advisor: Dr. Mary Louise McAllister
Table of Contents
i.
Introduction: Setting up the question, methodology, and rationale ................................................ 3
Methodology and Conceptual Positioning .......................................................................................... 5
Ethical and theoretical challenges in researching race, ethnicity, and culture ..................................... 8
Part 1: Participation.............................................................................................................................. 10
1.1
New challenges to environmental concern and participation in changing demographics ...... 10
1.2
The response of the Environmental Justice Movement to apparent lack of participation ...... 13
Part 2: Representation .......................................................................................................................... 16
2.1 Environmental organizations and communication....................................................................... 16
2.2 Environmental organizations as shapers of environmentalism .................................................... 19
Part 3: Discourse ................................................................................................................................... 19
3.1 Different cultural discourses of environmentalism ....................................................................... 19
Part 4: Social Marketing Strategies ................................................................................................... 23
4.1 Overview of Social Marketing and Nonprofit Marketing Literature ............................................. 23
4.2 Responses to the issue of participation and environmental concern............................................ 25
4.3 Responses to the issue of representation..................................................................................... 30
4.4 Responses to the issue of discourse ............................................................................................. 34
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 36
Definition of terms ................................................................................................................................ 39
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 43
i.
Introduction: Setting up the question, methodology, and rationale
“I don't think Indians have bought into the environmental message yet… I don't think it's been sold
to them in the right way, and they have no connection with it.”
Kaushik Vyas, as quoted in (Gorrie 2007)
Environmental education and communication, particularly in the use of social marketing and
community engagement tools by environmental organizations, help to define the Canadian
environmental movement by forming the “brand” of environmentalism, and thus determining who
becomes involved in environmentalism. Some environmental justice literature argues that
environmentalism in North America has traditionally catered to a “white, middle class” demographic
and has thus been framed from this perspective (Gibson-Wood and Wakefield 2013).
This argument should be understood in the context of the increasing multicultural nature of North
American society (Gibson-Wood and Wakefield 2013). Communities all over Canada – urban, suburban
and rural - are becoming increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse as people move between
communities and countries. Immigration is the main driver of the country’s population growth: in 2006,
its contribution was 69.3%, the highest percentage in 75 years (Statistics Canada 2006). Not only are
there more newcomers, they are bringing their cultures with them: Canada adopted an official policy of
multiculturalism in 1971 to reflect these changes on a national scale. The private sector has realized the
importance of responding to these demographic changes through their commercial marketing
strategies. Local governments have also assessed the implications of ethnic diversity in their city
planning and services.
Noting the government and the private sector’s embrace of multiculturalism, how is the
environmental non-profit sector responding? If this narrow view of environmentalism prevails in
environmental organizations in spite of increasing multiculturalism, a limited target audience will be
reached. Ultimately, individuals with ethnic backgrounds who do not fit the label of “white, middle
class” may not feel connected to the particular brand “environmentalism” being marketed. Instead,
they may identify with alternative discourses of “environmentalism” drawn from their own cultural
experiences. In related for-profit fields, outdoor recreationalists and natural resource managers have
noted the trend and the implications for their industries with respect to pro-environmental behaviours
(Larson, Whiting and Green 2011). The narrow approach of non-profit environmental organizations to
environmentalism can affect the type and breadth of environmental issues that are addressed (Gosine
and Teelucksingh 2008).
The purpose of this study will be to discuss different understandings of “environmentalism”
from different cultures of new Canadians, and to investigate how these understandings are embodied
by environmental organizations. I will centre my investigations on the themes of ethnic participation,
representation, and discourse. Through their communications activities, environmental organizations
can respond to these themes through the social marketing of “environmentalism”.
The research question, which contributes to the environmental justice and environmental
communication bodies of literature, asks how environmental organizations can be inclusive of people
with diverse ethnic cultures. Context and rationale for this question will be provided in Part 1:
Participation. In this section, I will present key points from the literature on the connections between
ethnicity and environmentalism, particularly around the theme of participation. I will also address the
charge by environmental justice activists to environmental organizations to address these issues. In
Part 2: Representation and Discourse, and Part 3: Discourse I will discuss the application of the role of
environmental organizations in environmental communication and the forming of the dominant
environmental discourse. The main themes in these sections will be representation and discourse. In
Part 4: Applications of Social Marketing, tools from social marketing will be applied to address the 3
themes of participation, representation and discourse. The Conclusion will summarize environmental
organizations to engage immigrants and ethnic minorities through strategies such as broadening the
discourse of environmentalism, and will draw key principles from these examples.
Methodology and Conceptual Positioning
Synthesizing findings, debates, and observations from secondary sources is the main research activity
in this project. An extensive literature review was conducted into the fields of environmental justice and
environmental communication to inform this research. In order to find articles that discuss ethnic
engagement in environmental organizations, searches were conducted in journal databases. Search
terms used include “environmental justice”, “environmental organizations representation,”
“environmentalism discourses,” “social marketing,” and “environmentalism marketing.” Several key
books were also central to this research as both sources of information and as examples of
representative viewpoints in the literature that helped to influence my understanding. These include
Environmental Justice and Racism in Canada by Gosine, & Teelucksingh (2008), Strategic Marketing for
Non Profit Organizations by Andreasen & Kotler (2006), and Environmental Justice and
Environmentalism: The Social Justice Challenge to the Environmental Movement by Sanders & Pezzullo
(2007).
My desire to understand how marketing practices influences the social inclusivity of
environmental organizations stems from my attempt to connect the readings I have done in
environmental justice and public participation literature to the practical encounters I have had as both a
creator and target of environmental outreach activities. Both the environmental justice literature and
social/environmental marketing literature are well-developed bodies of literature and have made
important contributions to North American and Canadian environmentalism. Yet these bodies of
literature also lack significant reference to the other.
In the Environmental Justice field, scholars are expanding past issues of pollution distribution
(distributive justice) to issues of participation and recognition (procedural justice) (Gibson-Wood and
Wakefield 2013). My thesis contributes to the latter two elements. It looks at how environmental
organizations encourage participation from different groups of people, whether their activities are
appropriate to diverse cultures, and whether their view of environmentalism recognizes diverse
perspectives.
Social marketing was proposed as a concept in the 1970s and has been researched in
applications for health promotion and environmental protection (Thaler and Helmig 2013). The
research focuses on the effectiveness of strategies, and draws on psychology and sociology to
understand what causes behavioral change (Thaler and Helmig 2013). Some research has also been
devoted to ethical issues in social marketing (A. Andreasen, Ethics in Social Marketing 2001). It seems
that limited research, however, has been devoted to how marketing may be ‘unjust’ in terms of
precluding particular audiences. Search terms such as “inclusive social marketing” garner few results.
However, the research that does exist about reaching new audiences in marketing may present an idea
to environmental organizations of how to be inclusive of the ethnic and lower-income groups they have
traditionally left out.
While contributing to these two fields, I hope to ultimate contribute to wider theoretical
discussion on what is defined as “environmentalism,” and consider how this is communicated in the
processes of framing a message and communicating it to a particular audience in a way that makes
sense to them.
For this paper, the secondary research was organized around three themes: participation,
representation, and discourse. As illustrated in Figure 1, I conceive of traditional Western
environmentalism as needing to be more inclusive of ethnic perspectives. I examine main themes from
the field of Environmental Justice as they have been posed to mainstream organizations, and consider
how these organizations can respond through social marketing strategies. The goal is to suggest paths
forward to a more inclusive framing of environmentalism.
Traditional environmentalism
Inclusive environmentalism
Mainstream understandings of the
environment and environmentalism Redefine
Diverse participation, representation
and discourse brings life and new
perspectives to the environmentalism
Environmental
Organizations
Critique of traditional environmentalism:
Environmental Justice
•
•
Bridging social and environmental
justice issues
Themes of participation,
representation, and discourse
Figure 1: Conceptual framework
Focused market research
and outreach from social
marketing
Ethical and theoretical challenges in researching race, ethnicity, and culture
When undertaking research in dealing with ethnic communities and culture, certain methodological
and theoretical challenges arise. Methodological challenges may include ensuring research strategies
are culturally appropriate; conducting interviews and surveys are in the right language in accessible
locations, avoiding assumptions and imposition of roles are some important things to remember (Cola
and Brusa 2014).
Since this paper relies more on secondary research, however, the theoretical challenges that
come with “ethnic minority” research are more relevant. A significant challenge in forming my research
question was defining the unit of measurement in the study. Discussions pertaining to race, ethnicity,
citizenship status and culture in relation to environmental behavior, environmental consciousness, and
engagement in environmental organizations all appear in the literature. As will be discussed, many of
the key concepts used in this piece are social constructs – particularly the ideas of race and ethnicity.
Race and ethnicity are complex and, sometimes, are sensitive terms commonly used to describe
notions of group identity. In popular culture, they are often used interchangeably. In academics, the
terms are distinct, but often used together. Ethnicity is most associated with cultural identity, whereas
race is most associated with recognizable physical attributes to which people may be categorized.
Many anthropological studies have maintained that race is primarily a social construct with no true
basis in biology or genetics, although this is contested by others who see race as a useful category from
which to study genetic trends (Gosine & Teelucksingh, 2008; Schelhas, 2002). This paper will look at the
cultural (rather than biological) characteristics connected to ethnic identity that may influence a
person’s engagement with environmental organizations. However, I will still draw from works that use
the term “race” because it is often used closely alongside ethnicity in the literature. Furthermore,
although “racial” physical characteristics may not matter from a natural science sense, they do have
sociological effects in how people perceive each other based on learned behavior of “us” and “them.”
Ethnicity is also a social construct, and it indicates identification with groups of shared origin
and heritage. Shared origins and heritage suggest that people of the same ethnicity may have the same
culture – maintaining similar values, lifestyles and ways of thinking. Although the research question of
this paper makes this assumption, it is important to recognize that this is not always the case. Readers
must remember that ethnicity is a fluid categorization, and ethnic people not homogenous. An
important concept here is acculturation – in which immigrants’ culture may change and adapt under a
new context (Carter, Silva and Guzman 2013). Discussing ethnicity without acknowledging this
limitation puts the research in danger of cultural appropriation through over-simplification of cultural
phenomenon without regard to their embedded meanings, as well as broad generalizations without
regard for complexity (Cola and Brusa 2014). This works to counter the often well-intentioned
motivations of ethnic minority research. Taylor even acknowledges that some past research on ethnic
people and environmentalism served to reinforce negative stereotypes and prevailing discriminatory
orthodoxies rather than to challenge them (2002).
With these theoretical and ethical challenges, why study race, ethnicity and culture in relation
to environmentalism at all? Although ethnicity and the idea of race are both social constructs, this does
not mean they are not valid subjects of study, for they have great influence on how people perceive and
interact with each other and the environment. Canada is a “land of immigrants,” in which most citizens
can trace back their ancestry to overseas within a few generations, with an official policy and brand of
multiculturalism. This brand has encouraged citizens to embrace and be proud of their cultural heritage
and traditions. Yet multiculturalism may have important implications for the biophysical environment
as diverse people with diverse values and traditions live together under common ecological
circumstances.
Furthermore, although the researcher’s encounters with diverse environmentalists from a
variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences have demonstrated otherwise, a false stereotype that
the environmental movement is “white, middle class” continues to persist. This paper seeks to
contribute to changing this misconception, highlighting environmental organizations that link cultural
diversity together with the environment.
Part 1: Participation
1.1 New challenges to environmental concern and participation in changing demographics
In an increasingly globalized world, Canadian society can no longer be typified as white, Anglo-Saxxon
faces and culture. According to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS): the amount of “visible
minorities,” defined by the federal Employment Equity Act as “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples,
who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour,” and the amount of answers identifying with
population groups other than “White” are increasing in number. The Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS)
reports that as generations of ethnic families live longer in the country, they also increase in
participation in Canadian society (2003). Canada’s official policy of multiculturalism reflects the
sentiment that “all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of
belonging” (Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2012).
A question that has arisen out of this reality is whether encouraging people to bring their own
cultures to Canada has adverse environmental consequences. An extreme example of this sentiment
comes from New Zealand, where a politician publicly accused Chinese immigrants of pillaging the
country’s coasts and fisheries (Lovelace, et al. 2013). The concern behind this sentiment is that
immigrants and people of cultures from these “other” population groups may not share the same
appreciation and respect for nature and cause environmental degradation.
Multiple studies have been conducted on this topic, asking questions such as “How do
environmental values and attitudes vary between cultural groups?” (Johnson, Bowker and Cordell 2004)
(Deng, Walker and Swinnerton 2006), and “How readily do immigrants adopt Western environmental
values?” (Lovelace, et al. 2013). These studies use surveys to determine whether respondents
maintained environmental concerns or values. The studies listed here measured environmental values
using the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale. This scale measures awareness of environmental
concepts and categorizes beliefs into being more biocentric or antropocentric. Johnson, Bowker and
Cordell studied five ethnic groups - African Americans, U.S.-born Latinos, foreign-born Latinos, Asian
Americans, and European Americans - in the United States and found that African Americans and
foreign-born Latinos were more likely to have lower NEP scores, whereas the other non-White groups
were most likely to have values similar to European-Americans (2004). Deng, Walker and Swinnerton’s
study provides some Canadian context, comparing environmental values and attitudes of Chinese in
Canada and Anglo-Canadians using NEP subscales (2006). They found that while the groups held
similar ideas about eco-crisis and balance-of-nature, the Chinese group subscribed less to ideas of limits
to growth and anti-anthropocentrism. There was not much variation, however, in biocentric values.
Chinese immigrants were also surveyed based on the NEP in New Zealand, but interestingly no
significant differences were found in environmental values between immigrants and native-born people
(Lovelace, et al. 2013).
In addition to studies on environmental values based on the NEP, there are a multitude of
studies on environmental values and behaviours with regard to various activities associated with
environmentalism, including outdoor recreation and wilderness preservation. These comprise much of
the conceptualization around environmental participation. Literature reviews on these topics portray a
general understanding that non-Western ethnicities participate less in outdoor recreation and
wilderness tourism (Larson, Whiting and Green 2011, Johnson, Bowker and Berstrom, et al. 2004).
