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Riessman, C.K. 1990. Divorce Talk. New Brunswick:Rutgers University Press.Sch.echter, S. 1982. Wonlen and Male Violence. Boston.South End PressSmith, D.E. 197~. A Sociology for Women. In I.A. Sherman & E.T. Beck

(eds). The Prism ofSex. Madison:University of Wisconsin Press 135-187Tannen, D. 1990. Yo~ Just Don't Understand. New York: Ballantine Books. .Todd, A.D. a~d S. FIsher. 1988. Theories of Gender, Theories of Discourse _

Introduction, In A.D. Todd and S. Fisher (eds.).Gender and Discourse/The-PowerofTalk. :t:l0rwood:Ablex Publishing Company, 1-16.

wesi5~~ and D.H. Zimmerman. 1987. Doing Gender. Gender & Society I, 125-

•~. '. . .."":: ... ~ . '. ¥~. -. r·

THE SOCIAL STRUCTURING OFPOSTINDUSTRIAL CONFLICT:

CITIZEN POSITIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS

David KowalewskiAlfred University

Mid-American Review of Sociology, 1996, Vol. XIX: 1 & 2: 33-55

The new social movements characteristic of postindustrial societieshave raised a number ofnovel issues, in particular environmental ones.The positions which groups in these societies take 0" these issues,however, is far from clear. The paper examines three perspectives on theproblem: traditional class, new middle class, and transitionaldisequilibrium. Data/rom a western New York community are used toexamine citizen positioning on three eco-factors-environmentalprotectionism, deep ecology, and limits-to-technology. The two classperspectives perform poorly but the disequilibrium perspective provesuseful. Cluster analysis yields a five-group indicator which issignificantly related to all the environmental factors. Two associatedproperty vectors, democratic-party affiliation and education, helpaccountfor intersectoral distances on the eco- factors. The implicationsfor researchand practice are discussed

Postindustrial politics seems in disarray. Traditional issues (e.g.,unionization, enfranchisement) have receded in salience while new issues(environmentalism, feminism) have grown in significance. Traditional parties,slow to respond to the new concerns, have lost adherents while the number ofindependents has grown and "new social movements" (NSMs) and new partieshave recorded gains. For some scholars, however, traditional class remainssalient for postindustrial issues. According to others, a new middle class hasformed which better accounts for positions on the new issues. Still others wouldcontend that only a completely new formulation of social location can accountfor postindustrial attitudes. .... fQ:' , •• -, H ... - .'- .......

Considerable debate, therefore, surrounds the question of thesocial-Iocational basis of postindustrial conflict. What social grounding, if any,can be found for citizen positions on the new issues? This paper investigates thesocial basis of opinion on perhaps the central postindustrial issue,environmentalism, through an analysis of survey data from a western New Yorkcommunity.

THEORIES OF SOCIAL POSITIONING ONPOSTINDUSTRIAL ISSUES

Three perspectives can be adduced to account for citizen positions onpostindustrial issues: traditional class, new middle class, and transitionaldisequlibrium.

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Mid-American Review ofSociology

Traditional class. Contlict in industrial societies pitted agrarians, ethnics,and proletarians against the owners and managers of capital. Some citizens fromthe middle class were active in the conflicts, but because of the small size of thisgroup they played a peripheral role, providing marginal support for one side orthe other. By and large in such conflicts, opinion took a bi-modal shape and wasfirmly grounded in citizens' location in the class structure.

But in postindustrial societies the situation seems less simple, sparking arenewed debate on the relevance of the traditional class concept (see Wright,1989). Affluence has presumably reduced the importance of class-based, materialissues and rendered other concerns (workplace autonomy, world peace) moresalient. Workers are likely to consider themselves "middle class"; the power ofunions has declined dramatically (Kelley and Evans, 1995; Western, 1995).According to a recent comprehensive survey of U.S.public opinion, class-relateddifferences are confined almost exclusively to industrial-age questions such asunemployment and welfare (Page and Shapiro, 1992). The class variable, then,seems of lillie use for predicting positions on specifically postindustrial issues.

Some evidence, however, suggests that the requiem for the traditional classperspective is premature, especially with respect to environmentalism (seePakulski and Waters, 1995). Less affluent citizens, for example, have assailedthe dumping of toxic substances by elites on their "ugly duckling" communities(Greenberg and Anderson, 1984). Nonwhite communities have frequentlycriticized "environmental racism" (Mohai, 1990). Traditional class is still arelevant concept, especially for social movements (Berberoglu, 1994; Maheu,1995). Class may be down, but not yet out. On environmental and otherpostindustrial issues, according to this perspective, the traditional class variablehelps account for citizen positions.

New middle class. Other scholars agree that social cleavages, especiallyclass, are still important in postindustrial politics, but in a way far different fromthe pattern of industrial politics. For some of these analysts, the strongestsupport for new postindustrial values is found in the middle class, whileopposition is strongest in the upper and working classes (Gottlieb, 1993).

• JO .MJiQ~! .. scholars Qr..Jhjp.. school, however, prefer a more refined.conceptualization (Kitscheh and Hellemans, 1990; Melucci, 1989). Class is toocrude a concept; one must isolate those specific social sectors whose locationrenders them most amenable to supporting the new demands (Clement andMyles, 1994).1 Only a fraction of the middle class-vthose sectors most involvedin producing immaterial goods for the service, especially nonmurket,economy--form the vanguard of NSMs. They alone have the expertise to decipherthe complex issues of postindustrialisrn. Located at the CUlling edge of thetransition from industrialism to postindustrialisrn, they are the most receptive tonew ideas (Rohrschneider, 1990). Their economic importance, however, isunmatched by political power. They attempt to mobilize nonelites against theold industrial elites for their own purposes, namely the reversal of their marginalpolitical position (Offe, 1987). They form a "new middle class" standing at the

34

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The Social Structuring of Postindustrial Contlict

forefront of NSMs and opposed by those sectors still engaged in producingmaterial goods for the market economy (McCrea and Markle, 1989). Onenvironmental and other postindustrial issues, according to this perspective, anew middle class variable helps account for citizen positions. Hence, scholarsshould focus on specific sectors in order to articulate the social basis of NSMs(Kriesi, 1989).

