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The Modern-Day Radical Environmental Movement - A case study of the goals and organisational structure of a radical environmental group
Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society (KS).
Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society (KS).
2020 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Background – A steep rise in citizen engagement in the environmental activist movement following concerns about climate change and environmental destruction has led to the formation of a multitude of environmental activist organisations. These organisations encompass different ideological beliefs and doctrines and can be categorised on a broad spectrum. The radical environmental component of this movement has manifested various organisations which advocate sweeping sociopolitical change to bring about improvement in the natural environment, often working with noninstitutional or non-electoral methods that may or may not include illegal, non-democratic or violent action. Objective – The purpose of the study is to ascertain the organisational goals and structures of a currently active radical environmental organisation. The research uses the field of organisational studies as a framework to examine these goals and structures. There is a marked lack of previous research focusing on current iterations of radical environmental organisations, therefore this research aims to provide an example of an active organisation as part of the current movement. Methods – A single-embedded case study of a radical environmental organisation was conducted to gather data. Two units of data collection were used; semi-structured interviews with members of the organisation, and content collection from the organisation’s website. Inductive methods of content analysis were applied to gathered data in order to infer results and answer the research questions. Conclusion – Based on findings, we conclude that the radical environmental group investigated has ideological goals that are in line with the personal goals of its members, which includes the overall aim of bringing down industrial civilisation in order to effectuate improvement to the natural environment. The organisation also has a distinct four-phase strategy to define its operative goals. The organisation is structured in a three-tiered hierarchy with formalised rules and procedures for members to adhere to, however, not all functions and activities of the organisation are dictated by this hierarchy and formalisation. The organisation is spatially and horizontally complex, with multiple job titles and global dispersion.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle , 2020. , p. 64
Keywords [en]
radical environmental organisation, activism, environmentalism, sustainability, organisational structure, organisational goals, operative goals, personal goals
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22793Local ID: 32418OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-22793DiVA, id: diva2:1482725
Educational program
KS US Leadership for Sustainability
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2020-10-27 Created: 2020-10-27Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf