Greener Still?

Abstract

Perspectives on green political thought distinguish between anthropocentrism and environmentalism on one hand, and ecocentrism and ecology on the other. Green theorists argue for a difference in kind between the two domains, whereas survey researchers identify a difference in degree, as they carefully extend environmental scales to incrementally include ecological items. Eckersley's (1992) theory of green political thought identifies resource conservation, human welfare ecology, preservationism, and animal liberation as subtypes of anthropocentrism; and it identifies transpersonal ecology, autopoietic intrinsic value, and ecofeminism as subtypes of ecocentrism. The empirical results of testing Eckersley's framework indicate that the subtypes cannot be coherently subsumed under a general green dimension but that anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, to a large degree, are independent of one another. Young age and high education are inversely related to ecocentrism. This contradicts previous research on environmental concern.