Four sectors are usually regarded as constituting the new middle class.Citizens providing health and other human services unambiguously supportNSMs, especially environmentalism. Their activity lies outside thematerial-goods economy. Because of education and occupational location, theyare more informed than other sectors about postindustrial threats (Betz, 1990).The education sector is the driving force behind the new information economiesand the major proponent of postmaterial values. The primary production site ofthe "new capital" of postindustrial economies--knowledge--is the university. Amajor concern of educators is the inculcation of non-material values. Students arefree of the constraints of production bureaucracies. The social location of botheducators and students is outside the market-goods economy. They resentgovernmental and corporate control over information, and possess the cognitiveresources to challenge that domination (Luke, 1989; McCrea and Markle, 1989).Closely related sectors, namely professionals and clerical workers, tend tosupport NSMs. Their job security is minimally dependent on growth-dependentmaterial-goods industries (Kriesi, 1989).

Other sectors, however, take ambivalent positions on postindustrial issues.Farmers are "normally regarded as attached to market-goods production anddistinctly non-environmentalist. Rural residents are less exposed than urbanitesto pollution. Many farmers must despoil their land with artificial fertilizers andbiocides to survive economically; their approach to nature is utilitarian. Manyrural areas are economically depressed, susceptible to materialistic appeals.Environmentalism threatens the control of fanners over their land. On the otherhand, pollution disrupts traditional ways of life; rural areas are often the dumpinggrounds for hazardous wastes. Nature-protective beliefs survive in rural areas;farmers must conserve their land for the sake of future income. Populist distrustof the modern economic 'complex lingers on (Kowalewski, 1994). Skilledworkers are firmly located in the market-goods economy, but are more educatedand unionized than unskilled workers, which enhances their support for NSMs.They have become increasingly militant in fighting against pollution in theworkplace. They tend to have deep roots in communities threatened byenvironmental hazards (Brown and Mikkelsen, 1990; Nelkin and Pollak, 1981).Small businesses depend on the market-goods economy for their livelihood;boosterism still dominates their politics. Yet they also resent the power ofgovernments and corporations over their lives. Environmental hazards jeopardizetheir income. Small businesses can be radicalized to support NSMs (Offe, 1985).Homemakers are largely dependent on income from the market-goods economy.However, they are located outside the labor market and their life choices arerestricted by governments and corporations. They are especially concerned about

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Mid-American Review 01' C' • l l~ IJOCIO ogy

the impact of environ ' Iacting on " m~nlal hazards on their child .lechnocratits~:~;duslr~al ,issues (Offe, I985) ~en an~ h,ave flexible time fordemands tor info~a~?Joy~ng their knowledge m~no~~;~CI~ns usu,ally adopt ·with the moral reas I?na democracy. Their inslrume s an rese~tmg popularcontracts with goveonmg of the new middle class T~t~l ~eason.lOg conflicts Itechnicians also re::u~en,t~ and corporations are ;hrea~:n ~c~atlve jobs and i

occupational autonom e ite Control Over informatio e Y NSMs. Yet !skill (Luke J989) y. They are often denied pow n and ,demand more

Still other sec'tors a I er concomItant with theirf" re c earl .rnance and industr tl y antJ-NSM. Private rna

production and th~' or example, have the greatest s~age~s and owners inlimits-to-growth tm most to lose from NSM d ake In market-goodsenvironmentalism (~tens profits. Industrialists have bee~~nds. The idea ofbelieve that state co ~tgr~ve, 1982; Inglehart, I990). ~ ound to score low onhave be . n f? IS necessary to m . OVernment employee

particiPat~~;~e~~~~~~~gIY cdomplex anda:~7:i:-~~I~~~st~~1 affairs, whic:the industrialist as th . em~n s ofNSMs. The bureaucr· ey resent theorder with disruplione~mmedlale larget of NSM aUacks ~;:: begun to replacesalient than does lh· overnment officials see enviro· s threaten publicagainst enviro e ~ass public. Government nmental problems as Jess.w~rkers are l~:t~~l~sts ~Boggs, 1986; MCAda,:n~ ~~rp~~~ion often allymformation economy ~~ ot e market-goods economy a 'd 8!. Unskilledto be provided b t . . el~ d~mands are for material 0 n ou.tslde the newvirtues ofeconoJ he IOstllUlJons of the "old leti" ~hods, ~hlch they expectthe elitism of NS~;r:~th,a?d wage- consciousne~s is the: stilI believe in theEnvironmentalism is' 0 fad to take their economic a I~ e!ho~. They resent1987). In Sum th seen as a threat to jobs (K' . nXletles IOtO account.'middle-classradica~s~'~~s of POstindustrialismr~:~, s~~~; Touraine et al.,

Transitional D' rand, 1990:25). P y new forms oflpproaches · ~se.quilibrium. Another pe · 0

lisruption :~. S~~Pl_lstlc. !he tr~diti0!la!class :.~ctl v; cn.ticizes both of these)osLindustrialislll ~~s felalJO~s_ brought a'bo~t 'br;c. rve Ign?res.1he profound

The new midd':: crmplexlfJed the old class systeme~ononllc r~structuring.'oslindustrialism on ~ l~s ~ers~e~tive oversimplities th:

yond ~epalrourvey above wout a . o~CupatlOns. More sectors are ~UJt~ple presSures ofUman-service and Cle~c~~dlCale. On the allegedly ro~~blval~~t than theconorny as otJice I worke~s are thoroughlyembed~ d' SM Side, manyJucalors have lillie ~mp oye~s, IOdustrial psychologistse ~n the m~ket-goods)gcther into corp . oncer~ !or pOstmalerial values p ; d the like. Manyhose I .. orale enlJ{Jes (Iuw and, .. " . ~o essJonals otien groude, so:~orp~~vn~~rn i~ material aggrandiS~C~~~~t~~ ::n~sjl medical ClinicsS.'mpathize With NS:anagers and OWners have bee e ~ ege~ly anri-NSMSMs. Local of··.· de?lands. Governmental'o' orne enlightened andsues. National f1clals often conflict with nal') b~ are rarely lhreatened by

governments visit environmental~na ones on environmenralI azards on local governments,

.,:..;.'..~';.::,*.~~,;''''£7;' ,':'.- ~:L,. ~ ~ -, _. ".<f_.:.'~

The Social Structu~n~ofpos~~i~~~.llll/:;(preempting their control over land use. Citizen pressures for.po.stm t'·.': ·:··.··~.·:.../;ly·:~,·.~.·.~,~1J.·~-.·~.~j.~~~;;~f.,~.t.:.-.~;~.', ..-.~.r I I ffi " 1 hize wi h . a ena ·values3f~;,{~~"i:f\rorce oca 0 icia s to sympat ize Wit NSMs. Unskilled workers find th :~»,.;,: ':.'~..,..'¥f::..¢;~j(" . ." '. ..' .elf'jobs:....:.,'" 111 -

threatenedby postindustrial tec~~lficatlon; t~ey are rapidly becomingexPetida6i~-:>',,,.; ,,_.on the labor .marke~. Communities of unsklll~d w?rkers a~e of~en the dunipin>'~~""",.. ,,::;:grounds for industrial ~astes. In short, the tripartite classification is sirnplisti~ ······,·,':;.1(Andrews, 1988; Mohai, 1990). :

These problems suggest the need for a tentative new perspective which herewe will label "transitional disequilibrium. It Postindustrial society is oneundergoing significant economic restructuring; hence it is in a transition state ofinstability. As such, it contains features of both old and new societies whiehonly new conceptual formulations and methodological techniques can ferret out.

The approach draws its inspiration from recent research on dynamicalsystems (Briggs and Peat, 1989;Dendrinos and Sonis, 1990; Peitgen and Sanpe,1988). In systems at equilibrium, the trajectories of components are stable andpredictions about present and near-future states are easily formulated and testedwith simple conventionaJ methods. Such systems are insensitive to initialconditions; even big changes have only little effects. But when systems movetoward disequilibrium, however, trajectories become unstable, even chaotic,making predictions impossible. Hence, unconventional methods (fractalgeometry and the like) may be needed to determine the possible states of thesystem. Such systems are highly sensitive to initial conditions; even littlechanges can have big effects. When entire systems change from one order toanother, relationships become highly fluid. When dealing with systems intransition, humility is the better part of science.

This perspective proposes that postindustrial opinion is still structured bysocial location, but the configuration is likely to be far different fromconventional formulations. The term "postindustrial" is especially apt, for itreflects the reality that industrialism is "post" but the shape of the "new" societyis still unclear and appropriately unnamed. Economic restructuring causes greatuncertainty; how social sectors are affected by the change is far from clear--evento themselves. Citizens are "on unfamiliar ground; their past political cues seeminappropriate or irrelevant" (Pierce et al., 1989:5). Groups divide and new onesform. In the unstable political situation, many 'citizens take a wait-and ...see.. ,.:approach to new issues. New political identities are slow to .form. Newoccupations gain power and old ones decline. Old social-locational coalitionsfragment, yet new coalitions are slow to congeal. Old political institutions,locked into conventional patterns and unable to discern any stable configurationof sectors, fail to form majority coalitions on the new issue-constellation. Asthese issues go unaddressed, citizens defect from their parties. New parties,however, also have trouble discerning the social basis of opinion and find itdifficult to mobilize support.

These dislocations are familiar to historical and comparative scholars. As theUnited States moved from agrarianism to industrialism, for example, votersdefected from traditional parties and third parties arose, eventually giving rise to"critical" elections (Sundquist, 1983). As the Third World has done the same,

37

Mid-Ame"-z"ca R "II n eVlew ..#' (1 •

OJ ~OCIO/Ogy

pa~ty fragmentation has . °

stnkes, and revolution been common, as well as militar couto shake itself out Tharymovem~nls. In transitional periods Yr' ps, gen~ralbase. . us, new social movements are Jik I ' po IlICS needs time

P '. e y to have a variegatedOSJnons on the "

grounding I . new. Issues, therefore, have .spectrum ~f n postm~ustnal societies, economic ;.~ompI~x .socJal-IocationalcJeava Occ~palIons and expands the numb I erentl~tJOn broadens the

mUJ t ·d ~es . .Postlndustrial issues highly tech . erl

of PossIble coalitions and11 Jmenslonal S ' mea and co I

the issue being c~ns~~~~~~ ~ea~ages and ~Oalitions depend ;~;exdi:e u~uaJJystrU~turing but the confi ~ra~~Jronmenlahsm, for example, shows so~:sJon .of

~~hSJd~ratjon. Different ~ime~~~~:~~~~~t°d~ ~e particular dimension ~~~:~H ge sJSze ?f the environmental net rende ~stJDct sets of social sectors. Theave~- mlth, 1988). Research 0 rs simple predictions hazardous

eCO-dJmensions, therefore must n the demographic correlates of s e .(deabout social Structuring. SCholar~h~~nducted before attempting to gen~r~,lrcapproach before generalizations are m: correctly advocated an issue-bY-iss~:sectoral cleavages and coalition de (Dryzek and Lester 1989) U ·~ompletely new social order ~sm:~f:1rar on ea~h dimensio~. Henc~ Si~~~u:~~:~f;.~pr~~te: However,since the old or~~;h~reclse "?oint predicti~ns" are

. ".uon 01 some social Slrucluri' yet to dJsappear, a looser "field~t:CI~1C bets are off; nonetheless, ou:~;~ap~.ln a "social transition zone," all