Location and financial inaccessibility are some of the more straightforward reasons given for this
(Gentin 2011). Other reasons include diversity in use and valuation of parks, greenspace and
wilderness: evidence of different environmental discourses, as discussed later in this paper (Gentin,
2011; Johnson, Bowker, Bergstrom, & Cordell, 2004).
While studies have been done on participation in outdoor education, appreciation for
wilderness, and subscription to environmental values, there has been limited research into whether
immigrant status and ethnicity affect participation in environmental organizations as an indicator of
environmentalism. The lack of scholarship in this area contributes to the rationale for the research of
this paper. Some theories referenced throughout these papers in their preliminary literature reviews are
the postmaterialism theory, hierarchy of needs, social exclusion theory, and the concept of
acculturation (Mohai and Bryant 1998, Zhou 2013). Most of the literature demonstrates that the unit of
measurement – immigrant status or ethnicity – is a difficult phenomenon to analyze because they may
correlate with other variables – in unpredictable ways. For example, are immigrants poor or affluent?
Furthermore, non-White ethnicities are not homogenous, and neither are cultures within a particular
ethnicity.
In this section, I have provided a sampling of the types of research being conducted that are
ultimately investigating whether ethnic identity and culture are related to environmentalism.
Historically, this body of literature has found that immigrants and ethnic minorities are less likely to
participate in environmental activities and ideas, but new research has become more sensitive to
complexity in its approach, producing mixed evidence for this hypothesis.
1.2 The response of the Environmental Justice Movement to apparent lack of participation
The field of environmental justice acknowledges social dimensions of environmental issues that the
dominant strain of environmentalism may miss. Alongside environmental protection and conservation,
it is also concerned with democracy and equity between people. It takes notice of the power
differentials in those who make environmental decisions and those who are affected by them. It
considers how racism and social discrimination in society affect community and environmental health.
It also points to underlying social discrimination in society as reasons minority and marginalized
communities in North America may not be included in environmentalism.
Although social elements of discrimination and human conflict have existed alongside
environmental problems throughout history, environmental justice as a social movement and a field of
study has its roots in the 1980s, southern United States. Much of the Environmental Justice literature
references the case of Warren County, in which the North Carolinian government was accused of
environmental racism by civil rights activists for depositing waste polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in
the neighbourhood with the highest proportion of African-American residents (Mohai, Pellow and
Roberts 2009). Soon, activists and academics across the country began to take notice of and protest the
discrimination in environmental and land use planning that targeted disadvantaged communities and
people of colour, forming what is known as the Environmental Justice Movement (EJM).
Environmental justice has not garnered the same level of attention in Canada as it has in the
United States. However, environmental racism is nonetheless prominent in this country as
Teelucksingh and Gosine show in their 2008 book Environmental Justice and Racism in Canada. While
ethnic communities are not as spatially segregated in Canada as they are in the United States, one clear
exception is those of First Nations reserves. Environmental racism is apparent in the governance of
these communities. Many reserves lack the infrastructure and policies that are considered basic in other
Canadian communities, resulting in harmful impacts on environmental and human health. For example,
in 2005 Kashechewan experienced toxic water supply conditions that led to extensive media coverage.
However the conditions were neither new nor unique to Kashechewan – toxic water conditions had
been a problem for years in many First Nations communities (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008).
Environmental justice has since expanded past these issues of distributive justice to issues of
procedural justice. While it began with looking at why people of colour were disproportionately
exposed to environmental risk and harm and disproportionately excluded from resources of
environmental protection, it now also looks at gaps in participation from “ethnic” minorities in
environmental programs, as well as the lack of recognition of nonwhite perspectives in
environmentalism (Gibson-Wood and Wakefield 2013). This is said to be a particularly complex issue in
Canada due to institutional policies of “multiculturalism,” which act as a barrier to the honest
acknowledgment of racism (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008). While multiculturalism is celebrated and
promoted, democracy issues and the domination of environmental decision-making processes by white
middle-class demographics are overlooked (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008).
These more recent framings of environmental justice – participation and recognition - often take
a critical view of the mainstream environmentalism that is exercised by both governments and in
nonprofit environmental organizations. In the Canadian context, voices from nonwhite races are
underrepresented in land use decision-making and other forms of environmental participation. Many
have noted that despite the “diverse and multicultural society” celebrated in Canada, the stereotypical
image of an environmentalist is “white and middle-class,” and environmental organizations are defined
by an apparent cultural homogeneity of this demographic. (Gosine & Teelucksingh, 2008; Gosine, 2003)
This has caused Peter Gorrie and others to ask, “Why are greens so white?” as in his 2007 article
by this name in the Toronto Star (Gorrie 2007). This article reports that most environmental activists,
protesters and public meeting participants are white and middle class, and some environmental groups
such as Environmental Defence and Toronto Environmental Alliance Network, are making progress in
reaching out (Gorrie 2007). From this perceptive, the problem of underrepresentation of ethnic people
in environmentalism is one of marketing.
Gosine and Teelucksingh posit that Gorrie does not go far enough in his analysis of the issue,
and in fact demonstrates a neocolonialist mindset in his portrayal of the problem (2008). While Gorrie
and others remark on the recent conversion of new environmentalists in ethnic communities, others
argue that ethnic people have always been interested in environmentalism, but are just not recognized
for it (Finney, 2003; Gosine, 2003; Mix, 2011; Taylor, 2002). Dorceta Taylor gives the American
perspective, pointing out that “people of colour” in the United States have long worked on issues of the
environment, having sought to bring human health and living conditions into the redefinition of the
term (1996). In Canada, active multicultural environmental groups include the Multiracial Network for
Environmental Justice (MNEJ), Environmental Centre for New Canadians (ECNE), and the Anti-Racist
Environmental Coalition (AREC) (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008). Environmental justice activists
commenting on this recognition piece state that that these assumptions in research actually reinforce
the stereotype that “only white people care about the environment”, supporting the dominant voices of
environmental movement and keeping “other” voices out (Gosine 2003). From this perspective, the
problem of the underrepresentation of ethnic people in environmentalism is one of how
“environmentalism” creates broader issues in environmental communication. Traditionally, included in
environmental activities are recycling, buying “green” products, reducing waste, and reducing energy
consumption. Issues of social housing quality, etc., are usually kept separate and not seen as
“environmental issues (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008).”
Gorrie touches on some of these ideas of framing as well. Images associated with
environmentalism: polar bears, the north, greenspaces – are things some immigrants to Canada do not
identify strongly with, and are thus ineffective at engaging their interest. Instead, he suggests
environmental groups ought to address the `grittier urban` issues like public transit, pollution, etc.
(Gorrie 2007).
Thus, while earliest approaches to environmental justice can be categorized as distributive justice –
which focuses on the distribution of pollutants in neighbourhoods along ethnic and socio-economic
divisions, the field has moved toward procedural justice in the study of how diverse participants in
environmentalism are engaged in programs and environmental decision-making, and also to whether
environmentalism is defined in a way that is inclusive to these diverse participants. In the Global North,
the work of major environmental organizations does much to establish the image and parameters of
the mainstream discourse of environmentalism. The way they communicate and frame the work they
do is crucial to the accessibility and appeal of environmentalism to an increasingly culturally diverse
society.
