Conservation: An Upper-middle Class Social Movement

Abstract

Membership in the conservation movement appears to be composed largely of upper-middle class occupations, especially professional occupations. In addition, it is primarily an urban-based movement that is somewhat isolated ideologically from the main streams of both liberal and conservative political thought. Data are presented on the members of a large Pacific Northwest outdoor recreation and conservation association. Further, the patterns of membership of conservationists and nonconservationists in other associations are explored to determine the relative levels of activity of these groups in voluntary associations generally as well as in particular types of other associations. The data suggest that, although conservationists frequently belong to a very large number of voluntary associations, they appear to isolate themselves structurally by concentrating their civic activities in the conservation field.