J e;trange at~ractors in chaotic systems) e Jsorder some order should appearo ascertaIn these uni ue .

approach and new meth~ sec!oraJ confi~urations, therefore, an excor~e.'ation analysis is 100 cr~~~g~~Jetech?l~ues are needed. con~ri~~~~POsJllons on the new complex . xamJnJng the social-Iocational bas' ftech . ISSues More histi IS 0d' nJ~ues are necessary. Postindust~jaJ' sop isucared multidimensional

Imension; unique sectoral confi uratio ISsues must be broken down b .~~~ther, the transitional ~isequ~~:~y appear on each subdimension y

. PosSlbdJ~y.that ~ft-used social-locationJ

I num perspe.ctive leaves open' the .. the .mulrld,;,menslOnal set of · al an~ other vaflabJes may be. I deac~ oth~r. In the social IItran~:~~:s~;CC,?U~tJDg .for 'se~to~sl'POsitionsr~i:~:_~~~ _.SOCI~ty lingers on but in a new wa '; o.t.[lOstmc).~stfJalJsm,the old industrialpred.lc.t a sector's position in y. I r~dJtJOnal class, for example, may helnlu~tJdJmensionaJ issue-space AO I th

reallon 1.0 those of other sectors .p

vartabl ~. t- kev i . e same trme . J In. es 0 ey Imporlance to th . ' SOcIa -Ioeational and othstructure the set of opinions.Educ' / eme~gJDg new society may also help ~rbe U~CfuI, tor explaining intersecto~:~~~I~~~ude to~ard chan~e, and the like ma;. . n. ShO.fl, accordi ng to this es on. t e arrayot new issues.~.ultldmlensJOnal methodsone can find pe.rspectlve, by uSing exploratory~. e~vironment~1 or other poslinduslri:.n~q~e sectoral configurationson any setI~' t. be explalDed by ofI-used variabl::s~~s. Th~se .configurations, in turn,

JnJng and the new emerging sOCiet" speCial Imporl 10 both the oldies.

1Ij

1rIiI1I

IItIJJ;1

It

The Social Structuring of Postindustrial Conflict

The null hypotheses for the above three perspectives suggest the Jack of anysocial structuring of environmental positions. Indeed much of the recentliterature on NSMs plays down the role of social location and emphasizes,instead, citizen consciousness as the key structuring factor. Withpostindustrialism, the basis of wealth-creation shifts from capital goods toknowledge. Entrepreneurial capitalists no longer constitute the central power,and laborers no longer the central movement. Technocratic institutionspredominate, monopolizing knowledge and withholding information to preservetheir power, which in tum contributes to the rise of NSMs. Alienation, derivingfrom inadequate information with which to participate meaningfully, rather thanexploitation, is the major grievance. Postindustrial hazards threaten citizensregardless of their social location. Indicators of consciousness such aspostmateriaJ values, culture, and identity are often regarded as the best predictorsof positions on NSM issues (Coutin, ]993; Franklin and Rudig, 1995;Inglehart, 1995; Johnston et al., 1994). While this paper does not aim atresolving these competing claims, support for the null hypotheses of all threeperspectives will at least suggest that social location is a scholarly deadend in thepostindustrial age. Indicators of "pure consciousness," on the other hand, mayoffer the more fruitful approach.

THE STUDY

The present study examines opinion data on environmentalism gatheredfrom a phone and mail survey of 626 randomly selected household heads ofAllegany County in western New York. The response rate, 54 percent, wasequivalent to those obtained in other environmental surveys (Hunter, 1989). Thecounty's population is largely white, primarily of German, English, and Irishancestry. While the economy is largely agricultural and industrial, it has severalpostindustrial characteristics. Its two universities are the largest employers;services constitute a growing proportion of the economy; and several high-techplants have been built in a "ceramics corridor" linking .the county with the cityof-Corning. Many urban professionals have moved into the county as permanentor summertime residents. A large proportion of residents has attended coliege (~4°

percent according to the 1990 census). Hence the venue provides a usefulpostindustrial "transition zone," allowing for adequate sampling of usuallyunderrepresented traditional sectors (farmers) but also more modern ones(technicians).

The foJlowing variables for social location were constructed from respondentself-descriptions of occupation used in conjunction with the classification ofoccupations from the General Social Surveys' Cumulative Yearbook of theNational Opinion Research Center:

(I) a traditional 6-point ordinal measure of class (unskilled worker, skilledworker, white collar clerical and service, self-employed small business,professional/technical, and manager/owner of larger-than-family business andhigh-ranking government official);

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Mid-American Review ofSociology

(2) a 12-point nominal scale for all the sectors described in the discussionabove on new middle class, which was then collapsed into a 3-point ordinalmeasure for new middle class (coded "1" for anti-NSM sectors, namely unskilledworkers, government employees, private managers and owners; "2" forambivalent ones, namely farmers, skilled workers, small businesses,homemakers, technicians; and "3" for new middle class ones, namely humanservices, educators, professionals, clerical workers).

From the literature on environmentalism, a listing of specific concerns wascompiled and questionnaire items formulated using Likert scales for responses.They include environmental priority (Protecting the environment is moreimportant than economic growth and material wealth--agree); conservation (Ournatural resources should be conserved to benefit future generations--agree);pollution (Pollution is rising to dangerous levels-agree): natural balance (Thebalance of nature is easily upset--agree); limits-to-growth (There are limits togrowth and we shouldn't expand beyond them--agree); distrust of industry(Industry is good because it provides wen-being for most people--disagree);skepticism toward science (Science and technology give us the best hope for thefuture--disagree); domination of nature (Humans were created lU 1 uie over nature-­disagree); and utilitarianism toward nature (Plants and animals exist to be usedby humans--disagree).

The items were factor-analyzed (varimax rotation) to obtain the underlyingdimensions. Table 1 shows that a three-factor solution best fits the data. Thestrongest factor is labeled Environmental Protectionism, with high loadings fornatural balance, pollution, environmental priority, and conservation. It indicatesa mainstream, conventional type of environmentalism; respondents scoring highon this factor desired a balance between production and conservation. The second,a Deep Ecology factor, contained items for non-domination of nature,non-utilitarianism toward nature, and distrust of industry. It captures a nature­rights philosophy; respondents scoring high rejected anthropocentrism andaccorded rights to other species, especially vis-a-vis industrialists. The third, aLimits-to-Techology dimension, had high loadings for limits-to-growth andskepticism toward science. It taps an anti-developmentalist approach to theenvironment; respondents scoring high subordinated technocratic values tonatural ones. Since summative scales are less vulnerable to error than factorscores, the items of each factor were added to form variables for the threeceo-dimensions.

40

1

The Social Structuring of Postindustrial Conflict

TABLE 1FACTOR PATTERN MATRIX OF ENVIRONMENTAL ITEMS

Item Environmental Deep Limits-to-Protectionism Ecology Technology

Upsetting nature's balance .732Pollution danger .690Priority of the environment .666Conserving resources .571Non-domination over nature .781Non-utilitarianism towardnature .752

Distrust of industry .607Distrust of technology .690Limits to growth .634

Eigenvalue 2.02 1.62 1.22Percent of variance .22 .18 .14Total factorial determination = .54N=542

The study first employs conventional correlation and analysis-of-variancetechniques to see if any structuring by the traditional class and new middle class(as well as overall sector) variables is observable on the three eco-factors. It thenuses multidimensional techniques (proximity scaling, cluster analysis, andassociated property vectors) to search for unique coalitions and cleavages amongsectors suggested by transitional disequilibrium.

FINDINGS

The traditional class variable has little utility for predicting opinion onenvironmentalism. All the correlations between class and the three eco-factors arenear-zero (-.01 for Environmental Protectionism, -.01 for Deep Ecology, and-.03 for Limits-to-Technology).

The variable i~: new middle class also fails to structure opinion. Thecorrelations provide little support for the perspective (-.02, -.05, and -.05).(Indeed, no social-sectoral structuring was found using the elongated 12-pointvariable of all the sectors used in new middle class theorizing. A conventionalanalysis-of-variance was conducted to see if the variable could structure opinionon the three individual eco- factors. However, it has little structuring power;none of the significance levels rise above .10 [see Table 2].)

41

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Mid-American Review ofSociology

TABLE 2SECTORAL SCORES ON ECO-FACTORS

Sector* Environmental Deep Limits-to-Protectionism Ecology Technol.ogy

Farmers 18.3 5.5 5.6Unskilied workers 18.2 6.9 4.6Skilied workers 18.5 6.7 5.1Homemakers ]8.1 6.2 4.7Small businesses 18.3 6.3 4.6Clericals 18.7 6.8 4.7Human services 18.6 7.0 5.2Educators 18.3 7.3 4.6Technicians 17.8 7.0 4.4Professionals 17.2 7.0 5.5Privale managers 18.3 6.9 4.3Government employees 18.2 5.9 4.6

F= 0.99 1.10 1.48p= .412 .361 .134N= 514 505 507

~The respondents provided the following self-descriptions of their occupationsfor the 12 sectors. Farmers: self-evident; unskilled workers: custodian,housecleaner, maintenance worker, dishwasher, groundskeeper, waitor andwaitress, cook, cashier, salesclerk; skilled workers: factory worker, machinist,machine/equipment operator, mechanic, welder, carpenter, roofer, road or.building construction, electrician, electronics assembly and repair, bus or truckdriver, butcher, beautician, housepainter; homemaker: self-evident; smallbusinesses: self- employed, real estate agent, insurance broker, contractor;clericals: secretary, typist, clerk, bookkeeper, paralegal; human-services: weifareworker, therapist, teacher of disabled, nurse or nurse's aide, hygienist, speechpathologist; educators: university professor, teacher or teacher's aide, counselor,librarian; technicians: engineer, technician, draftsperson, computer programmeror operator, research and development officer or employee; professionals:economist, lawyer, commercial artist, minister, doctor, dentist, pharmacist;private managers: plant/office manager, banker, corporate owner or administratoror executi ve, production supervisor; government employee: office supervisor,law enforcer, corrections officer, tax collector, mayor, councilperson, executiveassistant, court clerk, military officer or non-corn, surveyer, highwaysuperintendent.

Hence, as the transitional disequilibrium perspective suggests, moresophisticated exploratory and multidimensional techniques may be necessary to

42

The Social Structuring of Postindustrial Conflict

find any social-Iocational basis of opinion. First, proximity scaling wasempl?yed. This method allows us to search for social patterning by examiningthe distances among sectors along the three eco-factors jointly considered. Theprevious dimension-by-dimension analysis may have obscured an actual socialstructuring along a single environmentalism construct of all three dimensions.Proximity scaling can provide a mapping of sectoral opinion-positions on thethree factors combined. Proximity scores, by emphasizing distances in a globalspatial configuration, can determine the social spaces between sectors withrespect to the environmentalism construct.

The mean score for each sector on each of the factor-based scales wascomputed. The resulting three variables, containing the sectors' scores on each ofthe three eco-factors, were then standardized and converted to social distances in aEuclidean coefficient matrix. The matrix contains the distances between eachsector and every other sector on the three factors combined.

As a preliminary cut at the data, the five largest and five smallest scores ofdistances between sectors were examined to explore for hints of cleavages andcoalitions. The largest distances suggest that farmers are a unique sector. Thefour largest scores show that farmers are most distant from industrialists,technicians, professionals, and educators. Hence, some hint of a cleavagebetween an urban technocratic coalition and a rural anti-technocratic sector isobservable. The fifth largest score shows clerical employees located far fromprofessionals. This cleavage within white-collar ranks directly contradicts, ofcourse, both the traditional class and the new middle class perspectives.

The five smalles.t scores, however, reveal no obvious multi-sectoralcoalitioning. However, they suggest some bilateral alliances: homemakers withgovernment employees and educators; educators with unskilled workers; humanservices with skilled workers; and government employees with small businesses.In sum, while some sectoral patterning can be observed, no distinct sets ofsectors emerge. A more comprehensive picture of sectors' locations is needed.

Second, therefore, a visual picture of all the sectors' locations on theenvironmental construct was generated by scaling the distance data. Alternatingleast squares was employed, with untied ordinal-data criteria, to produce such amapping. A two- dimensional configuration emerged as the most statisticallyacceptable, parsimonious, interpretable, and graphically useful solution. Thescree diagram showed a distinct elbow over the second dimension; the stressvalue (.15) and the R2 (93 percent) for the two-dimensional solution wereacceptable. 2 .

Figure ) displays the configuration of the 12 sectors. Closest to thecentroid, or the modal point in the space, lie homemakers, small businesses, andhuman services. Farthest from the centroid are farmers and professionals. Thesetwo outlying sectors, as noted above, are more distant from each other than anyother two sectors; here we also see that they lie farthest from the mode of theconfiguration. Hence some cleavage is evident, between these two sectors, andbetween them and the rest of the community. The other sectors, in contrast,gravitate toward the centroid, but no distinct coalitions are apparent.

43

Mid-American Review ofSociologyThe Social Structuring of Postindustrial Conflict

FIGURE 2SECTORAL CLUSTERS ON ECO-FACTORS

FIGURE]SECTORAL DISTANCES ON ENVIRONMENTAL ATfITUDEsa

Fusion Coefficient Icicle Plot

CL

~SW GV

. HS· •

ED~~M S8 HM· ..uw 0

• TC

FRo

12.219.557.025.063.212.491.781.330.910.540.25

T E PUC H S P S H G FC D M W L S W R B M V RXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx X XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxx XXXXXX X XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxx xxxxxx X XXXXXX Xx XXXXXXX XXXXXXX X XXXXXXX XX XXXXXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXX XX X XXXX X XXXX X XXXXXXX ZX X XXXX X XXXX X XXXX X XX X XXXX X X X X XXXX X XX X X X X X X X X)OCX X X

PRe

aSmallest circle at the upper left represents the centroid of the configuration. CL =.clericals; HS = human services; SW = skilled workers; SB = small businesses; HM= homemakers; GV =government; FR =farmers; ED = education; PM = privatemanagers and owners; UW = unskilled workers; TC =technicians; PR =profession-als. .

Third, cluster analysis was used to search for coalition patterns. Cluster or"network" techniques can detect "neighborhoods" of sectors; they can determinethe .. number of groupings and the degree to which their members form tightcoalitions.f Figure 2 shows that a five-cluster solution best fits the data. The firstnoticeable jump in fusion coefficients occurs between five (3.21) and four (5 ..06)clusters, indicating a joining of dissimilar cases at the four-cluster solution.

44

The clusters are drawn in Figure "I. Professionals and Farmers, as hintedabove, form extreme unisectoral "clusters." Closest to the centroid lies what canbe called a Main Street coalition of small businesses, homemakers, andgovernment employees, with homemakers as its prototypical core. Thisgrouping best represents the "community norm" concerning environmentalism.Not far removed, however, lies a Skilled Workforce cluster containing humanservices, clericals, and skilled industrial workers, with human services as its

. prototypical core. The final cluster is a Technocracy grouping of technicians,private managers, educators and unskilled workers. Hence, sectoral locationseems relevant, but contrary to the. traditional class and new middle class ._perspectives, it is relevant in a complex and not immediately intuitive way.

Fourth, the ability of the clusters to structure positions on each of the threeenvironmental dimensions was tested. Whereas the simple social-Iocationalvariables used above were unable to structure opinion on the ceo-factors, thesectoral clusters may prove more useful. A five-point sectoral-cluster variablewas constructed and related to the three eco-factors using analysis-of-variance.Table 3 provides the cluster scores on the three factors. The findings indicate thatthe cluster variable is useful for structuring positions. All three tests aresignificant at the .05 level.

On the Environmental Protectionism factor, all the clusters coalesced aroundthe mean value except for the Professionals, who had a comparatively low score.This finding sharply contradicts the new middle class notion that professionalsare an NSM vanguard. Overall, protection of the environment has a wide

45

Mid-American Review of Sociology

community base. It is supported by a massive "super-coalition" which excludesonl~ the Profes.sionals. The finding accords with recent surveys which documentmass ~upporl for traditional environmental measures such as conservation andpollution- abatement (Davis and Smith, 1988).

TABLE 3CLUSTER SCORES ON ECO-FACTORS

Cluster Environmental Deep Limits-to-Protectionism Ecology Technology

Farmers 18.3 5.5 5.6Main Street 18.2 6.1 4.6Skilled Workforce 18.5 6.8 5.0Professionals 17.2 7.0 5.5Technocracy 18.2 7.1 4.5

F= 2.58 3.09 3.55p= .037 .016 .007N= 560 553 555

On. t~e Deep Ecology factor we also see some unexpected results. Farmerswere distinctly "shallow" environmentalists; they expressed a utilitarian andhuman-domin~t~onist philosophy toward nature, scoring lowest of all theclusters. Surprlsl~gly the Technocracy cluster (technicians, educators, privatemanagers, unskilled workers) scored highest, and the Professionalssecond-highest, on Deep .Ecology. However, while all four sectors in theTechnocracy cluster had high scores on Deep Ecology, educators and techniciansw~re ?1ore supportive than private managers and unskilled workers (see Table 2).St!lI, In general the Technocracy and Professionals were most likely to disagree

- with a utilitarian and human-dorninationist approach "to nature.On the Limits-to-Technology factor, however, Professionals scored

second-~ig~estwhile the Technocracy scored lowest. Apparently, in contrast tot~e. Professionals, the Technocracy felt its economic interests threatened byhl~J1S~lo-growth and ~kepllclsm toward science and technology. It was joined inthis view by the Main Street cluster, the traditional "boosters" of economicdevetopment, In sharp contrast to these clusters, the Farmers scored highest onthe Limits-to-Technology factor, indicating an anti-development animus, Thus,while the agrarian sector proved anti-environmentalist in terms of itsutilnurian/dominationisr approach to the land, it proved pro- environmentalist interms of its skepticism toward unlimited growth and technology which havethreatened and damaged that land.

Finally, the ability of associated property vectors to structure sectoralpositions on the environmental construct was tested. As noted above, the

46

The Social Structuring of Postindustrial Conflict

disequilibrium perspective leaves open the possibility that traditional class andother conventicna! variables may be related to the complex of coalitions andcleavages among sectors. Such variables may tap both old and new societies inways especially relevant to "transition zone" issues. These variables may providea clue to the deep structure undergirding the sectoral locations inmultidimensional space. Testing for associated property vectors can uncover sucha hidden structure underlying the distances among the sectors. By regressingdummy variables measuring the social characteristics of the sectors overvariables indicating the two point-coordinates of their locations in the distanceconfiguration (Figure 1), one can obtain a more complete understanding of theopinion structure.

Eight social-Iocational and other variables commonly cited in the literatureas explanations for environmental positions were constructed: traditional class;new middle class; education; enjoyment of living in the community; ruralresidence; democratic-party affiliation; employment; and conservatism. From the(sometimes conflicting) literature, it was hypothesized that pro-environmentalpositions in the configuration would characterize sectors which were upper class;new middle class; educated; enjoying residence in the community; urban;affiliated with the democratic party; employed; and liberal. High R2·s forrelationships indicate the vector-variables which best account for the distancesamong the sectors.

The results prove only suggestive. The R2's turned out insufficiently largefor unambiguous selection as vectors (4 to 41 percent). Democratic-partyaffiliation and education, however, were moderately related to sectoral positions(31 and 41 percents). Further, these two vectors were completely orthogonal; thePearson's r for the relationship between mean scores for the sectors on the twovariables was zero, indicating independent contributions to the structuring. Thusa two- dimensional cleavage structure, albeit weak, appears to underlie theinter-sectoral distances on the environmental construct. More specifically, sectorslocated near the democratic end of the party vector, especially the SkilledWorkforce cluster (skilled workers, human services, clericals), were somewhatmore favorable to Deep Ecology and Limits-to-Technology than were therepublican sectors, especially the Technocracy. And sectors located near the highend of the education vector were somewhat less favorable toward EnvironmentalProtectionism but more favorable toward Deep Ecology than \\!.ere the lesseducated.

If we regard party affiiiation and education as indicators of class interest andconsciousness, then their emergence as vectors accounting for the "transitionzone" issue of environmentalism may be understandable. Indeed, the findingsharmonize well with the disequilibrium perspective. Class interest in the form ofparty affiliation is somewhat related to environmental positions; a hint of thecontinuing importance of industrial political institutions, as evident in the term"postindustrial," is observable. At the same time, education is the mostimportant vector underlying sectoral distances. It contributes to the

47

Mid-American Review otS, . I~ OCIO ogy

environmentalist co ·nsclOusness of . d '.perhaps, is caught between postin u~t~lahsm. Thus modern soc'cons~lOusness politics of the ne~~geCI;~S tPOIUlCS of industrialism and l~~. n sum, the findings .wna ever that turns out to be

~!~~~;~F~:2~~e~~~~n~~~~~;~fi:~e:::;~;f~~0~~~;~i~~~~af~I~~:~~i~i~~~d' . . s er, and vector analyses w 0 reach significancecIl:~~ons .and alignments and their underl;~~ n~cessary before clear sectorai

. ages were unexpected and th ~. ases could be detected Thpostindustrial bedfellows ind d' e coalitIons included som . eee . estrange

IMPLICATIONS

. !he findi.n~s have implications for:;h~~~~r:dl~lonal variables and techn~u:~S::~:;'d practice ofpostindustrial

variables, a~dl~':~~~:a~~~sodologic.aIJY to construc~ ~~=e~~~. ~~earc.hers

dMultidimensional techniques s:mere~t, t~ la~cert.ain coalitions an~ c1e:~~lgetaletect and m he so-: essenua In this meth d I . es.

Co . ap t e Soclal-Iocational config' 0 0 oglcal repenoire tore n~entlOnal techniques may hide more t .uranons of postindustrial sOciedesan~~~n~•.yet traditio.naltechniques have di~:::~e~ r~v~aJ. Social basing is stili

I;V~lons, especially on the various dime . y ISO atmg the novel alignmentsf ~ e task confronting researche . nSlon~ of complex issues.ru~t~atlng. Politicians for good . rs IS hdauntmg, that facing pOliticians .

POSitions . ' . reason, ave diffi I '. ISmuch of ~hn new mUI~ldlmensional issues like envi ICU ty d~scernlOg sectoral

. . e conventional wisdo Ironmentahsm. In this stud~ro~e~. mcorrect. If the coalitions~n~b~ut sectors (Prof~ssionals for exampl:;c~n u:JOg, that perception may be accura~:v~ges of POSh~~ustrial polilics seemmu~rd~~/n~ even Counterintuitive. Postind:~tt~~: ~oahlJoning is likely to bedimensionnSl7nally. ~ m~in street cluster backing th:ssueds are bes~ analyzed

o protecllonlsm rna b I roo erate envJronm t I.. supp~r.~~ve secrors j, likel t Y.e c ea~l~ .observable, yet the nu en a~~ks~ctoral clusters like ~h~ ~:~·:~:~:ohl1'Cj~ns·.wm be hesitant to ;~~ro~:dime to.rce ~ho are less commiUed to y;h~rotes~l.onals, larmers, and skilledlikel nSlons like d~ep ecology and limits-Io- POSHlon. On the more radicalbe . YIO be more Iragmenled. Vel iflhe d .tecdhnoIO~y, sectoral positions are

aggregated coo l d. '. eman s put forwurd b NSdisrupt'· ' p e , and Institutionalized by I'" y : Ms cannot

