Shades of green: Change, continuity and conservation among Tasmanian forestry workers

Abstract

The Tasmanian forestry industry has undergone major transition due to industry readjustments and critique from environmental movements. This article focuses on how Tasmanian forestry workers think and feel about an industry in transition. Through the sociological lens of habitus, it investigates how these workers seek to behave in ways that they see as reflecting moral, ethical, and sustainable behaviour. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews is used to explore how forestry workers continue or alter their everyday practices and how their dispositions, formed in the crucible of the forest, shape these social processes. The article demonstrates that as structural changes transform the lives of workers, the people who live and work in the forest are nonetheless trying to understand, articulate, and respond to the changes in ways that they see as reflecting ethical and sustainable behaviour.