Title: How people perceive environmental-security issues in Southern Africa: insights from political psychology

Authors: Helen E. Purkitt

Addresses: Political Science Department, U.S. Naval Academy, USA

Abstract: Environmental security is a term used by western government officials, policy analysts, and researchers to describe environmental problems that are related to national security. The principle concerns of western government officials and related research findings are summarized. To determine how individuals in developing country think about environmental and political problems, 64 ||think-aloud|| protocols and interviews with officials, researchers, and activists in Southern Africa were collected. These results indicate extensive overlap with the concerns expressed in the west. However, individuals in Southern Africa also identified a number of additional issues that were linked to sustainable development and the limited capacities of governments in the region. The significance of these findings for understanding how people think about environmental and political problems is discussed.

Keywords: perceptions; environmental security; Southern Africa; political psychology; sustainable development; sustainability; government capacity.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2000.053861

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2000 Vol.2 No.1, pp.114 - 130

Published online: 13 May 2013 *

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