I()~ gr~ws. po Jllcluns, the pOlential forThe Implications ,. h .. .

unclear We sr · 0 t e findings for the real] nmen ., .dl' 'r' aw thur traditional party at't'·'· . g I of PUIJllcaJ parties arc

s unces but .ts i t1 I ration help edbe b· ' .. S In uence was weak The ' . e .to structure sectoralparti~~Jt ?ut ot.lhe unusual social contigura~i~:~lon the.n. anses:.Can new parliesso W .have ansen, but their growth has been ~n POSllllduslnal issues'? Greense~tor~~t ~Xactly does "green" mean? II clearl;rratlc, an.d !)erhaps understandably

a c usters, Can a green coali[ion be bU'"ltleanhs dlflerentthings to differentI w en no such I· .48 coa ruon exists,

The Social Structuring of Postindustrial.C fl!on. tct

except perhaps on the almost consensual dimension of protectionism? Nparties may be as unable to build a national consensus around complex issuesasthe old. Indeed, parties may be a time-dependent phenomenon, having emergedout of a unique, industrial mass-society, stage of political history. Today thepostmodernist "no-party" option may be an understandable response to thetransition stage between industrialism and the new age--and a prophetic call toconsciousness?

ENDNOTES

1. By sectors are meant those sets of individual occupations in modern,complex economies which, according to the social- scientific literature onthe new middle ,,:ass and environmentalism,presumably exhibit a unique setof attitudes ori the total array of postindustrial issues. As one refereeusefully pointed out, these sectors constitute a mix of dimensions, e.g.,traditional class (workers vs. managers), classical economic sector (public orgovernmental vs. private employment), etc. Further, within sectors may befound a variety of statuses, e.g., poor vs. affluent housewives. Thus theexisting literature tends to support a major theme of this paper, namely theneed for new classificatory formulations of occupation in postindustrialsocieties.

2. The scree plot indicated a complete convergence. Kruskal's Stress Formula 1was used for stress values. The low value for the two-dimensional solutionsuggested a global rather than local minimum. The R2, representing theproportion of variance in the scaled disparities data accounted for by theircorrespondingproximity distances, indicated a near-perfect fit. The R2,s forthree or more dimensions showed only minor improvements. Also, themoderate number of datapoints requires caution in accepting ahigher-dimension solution. Plots of linear fit, nonlinear fit, andtransformation revealed steep slopes and no nonmonotonic, nonlinearshapes. No large or patternedresidual outliers, whichwould indicate the needfor additional dimensions,were evident.

3. An agglomerative hierarchical routine using Ward's method with Euclideandistances was utilized as most appropriate for coalitional analysis.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Karen L. Porter co-directed the survey. The research was supported by aScholarly Activities grant from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences atAlfred University, with assistance from the Division of Social Sciences.Thanks

49

~1 j

I II!

I!

Mid-American R 0 1eVlew ofSOciology ...

are due to Eve li --Johnson, Lest: me.Bates, Debra Cheslow, Pearl .Michael Yehl f~r~lI.brath, ~arc Olshan, Steve ie~~ldress'D~rthur GreiJ, Heidi

eir contrIbutions 10 the p 0 rson, ranne Schatz a drOJect. ' n

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BOOK REVIEWS

For Richer, for Poorer: Early Colonial Marriages.. Russell Penny (ed.)Australia: Melbourne University Press, 1994. 146 pp. ·

This interesting analysis of nineteenth century marriage among six Englishcouples involved in the colonization of Australia draws on rich sources ofhistorical data, including personal letters and prose, to depict how these couplesmerged what Russell calls two "inseparably linked and totally incompatible"concepts: marriage and colonization. The major contradiction was in theportrayal of colonization as an almost exclusively public arena, male-centeredenterprise involving adventure, conquest, and society-building; yet, marriage andthe making of families were also intricately tied to the concept of civilization.Indeed, social reform and economic progress were thought to require the creation"decent families," defined as breadwinner/homemaker units. The promotion ofthis family model led to a second contradiction -- the conflict between femalesubordination and the essential economic roles women usually assumed. How,then, did couples reconcile the labor demands of colonization with the ideologiesof traditional marriage and gender inequality?

Interestingly, the heavy reliance of colonial society on both the productiveand reproductive labor of women did not challenge gender ideologies whichassigned women domestic roles. While colonization provided men with a varietyof masculinity styles from which to choose, femininity was still defined asbeing "restrained, ladylike, affectionate, devoted, dutiful, and by implicationdomestic (20)." Moreover, the attribution of these characteristics to particularwomen influenced their status and treatment in colonial society. For example,femininity was seen -as being beyond the reach of most colonial women becausethey were of convict origin; thus, they endured deplorable living conditions,forced prostitution, and economic exploitation. Most of the wives of the Britishcolonists were at least assumed to be in conformity with the ideals femininityand its code of morality, although neither their social background nor theirhusband's status made them exempt from the restrictions. imposed by gendernoons.

Indeed, violations of sexual and gender norms received wide publiccensorship, as vividly illustrated in two of the marriages presented in this book:In one case a leading citizen of Sydney, William Wentworth, married hismistress, Sarah. While he went on to become a prosperous and well-respectedpolitician, any effort by Sarah to present herself to "polite society" resulted in apublic outcry. lil~ writer notes that although her "humble and convict parentagecould be overlooked; her sexual immorality could not. She was, forever, thedamned whore (120)." Lady Jane Franklin also experienced the penalties imposedon women who were defined as violating the boundaries between the public andprivate arenas. When her husband was assigned Lieutenant Governor of VanDiemen's Land, she was enthralled with the possibility of helping in the cre~~ionof a free society. Her highly visible public role as her husband's key pohtl~aladviser and consultant, however, led to accusations of interference WIthgovernmental affairs and neglect of her domestic duties. Critics charged that the

53