The Impact of Culture and Race on Environmental Worldviews: A Study from the Southeastern U.S.

Abstract: This qualitative study investigated the influences of race and culture on environmental worldviews of adult educator/activists in the southeastern U.S. It explored the roles of specific cultural practices and race relations which have been—and continue to be—significant factors affecting agency for environmental social transformation. Culture and Race: Shapers of Environmental Worldviews A worldview is a unifying frame of reference that allows an individual to conceptualize notions of self, society, and the universe—and to perceive and interpret her or his world. A worldview provides a framework for generating, maintaining, and applying knowledge. Environmental worldviews are peoples ’ multidimensional beliefs concerning their everyday role in the natural ecosystem and the built world (urban areas and infrastructures). They include an environmental ethic, and assumptions and values about how the world operates. Our environmental worldview determines the questions we ask and answer concerning environmental issues. The same or similar experiences can be interpreted by different people differently because of dissimilar worldviews. People’s worldviews “are held in different ways across subgroups of the population ” (Nooney, Woodrum, Hoban, & Clifford, 2003, p. 779)