Part 2: Representation
2.1 Environmental organizations and communication
Environmental organizations have played an important role in defining the parameters of
environmentalism in the Global North’s mainstream environmental movement. Today’s organizations
do important work from the local to global levels, advocating and educating on a multitude of
environmental issues, from conservation of natural spaces, to protection of wildlife, to climate change.
They may also promote environmental education and stewardship through volunteer programs.
Environmental organizations play an important role in society because they often fill in the gaps left by
governments who are often more concerned with economic growth (McCormick 2011). However, there
may be danger with democracy within these organizations. As private institutions, environmental
organizations have no “constituents”, less accountability to act with fairness, and thus are in danger of
representing only the views of a few (Humphreys 2014).
The history of environmental movement in the United States can be traced to the nineteenth
century concerns about the effects of urban and agricultural expansion on wilderness (McCormick 2011)
(Nash 1965). Some of the earliest organizations founded were Sierra Club in 1892, and the National
Audubon Society in 1905. These have persisted today to become part of the “Group of Ten.” Defenders
of Wildlife, Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources
Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and World Wildlife Fund
are others included in this category of the largest and most influential environmental organizations.
While these environmental organizations have done important work, they also face criticism,
even from those within the environmental community. Scholars including McCormick and Humphreys
have noted that the structure of these formerly grassroots organizations have become more businesslike (2011;2014). To the disdain of more radical groups such as Earth First! and Earth Liberation Front,
the ideology of these groups has tended to take on a more mainstream, pragmatic reform approach
(McCormick 2011).
Environmental justice groups, often grassroots and community-based, have also been critical of
mainstream environmental organizations for disregarding issues of race and class in their work (Mix
2011). In 1990, the Gulf Coast Tenant Leadership Development and the Southwest Organization Project
each sent letters to the Group of Ten, saying “Racism and the ‘whiteness’ of the environmental
movement is our Achilles heel,” and that “there is a clear lack of accountability by the Group of Ten
environmental organizations towards Third World communities in the Southwest, in the United States
as a whole, and internationally”. The response of the mainstream environmentalism was mixed. Some
retaliated against the accusations, saying that environmental justice was another excuse to focus on
human interests rather than biophysical interests. Others strove to make changes in their
organizations. The Sierra Club’s executive director at the time, Michael Fischer, called for a “friendly
takeover of Sierra Club by people of color… [or else it will] remain a middle-class group of backpackers,
overwhelmingly white in membership, program, and agenda…” (DeLuca 2007).
As these pivotal 1990 letters make clear, early environmental justice activists in the United
States believed that environmental organizations had a lot of influence in framing environmentalism. It
is true that much of the foundations of the American environmental movement was laid in the writings
of educated white men, who went on to found conservation organizations: John Muir founded the
Sierra Club, and John Audubon was the inspiration for the National Audubon Society (Nash 1965). As
discussed in the previous chapter, issues of justice for marginalized poor and marginalized ethnic
people were traditionally not part of these organizations’ mandates.
The 2007 book Environmental Justice and Environmentalism: The Social Justice Challenge to the
Environmental Movement, through the perspectives of diverse authors, addresses this rift between
environmental justice and mainstream environmentalism (Pezzullo and Sandler 2003). In their
introduction to the volume, editors Sandler and Pezzullo regard the rift as unfortunate and
unproductive to the environmental cause. The fact that Environmental Justice groups and mainstream
environmental organizations have much to learn from each is recognized throughout literature. The
establishment of coalitions between local branches of mainstream organizations and community-based
Environmental Justice organizations are one effort to encourage dialogue and unity between the two
sides, but success is often limited by demographic differences and other perceived barriers (Mix 2011).
Sandler and Pezzullo seek to establish this kind of connection between the two groups through the
book, making it clear that both “environmentalism” and “ethnicity” are social and cultural constructs, so
it is important to recognize that there many perspectives within the ideology, along with many ways of
doing things (Pezzullo and Sandler 2003) (DeLuca 2007).
2.2 Environmental organizations as shapers of environmentalism
Environmental organizations are not wholly responsible for defining the discourse of
environmentalism, but they do play a role in the issues that get addressed through their campaign
choices. Furthermore, because much of their work involves generating awareness and attention in the
media, appearances or statements they make in the news often influence public perception of
environmentalism. The visible images of faces and people in the news can influence whether ethnic
minorities feel they are welcome to participate. The representation of ethnic minorities in
environmental organizations may also influence what is conceived as “environmental work.”
Part 3: Discourse
3.1 Different cultural discourses of environmentalism
There are many factors to suggest that a majority of Americans ascribe to some form of
environmentalism: polls demonstrate that many hold some concern for the environment (Lester 2010),
and the general acceptance of the need to reduce, reuse and recycle. In their political platforms and
Corporate Social Responsibility reports, governments and private businesses are declaring
environmentalist values, following the lead of the their constituents and customers. However, some
would question whether this is really something to celebrate: Is it enough to simply reduce, reuse and
recycle, or is there a higher level of environmentalism that should be upheld instead? Is this declared
environmentalism simply greenwashing? These questions demonstrate that not only is there a large
range in environmental actions, but also in environmental discourse. Clearly, environmentalism as a
concept is a social construct to which there are multiple perspectives and discourses competing to be
upheld as “true”, even within North American culture.
Bedall describes how in the global environmental discourse, competing representations of
climate change are put forward by different groups (2013). Even within civil society, different
transnational environmental organizations hold different views of what climate change means for the
world, and what should be done about it. These competing perspectives undergo hegemonic struggles to become or at least influence the dominant framing of climate change. (Bedall 2013)
The same hegemonic struggle also occurs in the North American environmental movement in
the definition of environmentalism. From this framework, the struggle can be conceptualized with the
dominant view of environmentalism being set by mainstream environmental organizations like the
Group of Ten, and “outsiders”, including those in the Environmental Justice movement, pushing for
their voices and issues to be heard through expanded definitions and discourses. With a perspective
demonstrative of the movement, Lynch argues that “outsider” views have been excluded from the
main discussion, due power inequalities (1993). The establishment of dominant discourse is a complex
process involving many influences. The influences that will be focused upon in this paper are that the
visibility, actions and language of environmental organizations through their marketing and
communication.
Rethinking the environmental movement in this way is in line with post-positivist thought,
which seeks to recognize possible biases in the science or values that subscribers to mainstream
environmentalism may accept without question as “truth” (Backstrand 2003). It is somewhat sobering
to realize that the environmentalism familiar to many North Americans is not the only iteration of
environmentalism. It may not necessarily be the same as the environmentalism familiar to citizens of
the Global South, if the discourses promoted by their environmental organizations are any indication.
With broad strokes, environmental organizations of the North tend to make conservation and
recreation in nature the focus of their work, while maintaining de-industrialist, anti-development and
anti-consumerist positions in their advocacy (McCormick 2011). On the other hand, environmental
organizations in the South focus on sustainable development and livelihoods based on the natural
world and resources (McCormick 2011). Perhaps people coming to Canada from South countries have
been involved in what they perceive to be environmentalism, but their actions are not recognized in
their new society as such.
