UW Political Science Professor Aseem Prakash and his colleague from the UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs Nives Dolsak recently published an article discussing the U.S. environmental movement’s need for a new message in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. This is necessary because the movement failed to reach important groups of voters despite seemingly broad public support for environmental protection. Specifically, they argue, “the movement needs a new agenda and communications strategy to reach beyond its roots and connect with working-class voters and immigrants.” Prakash and Dosak conclude:
“To become an influential social movement once again, U.S. environmentalists will need to ‘go local.’ Instead of telling people what they ought to do, they will need to pay attention to minorities’ and workers’ perspectives. Shedding urban elitism will require critical and painful self-reflection, more investment in green-blue alliances and an honest attempt to diversify the environmental movement and its agenda.”
The article entitled “The US Environmental Movement Needs a New Message,” appeared on The Conversation website on December 12, 2016. The Conversation “is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community” that launched in October 2014.