Environmental Policy and Politics of Lake Baikal: A review of physical, psychological, and political contexts

This paper will describe the physical, political, and psychological contexts of the Lake Baikal environmental debate and how environmental organizations in Irkutsk, Russia have reacted to these contexts. To do so, a wide range of materials will be used, including journalism on local issues, secondary and tertiary texts, and primary documents including internet posts made by activists. The initial results of original field research, which began in 2010 and are ongoing as this paper is being written, will also be presented. Materials collected include a survey and interviews with leaders and members of environmental organizations in Irkutsk.