From a post-materialist point of view, these North and South discourses as described are
appropriate to their contexts: the North has developed through phases of modernization and only now
has reached a level of development where it can maintain environmental concerns. The South is still
undergoing development, and doing so sustainably should be their main focus. The post-materialist
perspective has also been used to explain variation in environmental behavior within Canadian and
American societies, in which poor individuals are too preoccupied with their poverty to participate
(Ignatow 2006) (Zhou 2013) (Johnson, Bowker and Cordell, Ethnic variation in environmental belief and
behaviour 2004). Related to the post-materialist theory is the idea that extent of cultural assimilation of
individual or ethnic group will determine pro-environmental values (Deng, Walker and Swinnerton
2006). However this theory can be problematic since many ethnic minorities coming to Canada and the
United States may come from other developed societies of the Global North where correlation
between ethnicity and poverty is not consistent (Deng, Walker and Swinnerton 2006) (Zhou 2013).
Carter challenges the post-materialist perspective, which underlies much of the literature used
to discuss participation, and even representation of ethnic minorities in this paper, such as (Gorrie 2007)
and (Zhou 2013). Another way to look at the diversity of environmental discourses is from a cultural
ecology viewpoint. From this point of view, Southern or developing world cultures – as in Carter’s case
of Mexico – have a more integrated relationship with the natural world. Their environmental discourse
may see the relationship more holistically, as opposed to the Western view of the human world and the
natural world compartmentalized (Carter, Silva and Guzman 2013).
Whether using the post-materialist, cultural ecology, or one of the many other explanations,
the importance of recognizing different cultural models of Nature and Society is clear (Ignatow 2006).
Northern and Southern environmentalism are further contrasted in Lynch’s examination of Latin
environmental discourses (1993). Lynch states that discourses are established around histories and
symbols of meaning, and that the ones that exist for the American environmental movement are not
shared by Latino immigrants. Through the writings of Thoreau, Muir, Leopold and Abbey, Anglo
discourse has defined its ideal landscape as a pristine wilderness void of any trace of people or
civilization (Lynch 1993, Nash 1965). Latin writers are notably missing from the literary history
environmental movement; authors such as Arias, Ferré and Duràn write about utopias that are
productive and peopled. The idealized landscape is a garden, beautiful and producing food. While
critics of the Latino view may point out that this garden is a fictionalized fantasy, Lynch argues that the
pristine wilderness is also a human construction (1993). Another divergence in discourse is in the
approach to solving environmental problems. Where the Anglo discourse tends to rely on technological
solutions, the Latin view is that environmental problems are inseparable from social and political
systems (Lynch 1993). Similar studies comparing environmental values within different groups find that
Asians also have a more holistic and biocentric view of the environment (Deng, Walker and Swinnerton
2006, Johnson, Bowker and Berstrom, et al. 2004).
Discussion of varying discourses emphasizes the importance of including more voices in
environmentalism. In connection with previous discussion on ethnic participation and representation,
inclusive environmental organizations will seek to involving diverse people to influence its own
discourse. Strategies of establishing more inclusive discourses from social marketing will be explored in
later sections of this paper. The next section will progress from simply identifying multiple discourses to
communicating them by asking, “How can environmental organizations be more inclusive of ethnic
minorities and immigrants in their communication and marketing strategies?”
Part 4: Social Marketing Strategies
Through the lens of key environment justice themes, participation, representation, and discourse, I will
describe the applicability of social marketing and nonprofit marketing to welcoming ethnic minorities in
environmental organizations. A limitation that must be mentioned is the assumption that marketing
and communication have an impact on the development of environmental discourse. Yet marketing
and communication activities are not the sole shapers of environmental discourses to any degree.
While there is much scholarship on how the media, along with people’s lived experiences, have an
impact on the establishing of discourse, greater research into the role of environmental organizations’
marketing and communications will be required in order to draw confident conclusions with regard to
how ethnic cultures fail to become integrated into environmentalism. However, since marketing and
communication are activities that environmental nonprofits spend much of their time on, these seem
to be potential vehicles for positive change.
4.1 Overview of Social Marketing and Nonprofit Marketing Literature
Marketing principles in nonprofit organizations have become increasingly important as the nature of
these organizations change. The need to stay current to trends of communication is essential as an
organization’s message must compete with those put forward in the marketing strategies of
businesses, government, and other actors. Further, in recent years nonprofit organizations have
become more influenced by corporate entities as funders and as partners in their work. Nonprofit
marketing has become more sophisticated and slick as commercially-trained markets lend their skills to
nonprofit organizations. (Andreasen and Kotler 2003)
A number of characteristics make the work of nonprofit marketing much more complex than
commercial marketing, including the existence of many stakeholders to which to market and appease;
and the perception of nonprofit marketing as being outside the mainstream (Andreasen and Kotler
2003). Marketing for public good, rather for sale of goods or services in the private sector, has become
its own field of study, as exemplified by journals such as the Journal of Public Sector & Nonprofit
Marketing and the Journal of Social Marketing, as well as major contributors such as Alan Andreasen, an
internationally recognized pioneer in nonprofit and social marketing applications of Georgetown
University.
The work of influencing behavior involves much more beyond advertising, which is the aspect
of marketing that is often the most visible (Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995). The work also
involves doing market research to segment the market of potential receivers of the message, choosing
a particular segmented audience to target, and then figuring out how to target this audience
(Andreasen and Kotler 2003). Introductory marketing theory contains a concept of four P’s – Product,
Price, Promotion, and Place - as described by Jerome McCarthy in 1960 (Yudelson 1999).
One strand of marketing that nonprofit organizations often used is social marketing. This is
simply the application of commercial marketing strategies to influence behaviours for social good. It
involves the four P’s of commercial marketing, plus some additional ones: Publics, Policy, Partnership
and Purse Strings (Weinreich 2010). Via this catchy mnemonic device, these extra Ps serve to explain
some of the additional challenges identified in social marketing literature. Social marketing has most
often been applied to improve public health and environmental protection, and this is reflected in the
literature (Andreasen, 2012; Thaler & Helmig, 2013).
Two aspects of social marketing most applicable to the question of “selling” or “making
accessible” environmentalism to diverse communities include: audience segmentation and targeting;
as well as framing and branding (Andreasen and Kotler 2003).
Social marketing literature seems to pay little attention to social inclusion and ethnic diversity in an
explicit sense. However this is not to say that connections between marketing and justice do not exist.
As discussed in the Environmental Justice literature review, through institutional policy such as the
Canadian Multiculturalism Act and communication strategies, Canada has branded itself as a
multicultural and accepting nation (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008). The Canadian Institute of Diversity
& Inclusion and other human resources advocate organizations promote diversity and inclusion to
establish it as a desirable way to increase an organization’s reputation or a business’ corporate social
responsibility (CSR) (CIDI, 2013). On the other hand, issues of diversity and inclusion in
environmentalism have been addressed in the field of environmental communication in news and mass
media (Lester, 2010; Cola & Brusa, 2014; Chapman, Kumar, Fraser, & Gaber, 1997).
4.2 Responses to the issue of participation and environmental concern
Some empirical research has demonstrated a gap in participation by ethnic minorities in environmental
organizations and other activities typically associated with environmentalism such as outdoor
recreation and park visitation. Research has also been conducted on the levels of environmental
concern held by ethnic minorities. Environmental organizations can respond to this problem through
target marketing strategies, improving accessibility, and building environmental values.
Target marketing, a strategy used in both commercial and social marketing, involves
identifying a target market and adapting the marketing strategy to meet this group’s needs
(Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995). If the “environmental message has not been sold to
(ethnic minorities) in the right way” as Kaushik Vyas states in Peter Gorrie’s “Why are greens so white?”
article (2007), then a more targeted way must be found. Methodical and thorough targeted research
are what sets social marketing apart from the other forms of education and information programs that
are often used by nonprofit organizations as they try to persuade the public toward social good
(Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995). These traditional communication and information
programs often first decide on the message they wish to promote. To encourage local environmental
stewardship, this message could be: “Join The Wilderness Society’s park environmental stewardship
crew!” Traditional programs will then proceed to promote this message en masse.
“Segmentation involves portioning heterogeneous markets into smaller, more homogeneous
market segments that can be distinguished by different consumer needs, characteristics, or behavior”
(Tkaczynski, 2009, pg.169). Establishing classifications will use more than one base. Ethnicity may be
the focus of research, but other bases like income level, geography, behaviour may be incorporated
(Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995, Tkaczynski, Rundle-Thiele and Beaumont 2009). This
demonstrates the methodological complexity of ethnicity research: ethnic identity is both pluralistic
and dynamic (Cola and Brusa 2014).
Marketing to particular ethnic groups can be complex. Andreasen cautions social marketers not
to jump into demographic analysis and targeting before first trying to understand the deeper roots
behind consumer behavior (1995). Gross classification using demographics such as gender, incomelevel, and ethnicity can be meaningless if there is no true connection between such variables and
behavior. It is often more useful to segment based on past behaviours, lifestyle factors, or a
combination of many factors (Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995).
Segmentation and target marketing are powerful tools of social marketing, but there may be
danger of their research results being used an excuse for further exclusion. There may be some
unfairness in selecting one ethnic group to target over others. Little research in social marketing has
been done on this particular topic, as the concern seems to be outside its scope of understanding.
However, Andreasen does briefly discuss concerns about resource allocation between audiences in his
book Marketing Social Change (1995). These concerns are particularly likely to arise in publicly funded
social change programs, where showing partiality to one group would be politically incorrect.
Andreasen suggests that resources for marketing should be allocated equally by default, with some
exceptions. Some groups may be shown to respond better to marketing, have greater need for the
message being sold, and at varying costs. Ultimately he argues that segmentation is still a useful tool,
even to delineate groups out of their different responsiveness, needs, and costs. (Andreasen, Marketing
Social Change 1995)
Improving accessibility should be another key activity used to improve participation in
environmental organizations, given that social marketing involves deep understanding of an audience
needs. Canadian studies demonstrate that while environmental interest does exist in ethnic
communities, barriers may prevent the interest from becoming action (Gupta and Chikermane 2009,
Gibson-Wood and Wakefield 2013). Inaccessibility can occur due to both concrete barriers such as
financial, location and language; or due to non-concrete variables such as degree of multiculturalism.
These non-concrete variables often relate to issues of representation and discourse.
According to post-materialist and hierarchy of needs theories, some marginalized ethnic
minorities may have more pressing day-to-day needs that prevent them from getting involved with
environmental organizations, making material inequity can a significant barrier to ethnic participation
(Mohai and Bryant 1998). If this is the case, environmental organizations can implement measures to
consider these day-to-day needs. Childcare can be provided to ensure young families are able to
participate in events. Location accessibility should be considered – some environmental organizations
may not realize potential participants are restricted by lack of transportation or knowledge of new
places (Gupta and Chikermane 2009). Extrapolating from Lynch’s discussion of the variation in ethnic
ideal landscapes, environmental initiatives may be more inclusive if they are located in places that are
significant and meaningful to their ethnic target audiences (1993). Further, while many recreation
activities associated with environmentalism are catered towards those who have cars, such as camping,
hiking or cottaging outside of the city, environmental organizations can provide environmental
recreation that is in closer proximity to the particular urban ethnic audiences who rely on public transit
or walking (Gupta and Chikermane 2009).
A study on the accessibility of Earth Day
Canada initiatives to ethnic communities revealed
that language and terminology used by the
environmental movement is critical to accessibility
(Gupta and Chikermane 2009). In the Alabama, a
drafted environmental justice bill included greater
language accessibility was a key objective (Faber
Figure 2: The Sierra Club has a dedicated section of their
website for their Spanish-speaking audience.
2007). Is the language employed in the
organization’s communications too complex?
Using simpler or textbook English rather than slang could be helpful. Addressing immigrants’ hierarchy
of needs, language classes, or the opportunity to practice English, could also be advertised as part of
the environmental program. Communication should be provided in multiple languages as needed; the
Sierra Club has a separate website, Ecocentro¸ for Spanish-speaking users, as seen in Figure 2. Gupta &
Chikermane’s findings go further to suggest that translation alone is not enough to communicate
effectively to diverse ethnic groups; considerations for terminology, colloquialism, and aspects of
rhetoric should be part of crafting verbal and written messages (2009). These basic aspects of
marketing which commercial enterprises are often deeply versed in (Andreasen and Kotler 2003), may
not have been considered to an adequate extent by nonprofit organizations in the environmental
movement.
Limited financial resources are another barrier to both ethnic individuals and ethnic
organizations seeking to become more involved in environmentalism. Again extrapolating from the
post-materialist theory, working-class immigrants may not have the time or energy for volunteer
activities that do not provide reciprocal benefits (Gupta and Chikermane 2009). This statement should
be considered alongside the “environmental deprivation” perspective that working-class and lowincome people may in fact be have more concern than their middle and upper class counterparts
because they are more exposed to environmental risk (Mohai and Bryant 1998). For this reason, ethnic
organizations may have vested interests in environmental causes, but because their financial and
organizational capacity is often low, actual participation may be limited (Mix 2011, Gupta and
Chikermane 2009). Environmental justice organizations have identified partnerships with larger
mainstream organizations as a solution to limited resources (Mix 2011). Partnerships, scholarships and
dedicated funding programs can be helpful in providing incentive to small ethnic organizations and
ethnic individuals to get involved in the environmental movement.
In addition to these concrete variables of accessibility of location, language and finances, nonconcrete variables also exist. Accessibility may also be determined by how inviting the culture of an
environmental organization is to diverse ethnic cultures. Statistics Canada’s Ethnic Diversity Survey is
conducted with the purpose of both gaining a portrait of Canada’s ethnic people, and understanding
how they become integrated into Canadian society through civic participation (2003). Findings of this
survey include trends of higher participation with longer generational history in the country, as well as
greater participation by first generation immigrants in ethnic-specific organizations and communities
(Statistics Canada 2003). An immigrant civic participation comparison between Quebec and Ontario
suggests that multicultural environments and philosophies can encourage greater participation by
immigrants in volunteerism and community life through generating a sense of security and belonging
(Laxer 2013). Since establishing inclusive cultures within environmental organizations involves a much
more in-depth analysis of their representation and discourse, the discussion on non-concrete variables to
accessibility will be continued in subsequent sections accordingly.
4.3 Responses to the issue of representation
Environmental justice has identified a lack of representation by ethnic minorities in environmentalism,
especially in leadership positions. Environmental organizations can respond by scrutinizing the
messages put forward in their visual communication, and by ensuring their hiring processes take stake
of diversity and inclusion.
As a result of efforts from the environmental justice movement, limited ethnic diversity in
environmental leadership is an issue many environmental organizations are aware of and
acknowledging publicly (Yeoman 2011). Although ethnic environmental concern is reported to be
comparable to “white” environmental concern, mainstream environmental groups remain
predominantly white in membership, but especially among leadership ranks (Yeoman 2011). Yeoman,
writing on behalf of Aududon Society, does not shy away from presenting the uncomfortable numbers:
the leadership of the Society is 91% white compared to the general US population rate of 64% (2011).
The leadership of other mainstream organizations demonstrates similar situations, as seen in Table 1.
Organization
Percentage of “white” leadership
Audubon Society
91 %
National Wildlife Federation
93%
Environmental Defense
85%
Natural Resources Defense Council
84%
Table 1: Percentage of “white” leadership in US mainstream environmental organizations. (Yeoman, 2011)
This may not seem like a serious issue, because after all - David Suzuki is ethnically Asian! Isn’t
that enough!? Granted, Vandana Shiva and Wangari Maathai are also examples of influential
environmental leaders who are “ethnic minorities” (but ethnic majorities on a global scale). Leaders
such as Suzuki, Shiva and Maathai these are important role models, and exemplify the importance of
generating positive images for ethnic people in environmentalism.
The role of positive visual representation in media for shaping perceptions of various
marginalized populations has been studied extensively. Levina, Waldo & Fitzgerald discuss the
representation of queer communities in visual media such as television and film, finding that positive
representation is related to positive attitudes being adopted by audiences (2006). Carolyn Finney, a
researcher in geography, identity and representation at Berkley University of California, describes her
frustration as black person who loves camping and the outdoors, but does not often see faces like her
own on the covers of outdoor recreation magazines (Finney 2003).
Thus, establishing an ethnically-inclusive visual identity may involve broadcasting ethnic faces
in video and photographs. This intentional broadcast of diverse faces may seem insincere, especially if
ethnic minorities in actuality have low participation in the organization. It brings to question the merit
of descriptive representation, in which representation occurs on the basis of a representative being “like”
those being represented, as opposed to substantive representation, which refers to the actual work that
a symbolic representation does in furthering the interests of a represented group (Pitkin 1969). Yet the
choices environmental organizations make in how they visually represent themselves in mass media
and communications clearly contributes to their visual identity.
Creating a visual identity in online formats, with variations on website design aesthetic, has
power to attract different diverse audiences as well (Kenix 2013). Websites, online presence and social
network marketing have become major areas of focus for commercial and nonprofit and government
organizations, because these are key avenues of interaction with the public (Gershon 2008). Gershon
discusses the importance of descriptive representation of women and minorities not only in the US
Congress, but also on their websites (Gershon 2008). On the websites of women, Latino and AfricanAmerican representatives, local pictures and symbols established the representation of minority issues
and concerns (Gershon 2008). Again, these visual identity and branding strategies are basic principles
of social marketing, which may be familiar to commercial enterprises but are underutilized for creating
social change for the good of the environment (Andreasen and Kotler 2003).
In communication theory, mass media is said to be a powerful tool for shaping public
perception, but person-to-person communication is even stronger (Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet
1948). In a study on how a voter can be persuaded in the context of a presidential campaign, a 2-step
flow of communication was illustrated: a message was best received when communicated first to key
“opinion leaders,” who spread it to their respective various communities (Lazarsfeld, Berelson and
Gaudet 1948). Social pressure and local role models demonstrates the complexity of group identity
when it comes to marketing to particular ethnically segmented audiences. Community leaders, cultural
and religious organizations, public social service agencies, and cultural media providers are examples of
external groups that will influence participation of ethnic people in environmental organizations (Gupta
and Chikermane 2009). Social marketing theory emphasizes the need to market to “other publics” as
well (Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995). The increased number of “other publics” that are
involved in social behavior is one of the areas where social marketing diverges from commercial
marketing (Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995).
Environmental role models both on ground and in popular media can create positive representation
that encourages more ethnic minorities to become involved in environmentalism. Extrapolating from
the 2003 Ethnic Diversity Survey results, greater participation by first generation immigrants in ethic or
culture-specific organizations indicates that higher involvement is likely with initiatives with more “like”
people represented. The same can likely be said for most people – ethnic minorities or otherwise.
4.4 Responses to the issue of discourse
Environmental justice writers such as Dorceta Taylor and Barbara Lynch have argued that a prominent
reason for lack of participation and representation in environmental organizations is a divergence in
environmental discourse between Anglo-environmentalist culture and the environmentalism of
immigrant or ethnic minority cultures (1998; 1993). When addressing the gaps in environmental
awareness and values for ethnic audiences, environmental organizations can respond to this issue of
discourse by engaging alternative discourses in their core values and mandates.
The dominant narrative communicated by environmental organizations is established in the
kinds of issues they choose to campaign on. Some interviewees in Gupta and Chikermane’s study for
Earth Day Canada – representatives of large ethnic organizations in Toronto – suggested that if Earth
Day Canada were to address more environmental issues pertaining to immigrants, they might have
better participation in their initiatives (2009). This would mean including more discussion of healthy
food, access to housing, and clean water in their environmental discourses (Gupta and Chikermane
2009). According to Taylor and other environmental justice advocates, these types of environmental
issues should be given just as much weight as traditional issues such as wilderness preservation (2002).
In a reexamination of their discourse, The Wilderness Society asked the question ‘‘Is wilderness
in its statutory or historically advocated form relevant for the expanding demographic diversity of the
United States?” at their annual general meeting in 2000 (Johnson, Bowker and Berstrom, et al. 2004).
Other mainstream organizations such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace have asked similar questions.
This is not to say that wilderness protection is wrong and should not still be promoted – DeLuca argues
that environmental organizations should not be so quick to abandon the concept of wilderness which is
still useful as a symbol of majestic beauty that is not man-made (2007). However, these organizations
have begun to acknowledge alternative discourses into their mandates and campaign issues. A sample
of these acknowledgements is featured in Table 2.
