GREENER STILL - AN EMPIRICAL-EXAMINATION OF ECKERSLEYS ECOCENTRIC APPROACH

Perspectives on green political thought distinguish between anthropoce ntrism and environmentalism on one hand, and ecocentrism and ecology o n the other. Green theorists argue for a difference in kind between th e two domains, whereas survey researchers identify a difference in deg ree, as they carefully extend environmental scales to incrementally in clude ecological items. Eckersley's (1992) theory of green political t hought identifies resource conservation, human welfare ecology, preser vationism, and animal liberation as subtypes of anthropocentrism; and it identifies transpersonal ecology, autopoietic intrinsic value, and ecofeminism as subtypes of ecocentrism. The empirical results of testi ng Eckersley's framework indicate that the subtypes cannot be coherent ly subsumed under a general green dimension but that anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, to a large degree, are independent of one another. Yo ung age and high education are inversely related to ecocentrism. This contradicts previous research on environmental concern.