ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS IN RUSSIA: HISTORY AND PRESENT

Chekmenyova Tatyana Gennadievna

Date of publication: March 31, 2022 DOI: 10.52270/27132447_2022_9_41

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS IN RUSSIA: HISTORY AND PRESENT

Chekmenyova, Tatyana Gennadievna1

''Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, Voronezh State Technical University, 84, 20 years of October Street, Voronezh, Russia, E-mail: politehist@mail.ru

Abstract

This article provides a retrospective analysis of the development of the environmental movement and the activities of environmental associations in Russia. The tasks and types of environmental associations in Russia at the present stage are considered. Ecological associations reflect the collective concern for the state of the environment and unite joint actions to prevent environmental threats of individuals, social groups and public associations. Environmental associations are concerned about many issues, such as global climate change, deforestation around the globe, oversized fishing and whaling, conservation of endangered species, radiation hazard, environmental pollution with hazardous chemicals.

Keywords: environmental movement, environmental association, Russian Geographical Society, Nature Protection Squad, environmental organizations, environmental parties, Russian environmental party "The Greens", party "Green Alternative".

I. INTRODUCTION

A public association, being an institution of civil society, is a voluntary, self-governing, non-profit formation, created on the initiative of citizens united on the basis of common interests for the implementation of common goals specified in the charter of a public association, Ecological associations (organizations and movements) - This is a socio-political phenomenon that has arisen in the context of increasing society's impact on nature, as a result of the interaction of all social groups interested in preserving nature for the sake of future generations. Public organizations differ from social movements in the intentionality and official nature of the creation (the goal is predetermined); formal organizational unity based on the charter, stability of the structure, relationships between members of the organization; coordination of actions of members of the organization on the basis of normatively fixed prescriptions, positions and roles. Public (social) movements as a form of public association are joint activities of citizens pursuing common goals. Unlike parties, social movements do not have clear principles of leadership, a comprehensive program of activities, or a fixed membership [4].

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II. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS

The following works are devoted to the analysis of the development of the environmental movement and the activities of environmental associations in Russia.

The book Nature Protection in Russia: from Gorbachev to Putin (authors V. Larin, R. Mnatsakanyan, I. Chestin, E. Schwartz, 2003) is devoted to the history of Russia's nature conservation and environmental policy in the last decades of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century. The analysis of materials is carried out taking into account the international context of events, the development of public administration in this area and the public environmental movement. The main attention is paid to the history of the state environmental department of the Russian Federation, which existed in 1988-2000. - the reasons and conditions for its creation, reorganization and liquidation. Regulatory legal acts, interviews with experts, publications and personal experience of the authors were used as sources of material [5].

Book O.N. Yanitsky "Ecological movement in Russia" ( 1996 r.) is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the environmental movement in Russia, where the author, who has studied the history of the environmental movement, makes a forecast for the development of the environmental movement in the future

Factual collections on the history of the student environmental movement are: "Do you remember how it was? ..." (collection of memoirs of combatants of the MSU DOP) - a collection that contains memories of combatants of different years, intended for those who are interested in nature protection and its history; "Thirty Years of Movement: Informal Environmental Youth Movement in the USSR" is a collection of materials and documents on the history of the youth environmental movement in the USSR from 1960 to 1992 r.[8].

Reference book "Russian environmental movement 2007 (the largest environmental associations of Russia at the interregional level)" from the authors Fedorov A.V., Stepanenko BC, Frolov A.N. contains information about the most famous Russian public organizations (associations) of the interregional level, setting and solving environmental problems [7].

Book by D.A. Boriskin "Public environmental movement in Russia on the eve of the third All-Russian congress on nature protection" ( 2003 r.) is devoted to the domestic environmental movement, its state on the eve of the third All-Russian congress on environmental protection. The work is based on research materials and scientific developments of the Center for Social Ecology and Applied Sociology REFIA [1].

The Russian environmental movement is a powerful social force, with its own well-established ideology, principles and rich traditions. It originated at the beginning of the 11th century with the creation of the Moscow Society of Nature Testers in 1805 with the benevolence of Alexander the 1st, from which all the others grew, and went through several stages.

The first stage (the beginning of the 19th century - the beginning of the 20th century (until 1917)) is characterized by the scientific and educational nature of public organizations associated with the study of nature, individual components of the biosphere. During these years, the Society of Naturalists, the Geographical Society, and the Economic Society successfully operated. This period is associated with the names of Lev Semenovich Berg (from 1904 to 1913 he was in charge of the ichthyology department of the Zoological Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences); Andrei Nikolaevich Beketov (author of the first original textbook "Geography of Plants"); Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev, the founder of Russian soil science, the creator of the doctrine of geographical zones and soil classification.

It should be noted that the Russian Geographical Society (hereinafter referred to as the RGS), founded by the highest order of Nicholas I in 1845, celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2020. Over the years, the Society was led by representatives of the Russian Imperial House, scientists and statesmen. In 2009, S.K. was elected President of the Russian Geographical Society S.K. Shoigu. The Board of Trustees of the Society was headed by the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin.

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Logo of the Russian Geographical Society

The Russian Geographical Society has made a significant contribution to the study of European Russia, the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, Middle and Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, India, New Guinea, polar countries and other territories. The society laid the foundations of the domestic nature reserves.

One of the oldest geographical societies in the world (after Parisian (1821), Berlin (1828) and London (1830) brings together experts in the field of geography and related sciences, as well as enthusiastic travelers, ecologists, public figures - everyone who wants to learn new things about Russia and is ready to help preserve its natural resources.

In recent years, the Society has implemented a number of large-scale projects: the photo contest "The Most Beautiful Country", the international Geographical Dictation, the archaeological and geographical expedition "Kyzyl-Kuragino", the complex expedition "Gogland", the expedition to clean up the Arctic and many others. The Russian Geographical Society is actively working to study and protect rare animals and birds. Among them are the Amur tiger, beluga toothed whale, and polar bear. The Society publishes over 200 scientific publications a year, provides grant and information support to the production of films about the cultural and natural heritage of Russia. The members of the Russian Geographical Society are more than 23,700 people in Russia and abroad who have reached the age of 18, own various professions, are passionate about the geography and nature of Russia , expeditions, travels and new discoveries. Regional branches of the Russian Geographical Society operate in all 85 subjects of the Russian Federation. The second stage - 20-30-ies 20th century - is characterized by the fact that a number of public organizations arise and are recreated - for example, in 1924 the All-Russian Society for the Conservation of Nature, the Society of Fishermen and Hunters, and the Station of Young Naturalists were created. The number of reserves, followers of Michurin, is growing; V.I.Vernadsky developed the concept of the inevitable transition of the biosphere into the noosphere - the sphere of the human mind, which managed to overcome diseases, hunger, and poverty. However, at the end of the 30-ies, all prominent scientists - the geneticist N.I. Vavilov, head of the Askania-Nova reserve V.V. Stanginsky, organizer of the hunting service F.F. Schillinger - fell under repression. Environmental information has become taboo, all data on the state of the environment has been labeled "for official use", that is, for a narrow circle of professional workers.

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The greatest decline in the environmental movement occurred during the Second World War: it was about protecting the country from the invasion of invaders, the protection of nature receded into the background.

The third stage - the beginning of the 60-70-ies 20th century - associated with the activity of the scientific community and literary workers associated with grandiose national construction projects - the construction of a pulp and paper mill on the shores of Lake Baikal, the flooding of villages and villages after the construction of hydroelectric power stations. The artistic works of V. Rasputin, V. Astafiev, S. Zalygin stirred up the public consciousness, raised questions about the price of victories in the battle with nature. During this period, student squads for nature protection are created. The first student detachment was organized on December 13 1960 r. at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. Similar Moscow squads arose in other universities of the country, and not only in biology, but also in other natural sciences, the humanities, and even technical faculties. Every year their number increased by a third.

In 1972, about thirty nature protection teams united, thus giving rise to the most stable environmental movement in the country - the Movement of Nature Protection Squads. The main activity the Movement of Nature Protection Squads was environmental work - the fight against poaching, against mass cutting down of conifers in the pre-New Year period ("Operation "Spruce"), with the collection of wild plants, the organization of new protected objects (mainly nature reserves and natural monuments), the initiation of decisions by local authorities, aimed at the protection of certain species of plants and animals. In addition, the movement carried out other programs: environmental education of schoolchildren, ecologization, environmental propaganda, pollution control, etc. The movement was constantly expanding and by the mid-80s included more than 100 nature protection teams.

This stage is characterized by non-politicized environmental activities, the only possible under the conditions of an authoritarian state. The environmental movement was not particularly massive, but was distinguished by a high level of professionalism.

The fourth stage - 1986 - 1991. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant blew up the latent smoldering dissatisfaction of the population with the state of the environment. For the first time, a powerful protest movement swept across the country, which united the struggle for the truth about Chernobyl, against turning the flow of northern rivers to the south, and against the construction of the Chogray canal. According to experts, the number of environmental public organizations during this period reached 1155, the number of squads for nature protection - 145.

Not only the political reforms of M. Gorbachev, which led to the weakening of state control over the social movement, but also a number of other events caused an unprecedented activation of the environmental movement, which characterizes the onset of this stage. Mass character, a wide variety of forms of activity, a wide range of political and ideological directions of the environmental movement characterize the second stage. The main resource of the movement of this period were people who wanted to do something to protect the environment. At this stage, the Socio-Ecological Union emerged - the largest association of non-governmental environmental organizations in our country. The Movement for the Establishment of a Green Party and other environmental-political initiatives emerged.

The fifth stage (from the 1992 to the present) is characterized by the transition of the ecological movement to a new - institutional - level. In 1994, the KEDR party was formed, renamed in 2002 into the Russian Ecological Party "The Greens". In 1992, a representative office of the international radical organization Greenpeace was opened in the Russian Federation. One of the important results of Greenpeace's work in Russia is its participation in the preparation of a package of documents for the inclusion of Lake Baikal in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This lake is a unique natural creation, the like of which is not found in the world. It was taken under international protection. In 1996, the Guild of Environmental Journalism was organized - one of the most active Media Union of Russia, which holds an annual competition among the media "Ecology of Russia. From age to age." According to the Center for Environmental Policy of Russia, in 1999 the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation registered 17 international, 21 all-Russian and 26 interregional environmental associations. In almost all regions, major regional cities, there are environmental organizations of one kind or another, but the movement's active is small - 15 - 20 thousand people.

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For comparison: the number of Greenpeace supporters in the United States is about 435 thousand people. There is another important aspect in the modern Russian environmental movement - its international character, which became possible only in the post-perestroika period.

The goals, objectives and methods of environmental organizations depend on the forms and ideological foundations on which a particular organization is based. Radical ecological organizations are based on ecological anarchism, scientific and educational organizations are based on ecological constructivism.

Scientific environmental organizations set the goals of scientific study of the state of the environment, compilation of scenarios and scientifically based models of the future state of the socioecosystem.

Public organizations are mainly engaged in educational work, protecting the population and individual ecosystems from the arbitrariness of the authorities, informing the population, and organizing protests.

Environmental parties set the goal of entering the highest bodies of state power, promoting their policy statements in national projects, lobbying the environmental interests of the population.

So, in the elections to the State Duma in 2021, the Green party took ninth place, gaining 0.91% of the vote. According to the leader of the Green Party Andrey Nagibin, more than half a million people voted for the Greens party, the result of the previous elections was exceeded. And this is taking into account the fact that the party was updated a month before the start of the election campaign, and a spoiler party appeared that pulled back the percentage of votes "(meaning the Green Alternative party") .

Emblem of the Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"

Sergei Shakhmatov, co-chairman of the Greens party, stressed that in 2021 the Greens forced all parties to speak on environmental topics in the pre-election discussion. Taking into account the sharply "green" agenda of Yabloko, the Greens suggested that they and the Green Alternative join their membership and form a single environmental faction in the State Duma. At the same time, Shakhmatov said that the party was ready for constructive interaction with parliamentary parties. "The current environmental legislation contains many gaps and contradictions that parliamentary parties have been unable to cope with for several convocations. Experts from the Green Party are ready to join the working groups under the State Duma Committee on Ecology to improve the quality of legislative initiatives," said Sergey Shakhmatov, co-chairman of the Green Party.

Representatives of the Green Party received mandates in the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the City Council in Ufa. In addition, in the Kostroma region, party member Svetlana Kovalskaya became the head of the Krasnoselsky district.

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In a number of regions, the Greens received more serious support than the national average. Thus, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the party gained 3.39%, in Moscow - 2.4%, in the Samara Region - 1.45%, in the Republic of Buryatia - 1.79%, in the Novosibirsk Region - 1.7%.

In 2021 on the elections to the State Duma , the Green Alternative party nominated only 32 candidates in single-mandate constituencies, the fewest of the other parties participating in the elections. The federal party list of the party was headed by the singer Victoria Daineko , the leader of the party Ruslan Khvostov himself, headed the regional group of the Moscow region. The Green Alternative party failed to enter the federal parliament, receiving 0.64% of the vote.

Activists of the Green Alternative Party (Photo from open sources)

The tasks of environmental organizations include:

- formation of interest groups and pressure groups on socio-political institutions;

- formation of the ecological political elite of the society;

- formation of ecocentric ecological consciousness;

- protection of the environment, endangered species of animals and vegetation;

- changing the stereotypes of everyday behavior of citizens, promoting an eco-friendly lifestyle;

- broad environmental education, enlightenment and informing the population.

Methods of ecological movement:

- political struggle;

- rallies, protests, pickets, boycotts;

- publications in the media;

- conferences, forums, parliamentary hearings;

- raids, subbotniks, court hearings.

The typology of environmental organizations is related to the goals and objectives they pursue. They can be subdivided by structure, by formal membership, by mobilization potential, by the degree of politicization, by social orientation.

1. Amateur public environmental organizations, for example, DOP, which currently number about 60.

2. Ecological parties, for example, the Green Party, the Green Alternative.

3. Authoritarian organizations created under the influence of the authority of a public or political figure, for example, the Green Cross movement, functioning under the auspices of the M.S. Gorbachev.

4. Associations of professionals working in the environmental field, for example, the Nuclear Society, the Educational Center "Zapovedniki".

5. Image organizations, the motive of which was based on the goals of improving the image of their members, for example, the Russian Ecological Academy, practical activities are carried out by members of the academy in accordance with their main professional duties.

6. Unions of various orientations, for example, the Union for the Protection of Birds, the International Social and Ecological Union.

7. Branches of international organizations, for example, the World Wildlife Fund, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Greenpeace.

8. Associations of protest organizations, for example, the youth radical movement "Rainbow Keepers". August 5 1989 r. in the city of Chapaevsk (then - Kuibyshev, now - Samara region) the first environmental

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protest camp began its work.

It was organized against the launch of a plant for the destruction of chemical weapons. The camp, in addition to environmentalists and representatives of other public organizations, was joined by local residents. Mass rallies were constantly held in the city. As a result, at the beginning of September 1989 r. the plant was cancelled. This campaign marked the beginning of the activities of the Guardians of the Rainbow.

9. Custom organizations that use environmental issues to discredit the authorities, for example, the "Ecological Movement of Central Russia" - a participant in the conflict of several oil companies regarding the construction project of an oil refinery in the Oryol region.

10. Criminal organizations created to launder money under the slogan of combating environmental pollution, for example, the Promekologiya concern, involved in fraud with "red mercury".

Most environmental organizations declare their apolitical nature. Polls show that the main activity of the modern environmental movement in Russia is environmental education - 84% of organizations stated this, and environmental education - 66% of organizations. In addition, the dominant areas are the dissemination of environmental information, establishing links with other environmental organizations, and environmental monitoring. Less common are such areas as lobbying for environmental interests, protests [10].

III. CONCLUSION

The environmental movement in Russia has undergone a number of changes. From the idea of protecting local (reference) areas of untouched nature, the movement has evolved towards protecting the entire human habitat. From the elitist idea of protecting nature "from people", the movement has turned into the ideology of a mass social movement fighting for the preservation of the human habitat. If at the beginning of the 20th century a small scientific community and even individual naturalists and humanitarians were carriers of the idea of nature conservation, today nature and the "culture of the place" are protected by numerous public organizations and state institutions.

The modern environmental movement in Russia includes many organizations that are very diverse in the form of organization, scope, mechanisms of activity, philosophy and other criteria. At the moment, both all -Russian and regional organizations, as well as a number of international organizations, operate in Russia. The main activity of the organizations is holding rallies, conducting research and preparing scientific reports. At the regional level, measures are being taken to organize programs for cleaning parks and rivers, as well as educational events. Environmentalists successfully prepare recommendations for the authorities, which often do not take such recommendations into account or do not take them into account enough. Additional difficulties are associated with insufficient funding and lack of access to mass media and information resources. The Russian environmental movement has limited opportunities to influence the political process, and Russian environmental structures are very weak.

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"Green alternative" URL:https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Green_alternative_(party,_Russia)

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Kolyadina A.M., Chekmeneva T.G. (2019) To the question of the role of public associations in modern society. Problems of social and humanitarian sciences. Vol. 2 (19). Pp. 190 - 195. (in Russ)

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ПРИРОДООХРАННОЕ ДВИЖЕНИЕ И ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫЕ ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЯ В РОССИИ: ИСТОРИЯ И

СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ

Чекменёва Татьяна Геннадьевна1

1 Кандидат политических наук, доцент, Воронежский государственный технический университет, улица 20-летия Октября, 84, Воронеж, Россия, E-mail: politehist@mail.ru

Аннотация

В данной статье приводится ретроспективный анализ развития экологического движения и деятельности экологических объединений в России. Рассмотрены задачи и виды экологических объединений в России на современном этапе. Экологические объединения отражают коллективную заботу о состоянии окружающей среды и объединяют совместные действия по предотвращению экологических угроз отдельных лиц, социальных групп и общественных объединений. Экологические ассоциации озабочены многими вопросами, такими как глобальное изменение климата, вырубка лесов по всему земному шару, негабаритный промысел и китобойный промысел, сохранение исчезающих видов животных, радиационная опасность, загрязнение окружающей среды опасными химическими веществами.

Ключевые слова: природоохранное движение, экологическое объединение, русское географическое общество, дружины по охране природы, экологические организации, экологические партии, российская экологическая партия "зелёные", партия "зелёная альтернатива".

СПИСОК ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ

Boriskin D.A. (2003) Public ecological motion Russia on the threshold third All-Russian congress on protection nature. M: REFIA, NIA-Priroda. 140 p. (in Russ)

Elections 2021: The Green Party is the environmental party Vol. 1 in Russia URL: https://partygreen.ru/press/news/vybory-2021-partiya-zelyenye-ekologicheskaya-partiya-1-v-rossii/ (in Russ)

"Green alternative" URL:https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Green_alternative_(party,_Russia)

Kolyadina A.M., Chekmeneva T.G. (2019) To the question of the role of public associations in modern society. Problems of social and humanitarian sciences. Vol. 2 (19). Pp. 190 - 195. (in Russ)

Larin V., Mnatsakanyan R., Chestin I., Schwartz E. (2003) Nature Protection in Russia: from Gorbachev to Putin. Moscow: KMK. 416 p. (in Russ)

Russian Geographical Society in numbers. Official website of the All-Union Public Organization "Russian Geographical Society" URL:https://rgo.ru (in Russ)

Stepanenko V. S., Frolov A. N. (2007) Russian socio-ecological union. Union of public environmental org. Institute of Development. M. 140 p. (in Russ)

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