Dominant Social Paradigm and Its Impacts on Environmental Policies in the United States Essay Example
vRunning head: MONOGRAPH 1
Dominant Social Paradigm and its Impacts on Environmental Policies in the United States
by
Venkata R Prasad Goparaju
Date: 15 October 2008
Every country has societal values and principles that are derived from and are the basic for the evolution of respective civilizations. These principles may vary in response to changing conditions and perceptions as is evident, say for instance, from the works of Smith (2003). Such values and traditions were collectively termed as ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ by Pirages and Ehrlich in 1974 (as cited in Kilbourne, Beckmann, & Thelen, 2002). The concept was initially proposed by Kuhn in 1962 (as cited in Kilbourne et al., 2002 ). To evaluate the approach of the United States towards environmental issues, various aspects of the dominant social paradigm and their impacts should be observed. It is necessary to observe four important concepts to identify the role of traditions and values on policies and attitudes.
Kuhn’s Scientific Paradigm (1962): A scientific paradigm is a belief structure that dominates a particular scientific community (as cited in Shafer, 2006). Such paradigms influence the way community members analyze a subject matter and define various problems and research methods (as cited in Shafer, 2006).
Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony (1971): Governing elites adopt and popularize dominant worldviews in order to get public approval (as cited in Shafer, 2006). This concept may explain the trends in environmental concerns by governments of the western world, the US in particular.
Pirages and Ehrlich’s Dominant Social Paradigm (1974): It consists of a set of values, namely individualism, materialism, limited government, economic growth and the importance of progress that has been an inherent feature of the western culture (Oskamp & Schultz, 2004, p. 451). According to Cotgrove (1982), the reason for opposition to the environmental movement in the US lies in differences
Dominant Social Paradigm and its Impacts on Environmental Policies in the United States
by
Venkata R Prasad Goparaju
Date: 15 October 2008
Every country has societal values and principles that are derived from and are the basic for the evolution of respective civilizations. These principles may vary in response to changing conditions and perceptions as is evident, say for instance, from the works of Smith (2003). Such values and traditions were collectively termed as ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ by Pirages and Ehrlich in 1974 (as cited in Kilbourne, Beckmann, & Thelen, 2002). The concept was initially proposed by Kuhn in 1962 (as cited in Kilbourne et al., 2002 ). To evaluate the approach of the United States towards environmental issues, various aspects of the dominant social paradigm and their impacts should be observed. It is necessary to observe four important concepts to identify the role of traditions and values on policies and attitudes.
Kuhn’s Scientific Paradigm (1962): A scientific paradigm is a belief structure that dominates a particular scientific community (as cited in Shafer, 2006). Such paradigms influence the way community members analyze a subject matter and define various problems and research methods (as cited in Shafer, 2006).
Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony (1971): Governing elites adopt and popularize dominant worldviews in order to get public approval (as cited in Shafer, 2006). This concept may explain the trends in environmental concerns by governments of the western world, the US in particular.
Pirages and Ehrlich’s Dominant Social Paradigm (1974): It consists of a set of values, namely individualism, materialism, limited government, economic growth and the importance of progress that has been an inherent feature of the western culture (Oskamp & Schultz, 2004, p. 451). According to Cotgrove (1982), the reason for opposition to the environmental movement in the US lies in differences