PUBLICATIONS
April 1997 Issue
The Geographical Review
April 1997, Vol. 87 (2), pp. 275-290
Electronic Communication and Environmental Policy
in Russia and Estonia
Shannon O'Lear
ABSTRACT: The use of e-mail by a grassroots activist group that straddles the Estonian-Russian border transcends political boundaries and provides ready connections to people in distant places. Activists create a perceived space of resistance in a supportive network that is stretched across space. This network of concern, defined by the physical space in which these activists work and by the strong communicative connections among them, was created to overcome continued environmental mismanagement and remove cultural barriers to cooperation. E-mail communication has enabled an ongoing influence on environmental policy in Estonia and Russia. This circumstance of a collaborate e-mail network created by grassroots activists to aid political work is a testament to how communication technology has expanded for the purpose of strengthening previously silenced voices in a regional and political context.
Keywords: e-mail, environmental policy, Estonia, former Soviet Union, Internet
Dr. O'LEAR is an instructor of geography at the Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado 80210.
To contact the author:
Professor Shannon O'Lear
3480 Cripple Creek Square
Boulder, CO 80303
Phone: (303) 499-8324
Email: srolear@mailbox.syr.edu
The use of e-mail by a grassroots activist group that straddles the Estonian-Russian border transcends political boundaries and provides ready connections to people in distant places. Activists create a perceived space of resistance in a supportive network that is stretched across space. This network of concern, defined by the physical space in which these activists work and by the strong communicative connections among them, was created to overcome continued environmental mismanagement and remove cultural barriers to cooperation. E-mail communication has enabled an ongoing influence on environmental policy in Estonia and Russia. This circumstance of a collaborate e-mail network created by grassroots activists to aid political work is a testament to how communication technology has expanded for the purpose of strengthening previously silenced voices in a regional and political context.
Keywords: e-mail, environmental policy, Estonia, former Soviet Union, Internet
Dr. O'LEAR is an instructor of geography at the Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado 80210.
To contact the author:
Professor Shannon O'Lear
3480 Cripple Creek Square
Boulder, CO 80303
Phone: (303) 499-8324
Email: srolear@mailbox.syr.edu