Are risk perceptions and policy preferences responsive to information? Evidence from the covid-19 crisis in South Africa and Brazil

Author(s):  
Mylene Lagarde
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Cambardella ◽  
Brian D. Fath ◽  
Andrea Werdenigg ◽  
Christian Gulas ◽  
Harald Katzmair

AbstractCultural theory (CT) provides a framework for understanding how social dimensions shape cultural bias and social relations of individuals, including values, view of the natural world, policy preferences, and risk perceptions. The five resulting cultural solidarities are each associated with a “myth of nature”—a concept of nature that aligns with the worldview of each solidarity. When applied to the problem of climate protection policy making, the relationships and beliefs outlined by CT can shed light on how members of the different cultural solidarities perceive their relationship to climate change and associated risk. This can be used to deduce what climate change management policies may be preferred or opposed by each group. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of how CT has been used in surveys of the social aspects of climate change policy making, to assess the construct validity of these studies, and to identify ways for climate change protection policies to leverage the views of each of the cultural solidarities to develop clumsy solutions: policies that incorporate strengths from each of the cultural solidarities’ perspectives. Surveys that include measures of at least fatalism, hierarchism, individualism, and egalitarianism and their associated myths of nature as well as measures of climate change risk perceptions and policy preferences have the highest translation and predictive validity. These studies will be useful in helping environmental managers find clumsy solutions and develop resilient policy according to C.S. Holling’s adaptive cycle.


Urbani izziv ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol Supplement (30) ◽  
pp. 229-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayde R. Pandy

The nexus of climate change and cities is acknowledged as of growing importance for inter-disciplinary research. In this article the focus is upon the perceptions of climate change and responses by tourism stakeholders in Johannesburg, South Africa’s leading city and major tourism destination. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 tourism stakeholders an analysis is undertaken of the risk perceptions of climate change. Overall the results suggest a major disconnect between the climate change threats as openly recognised by Johannesburg city authorities and of the risk perceptions as revealed by local tourism stakeholders. The predominant view articulated by tourism industry stakeholders is that climate change responses and associated sustainability initiatives are something of a ‘nice to have’ rather than a necessity given current the current state of awareness and of climate change risk perceptions by businesses.


Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1093-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Stoutenborough

The levees along the Portneuf River around Pocatello, ID, have degraded to the point where action is necessary. Stakeholders have identified three potential policy actions that would address the levee issue – remove the existing levees, reinforce the existing levees, or remove and reconstruct new levees that incorporated green areas. While it appears that the strongest support was given to the reconstruction option, it is not clear which of these policy proposals are actually preferred by stakeholders. In short, if stakeholders had their way, which of these policies would be implemented? Using a survey of stakeholders in the Pocatello area, I compare the determinants of stakeholder policy preferences to determine how these preferences differ from one another. The analysis reveals these policy preferences are primarily driven by attitudinal indicators and risk perceptions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Gibson

This article investigates support for redistributive land policy in contemporary South Africa. From a large survey conducted in 2004, the author assesses whether contemporary policy preferences reflected egocentric instrumentalism – direct and immediate profit from redistributive policies – or symbolic justice – non-instrumental concern for contemporary and historical injustices against groups. Analysis of the data decidedly favours the symbolic justice hypothesis. Land redistribution is a symbolic issue for most black South Africans, grounded in values connected to land as a symbol and in concern for the historical injustices of apartheid and colonialism. Because land policy preferences are so strongly associated with concerns for historical injustices against groups, the land issue remains volatile and resistant to ‘simple’ economic solutions. Land is thus an example of historical injustices colliding with demands for contemporary fairness.


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