Sociocultural characteristics of grassroots environmental movements in small single-industrial cities of Russia as indicators of social anxiety

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Abstract

Small single-industrial cities of Russia are the most unfavorable in terms of the environmental situation that has developed in them. The author studied the existing socio-ecological situations in such cities using his own concept describing the socio-ecological situation as the interaction of natural conditions and society in a given territory. The study was aimed at an in-depth study of grassroots environmental initiatives and local environmental movements as important elements of the socio-ecological system capable of influencing the socio-ecological situation.

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the characteristics of the emergence and functioning of grassroots local environmental initiatives and assess their potential in the formation of civil activists and political leaders, as well as assess their ability to influence the socio-ecological situation in the places of their action.

The results of the study showed that grassroots environmental movements are indeed a reserve for recruiting civil activists and political leaders. The emergence of grassroots environmental movements can serve as indicators of social anxiety, since environmental risks are one of the main components of global risks. Grassroots environmental movements are centers for the formation of local environmental culture in their communities and their transmitters to territorial communities.

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About the authors

Alexander S. Mishchenko

Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: a_mis@rambler.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5279-2404

Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, senior researcher

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

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