Organization
Sierra Club
National
Audubon
Society
The Wildlife
Society
Table 2
Acknowledgement of diversity/inclusion on website
Dedicated webpages:
Ecocentro (Spanish site)
Youth and Diversity site (highlighting Environmental Justice)
Sierra Club Diversity Statement, Inclusion and Equity Statement: “We strive
to be accessible and inclusive, and to recruit, engage, support and cultivate
leadership from all communities in our work and activities”
Diversity included in Core Values
Spanish site
Statement on Diversity and Inclusion: “Audubon is committed to diversity,
inclusion, and equal opportunity…We are committed to broadening staff,
board, volunteer, member, and supporter diversity”
Policy Statement on Workforce Diversity: “During the past 75 years, the
wildlife profession has grown significantly more diverse in its philosophies
and strategies, but not to the same level in its personnel. The increasing
human diversity in our society further emphasizes the need to evaluate
whether or not the broad array of interests are adequately addressed within
the wildlife profession.”
Acknowledgements by environmental organizations of environmental justice and ethnic
diversity indicate a shift change in discourse that may be more inclusive. Images and symbols from their
websites indicate greater consideration for descriptive representation.
All of these questions about issue selection and definition of environmentalism are connected to the
social marketing processes of framing and branding (Andreasen and Kotler 2003). Framing issues and
branding accordingly will involve researching target market perceptions and adapting the message
toward these (Andreasen and Kotler 2003). This concept can be applied by environmental organizations
as they investigate ethnic perceptions of the environment, and their cultural relationships to nature.
Branding can establish an identity around an organization or around environmentalism itself, attaching
meaning and emotion to the environmental messages being conveyed (Andreasen and Kotler 2003).
Conclusion
All three themes of participation, representation, and discourse are important for environmental
organizations to engage immigrants and ethnic minorities. Environmental organizations can respond to
participation gaps by targeting ethnic populations in their marketing. They can respond to poor
representation of ethnic people in environmentalism through scrutinizing their own hiring practices and
the visual images they produce. They can respond to exclusive perceptions of the environmental and
environmentalism by broadening their discourse and engaging alternative viewpoints. Ultimately,
through these three themes inclusive framings of environmentalism can be established. Inclusivity is
essential to ethnic minorities’ and immigrants’ engagement with the environmental movement.
Paraskevopoulos states that rather than culture or ethnicity, social exclusion is the real constraint to
environmental behaviours (2003).
Understandably, environmental organizations may not be able to utilize all of these strategies.
They are limited in time and energy and segmented research and discourse redevelopment can be
costly. However, if environmental organizations wish to remain relevant in a changing society, they will
need to invest step by step in improving participation, representation and discourse for ethnic
minorities. Mainstream environmental organizations have already begun to do this, as evident in the
way many have acknowledged the issues head on. Next steps for the environmental movement will be
to celebrate the many forms of “environmentalism” being performed, from achieving access to clean
water to enjoying hikes in the wilderness.
Building environmental awareness and values is a key aspect of many environmental
organizations’ work. As the work of Greenpeace demonstrates, building awareness is done not only
through sensationalist media stunts by the leaders in the core membership, but also through invitations
to their general members and the public to participate in local environmental programs, donation
campaigns, and other low-commitment tasks (Shaiko 1993). Although these actions may seem simple,
they are essential to public engagement as they can welcome and win over newcomers to
environmentalism. Furthermore, civic participation is an important element of establishing social
capital and belonging for immigrants (Laxer 2013).
It should be noted though, that the process of building lasting environmental values is complex
beyond civic engagement with environmental organizations. While social marketing as a tool that
comprises target marketing, segmentation and other activities can be very effective in changing
behaviours for the public good, Andreasen acknowledges that building basic values is difficult. Building
basic values, such as belief in limits to growth, and as found in the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP)
may be out of the scope of social marketing. What social marketing can do: frame environmental
behaviors to seem attractive and low cost to audiences (Andreasen, Marketing Social Change 1995).
Lastly, critical perspectives on the ethical problems of audience segmentation are missing in the
literature and are a next step for research. As much as marketing can be a useful tool in addressing
problems of participation, representation, and discourse, it is only because it is connected to the root of
the problem and needs to be fundamentally changed. Critical analysis in social marketing practice
literature tends to focus on its effectiveness rather than ethics and inclusivity (Thaler and Helmig 2013).
Commentary on ethics in social marketing does exist; Andreasen’s book Ethics in Social Marketing
brings together social marketing academics to contribute to the topic (2001). This volume addresses
controversies in marketing surrounding the exaggeration of facts in an ends justifying the means
scenario, the question of changing other cultures in trying to promote “good behavior,” and the
external negative effects on one group that can occur when marketing to another group (Andreasen,
2001).
Definition of terms
1. Diversity and inclusivity
“Diversity” and “inclusivity” have become buzzwords in Human Resource Departments and
workplaces, often used together, but have different meanings. The Canadian Institute of
Diversity & Inclusion (CIDI) speaks about “diversity” as an aim that is concerned with the
individual. All individuals are acknowledged for their unique qualities and characteristics. CIDI
speaks about “inclusion” as creating a culture that “embraces, respects, accepts and values
difference.” (CIDI, 2013)
2. Environmental justice:
Environmental justice is a social movement and academic concept that is concerned with
justice in both the physical and cultural environments (Bullard 1994). The US Environmental
Protection Agency defines it as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” (U.S. EPA,
2011)
3. Environmentalism/environmental movement
Environmentalism and the environmental movement are terms that will be used
interchangeably to describe dominant understanding of what is involvement in “environmental
issues” in the North American context. They refer to a history that is understood to begin in the
1960s with thinkers from the progressive-era concerned primarily with conservation and
preservation of wildlife (Taylor 2002). However, this research will challenge the definition and
framing of these terms, and ponder how this has influenced its diversity and inclusivity (Lester
2010).
4. Environmental organizations
Environmental organizations will refer to both non-profit and public sector entities that
promote environmentalism. As in other literature on this topic, included are organizations that
are not necessarily mandated to do environmental work, but are running environmental
initiatives, such as municipal governments promoting a green-bin program (Andreasen &
Kotler, 2006).
5. Marketing
At its simplest definition, marketing is the work of influencing behavior. It is often understood
to refer to commercial marketing, which is actually a very particular strain of the larger field in
which customers are influenced to exchange money for a good or service. (Andreasen,
Marketing Social Change 1995)
Procedural justice vs. Distributive justice:
“Procedural justice is concerned with making and implementing decisions according to fair
processes.” This is often compared to distributive justice, which is concerned with fairness of the
outcomes of these procedures. (Maiese 2004)
6. “Race” and ethnicity
Both race and ethnicity are terms commonly used to refer to notions of identity. Ethnicity is
most associated with cultural identity, while “race” is most associated biological and genetic
identity. However, studies have shown that both are social constructions and have no true basis
in biology (Gosine and Teelucksingh 2008).
7. Social marketing
The application of commercial marketing practices to influence behavior for the good of an
individual or the good of society (Andreasen, 1995).
8. Visible minorities
“Visible minorities,” has been defined by the federal Employment Equity Act as “persons, other
than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.” (Statistics
Canada 2013)
9. Descriptive representation and substantive representation
Descriptive representation is representation on the basis of a representative being “like” those
being represented. Giving high value to a person or groups as symbols, the “likeness” traits can
range from shared experience to similar physical traits. This is contrasted with substantive
representation, which refers to the actual work that a symbolic representation does in
furthering the interests of a represented group. (Pitkin 1969)
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