Framing Environmentalism: A Case Study of a Chinese Environmental Student Organization

Abstract

This paper identifies the key framing concepts used by Green Origin Association (GOA) to frame environmentalism in present day China for the sake of making it a public issue. High Suzhi, Voluntarism and closeness to nature are all concepts used by the organization to make environmentalism accessible to all sorts of people. These concepts are not limiting the organization‟s potential members, while at the same time entails the positive and activist ideas of environmentalism. In addition to these concepts, the organization lets its members follow some relatively simple but powerful rules of conduct, that serve as a way of strengthening the collective spirit through a notion of duty towards the other members. This together with the rest of GOA‟s strategic toolkit lets the group have some influence on the general public, and thus makes environmentalism a public issue.