Rationalizing environmental responsibilities - A comparison of lay publics in the UK and the Netherlands

The results from a cross-cultural study of citizens in Nottingham (UK) and Eindhoven (NL) carried out in 1993-94 are discussed in this paper. Drawing on the results of household surveys and in-depth single gender discussion groups conducted in both cities, the paper compares the extent to which members of the general public are actively engaged in pro-environmental behaviours, before focusing on the discursive rationalizations through which men and women justify their willingness or refusal to accept environmental responsibilities. The study shows that the level of pro-environmental behaviour is much higher among the Dutch sample than among the English sample on all indicators. The key the fuller inhibiting of personal responsibility among citizens in both countries are shown to be first, the extent to which individuals are able to make judgements about the validity of environmental rhetoric and expert claims based on personal and local knowledge as well as mass media. Second, the increasingly confused and contingent environmental 'truths' encouraging cynicism and doubt among lay publics; and finally, the extent to which trust relations exist between citizens and government in which both acknowledge their rights and responsibilities. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd