Green Learning: The Role of Scientists and the Environmental Movement Anita Krajnc A thesis submitted in conforrnity with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Political Science University of Toronto Q Copyright by Anita Krajnc 2001 National Library BibIiotheque nationale I*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your lile Votre rdfëmnce Our file Norre r8IBrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence alfowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seU reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fjJm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantid extracts £kom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This thesis compares and contrasts the role of scientists and the envîronmentai movement in international environmental affairs . The influence of these two critical agents of change is, in large part, due to their role in advancing learning. The role of scientists is highlighted in the epistemic communities approach and the environmental movement in the growing non- governmental organization (NGO) literature. But the two approaches offer very different propositions with respect to who has to tearn to effect policy change. In the first approach, convergence in scientific knowledge as well as the placement of scientists in positions of power facilitates govemment leamïng and the prospects for policy change. In the second approach, the environrnental movement promotes public education which results in (1) public pressure on governrnents and intergovernmental bodies to adopt new or better policies, and (2) the transmittal of an ecological sensibility in globd civil society, which further enhances environrnental protection. In short, the impetus to regime development provided by scientific convergence is emphasized by the former, and broad-based, public education, by the latter. A Merobjective of the research is to describe the process of broad based societal learning. While many political scientists acknowledge the importance of public education, the question of how broad based societal learning takes place is less well understood. Much cm be learned from the public education strategies adopted by relatively successful social movements, such as the early American labour and civil rights movements. A Progressive Societal Learning and Social Change Model is offered which highlights the roIe of NGO activities, protest rncsic, films, formal and informal education, the media, and so forth. The Model asserts that a range of learning sources need to be employed for vibrant and effective social movements. The two case studies examined (climate change and BC forests) differ with respect to role of scientists and the environmental movement. In the case of climate change, scientists, rather than environmental groups are responsible for climate change getting on the international agenda. But environmental (and other) groups are beginning to play a crucial role in transforming climate change fiom an agenda item to a political pro- - a task for which scientists are less adept. 1argue that the clirnate regime is stalled at a declaratory and promotional stage due to weak societal leaming. The development of a strong irnplementation and enforcement regime is dependent upon a rnuc h stronger environmental movement and more effective public information campaigns. In contrast, in the Clayoquot Sound and Great Bear Rainforest campaigns in British Columbia, the environmentai movement took the lead in promoting societal learning and social change whereas conservation biologists are only beginning to organize and to have an impact. The environmental movement relied on a different rnix of 'green learning7 sources in the two campaigns, and consequently the type and scope of public education differed in each. In the early phases of the protests, public pressure models, which highlight the influence of public opinion and concern on policy-makers, are useful. However, the global civics politics mode1 (as developed by Paul Wapner) is especially useful in describing and explaining later stages of the forest campaigns. Having achieved insignificant policy changes, environmental groups attempted to build alternative global noms and procedures by turning to public education and market campaigns aimed at actors in the global civil society. Conservation biologists, corning from a relatively new field, have moved from the role of marginal players to occasional advisors to senior policy makers. Recentiy, conservation biologists have also taken the lead in developing a pnvate, transnational regime - the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. 1 dedicate this thesis to Susan and other activists working to make this world more livable and just for dl life. It was so evidently a wicked thing to spend one's pennies for drink, when the working class was wandering in darkness, and waiting to be delivered; the price of a glas of beer would buy fifty copies of a leaflet, and one could hand these out to the unregenerate, and then get drunk upon the thought of the good that was king accomplished. That was the way the movement had been made, and it was the only way it would progress; it availed nothing to know of it, without fighting for it - it was a thing for dl, not for a few! -Upton Sinclair, The Jungle AcknowIedgments 1 have been fortunate to have on my thesis committee three people who have profoundly influenced my academic path. 1 fmt encountered Janice Gross Stein in an introductory course in international relations when I was a fmt year, undergraduate student in astrophysics taking an elective. Her clear thinking and passion for understanding and responding to the threat of a global nuclear war inspired me to switch programs at once and to take Peace and Conflict Studies. For me, it's come full circle having her as my supervisor. 1also took a Third World politics course with Robert O. Matthews in the last year of my undergraduate studies, and remember being pertubed and unsure about which area in international relations to specialize in. Professor Matthews, in his typicdly eloquent way, made an irrefutable case for protecting the Earth's naturd environment and flora and fauna for present and future generations. Ever since, 1 have felt absolutely certain of my Iife purpose inside and outside academia. 1 thank him for being a guiding presence for me throughout. Evert Lindquist has contributed to my understanding of the crucial relationship between international relations theory and public poiicy, especially important in the case of transboundary issues like environmental politics. For his help in giving me the opportunity to do research on environmental restructuring in Canada, 1 am permanently grateful. Over the years, 1 have benefited enormously from working as a teaching assistant and co- organizer with Russ Houldin, Doug MacDonald, Robert Paehlke, Beth Savan, and Ruth Grier at the Innis Environmental Studies Program - a home away from rny home discipline of Political Science. 1 am gratefül to Russ Houldin who went through the entire thesis, and to Paul Wapner, David Welch, and Franklyn Griffith for providing very helpful comrnents on parts of my thesis. My thanks go also to a host of social activists and fiends who have assisted me in my research on the environmental, animal rights, labour, and civil rights movements. My great interest is to make linkages between different progressive causes, and three individuals have stood out in helping me see the connections: Shelly Lipsey whom 1 met at the blockades in Clayoquot Sound; Larry Wartel from the Great Bear Rainforest campaign; and Tony Weis from the Ontario battles against the neo-conservative Harris government. 1 am grateful to Tzeporah Berman of Greenpeace International for showing me how effective nonviolent direct action can be in her role as blockade coordinator in Clayoquot in the sumrner of 1993, and later for giving me the opportunity to volunteer at the Greenpeace office in Vancouver; Valerie Langer of the Friends of Clayoquot Sound for always being happy to answer questions about the history of the Clayoquot protests; and Wmen Magnusson for inviting me to the Politics of Clayoquot Workshop in Tofino in May 1997. 1am thanldül to David Sztybel for his long standing friendship and support. Thanks to Tita Zierer for giving me a copy of Upton Sinclair's book, The Jude, and to Alicia da Conceiçao for patiently and generously offering me her expert computer assistance. 1owe a deep sense of gratitude to Susan Krajnc, my sister, for her constant encouragement of my efforts. 1 am grateful to my parents for their support and for providing me with space to work on my studies. 1 dedicate this thesis to Susan and other activists working to make this world more livable and just for ail life. Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgments List