Abstract: | The environmental movement is one of the most successful socialmovements of the twentieth century, and a key reason for itssuccess has been strong public approval of the movement's goalof environmental protection. This paper reports cross-nationaldata on public approval of environmental protection relativeto approval of the goals of other major new social movementstheanti-nuclear power movement, the nuclear disarmament movement,the women's movement, the human rights movement and the animalrights movementin Western Europe and the United States.The data come from a 1990 lifestyles and attitudessurvey conducted by Gallup for Reader's Digest, based on nationallyrepresentative samples in the United States and seventeen Europeannations, and show higher public approval for environmental protectionthan for the goals of other new social movements. |