This provocative and timely contribution to the debate on current Russian environmental policy and politics provides a contextualized analysis of the Russian green movement within a society characterized by all-encompassing risk.
Risk has become so pervasive in Russian life that it is now a 'normal' part of daily routine. Russian society is gradually losing control over the factors that create and spread risk, as environmental policy-making that is aimed to reduce it is commonly seen to threaten the modernization of Russian economic and social life. The author argues that hostility toward the green movement is thus woven into the social fabric of modern Russian society. In response, the Green movement is becoming less rooted in The book is based on case studies conducted in 1989-98 in six regions of Russia, as well as on a comparative examination of environmental NGOs in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia. Direct evidence of the impact of Russia's risk society on its Green politics is drawn from extensive in-depth interviews and complemented by archival studies and analyses of official and personal documents with a focus on the relationships between the environmental movement, industrial and institutional power structures, the scient Written by the foremost environmental sociologist in Russia today, this book contains important insights for the scholarly community of environmental sociologists, as well as for policy-makers and environmental activists.
Oleg N. Yanitsky is chief researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a specialist in urban and environmental issues. He is also head of the Research Committee 'Environment and Society' of the Russian Society of Sociologists. His current research interests include risk research and the study of environmental politics in transition societies.
This provocative and timely contribution to the debate on current Russian environmental policy and politics provides a contextualized analysis of the Russian green movement within a society characterized by all-encompassing risk.
Risk has become so pervasive in Russian life that it is now a 'normal' part of daily routine. Russian society is gradually losing control over the factors that create and spread risk, as environmental policy-making that is aimed to reduce it is commonly seen to threaten the modernization of Russian economic and social life. The author argues that hostility toward the green movement is thus woven into the social fabric of modern Russian society. In response, the Green movement is becoming less rooted in The book is based on case studies conducted in 1989-98 in six regions of Russia, as well as on a comparative examination of environmental NGOs in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia. Direct evidence of the impact of Russia's risk society on its Green politics is drawn from extensive in-depth interviews and complemented by archival studies and analyses of official and personal documents with a focus on the relationships between the environmental movement, industrial and institutional power structures, the scient Written by the foremost environmental sociologist in Russia today, this book contains important insights for the scholarly community of environmental sociologists, as well as for policy-makers and environmental activists.
Oleg N. Yanitsky is chief researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a specialist in urban and environmental issues. He is also head of the Research Committee 'Environment and Society' of the Russian Society of Sociologists. His current research interests include risk research and the study of environmental politics in transition societies.
