Non-Governmental Organizations and Construction of Environmental Issues: Stopping the Biogem Project in Anzali Lagoon

Authors

1 Ph.D. student in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran,

2 Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract

Objectives: This research aims to study the role of non-governmental organizations in environmental construction issues, with a focus on the biogenic sedimentation project in Anzali Lagoon from a social perspective. With the beginning of the experimental stages of the biogeme project, the anti-biogeme movement was launched in Giulan province, with the city of Anzali being a focal point where NGOs were one of the main contenders of this movement. Assertion as part of the social constructionist approach is highlighted in the way environmental problems, as well as the means and methods of addressing them, are constructed and contested. This type of understanding of environmental problems does not mean defining them without considering their objective dimensions. Rather, it means that attention must be paid to social, cultural, political, and historical processes related to the emergence of such problems. Method: The research is qualitative in nature and is conducted based on the content analysis of texts obtained from interviews, observations, and documents. The participants are 26 founders and board of directors of environmental NGOs in Giulan province, and the required information was collected through in-depth interviews as well as documents and field observation. Findings: Based on the study of the activities of NGOs in the field of environment, especially resistance against the implementation of biogeme, six overarching themes, including scientific, rhetorical, educational-promotional, media, organizational communication, and practical tactics in political conflict, were extracted from the data obtained in the course of the study which indicates the way NGOs perform in the environmental construction issues. Conclusion: Through a process that includes the performance of organizations in the aforementioned themes, the issue of biogeme is taken into consideration in the public arena, and a decision is made based on the demands and claims of NGOs to solve it. With this description, the result of the NGO activism in the field of biogeme projects accompanied an order to stop their implementation.

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Main Subjects

References

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Sociology of Social Institutions
Volume 11, Issue 23
August 2024
Pages 89-120

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