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Sociological Perspectives onEnvironmental Problemsand Commons Dilemmas)
Overview
• What is Sociology?
• What is Environmental Sociology?
• What are some examples of research byenvironmental sociologists?
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Official Definition of the American Sociological Association:Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and thesocial causes and consequences of human behavior.
What is Sociology?
Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations,and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob;from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of
race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of acommon culture; and from the sociology of work to thesociology of sports.
WHAT’S MISSING?????
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What is Environmental Sociology?
Environmental Sociology’s Three Primary Concerns:
1. What are the social causes of environmental changes?
2.
How might humans halt these changes?
3. What are the possible social impacts of theenvironmental changes caused by humans?(What are the social impacts of proposed solutions to the
environmental changes caused by humans?)
“The study of interaction between the environment and society.”
Catton, W. and R. Dunlap. 1978. “Environmental Sociology: A New
Paradigm.” The American Sociologist 13: 41-49.
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What are the social causes of environmental changes?
Technology vs. Population
P E
O
T
P=Population
O=Social Organization
E=Environment
T=Technology
Environmental sociologists have attempted to movebeyond this simplistic duality…
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I = (P) X (A) X (T)
I = the environmental impact a society has
P = Population
A = Affluence (e.g., per capita income)
T = Technology
Criticisms of this model include:
1. Assumes simple linear relationship
2. Simplifies (and perhaps overemphasizes) social organizationas “affluence”
One solution has been to conceptualize “social organization” morespecifically as including cultural, social and personality “systems”
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What is Social Organization?
•Power : the ability to impose one’s will on another (moresubtly…influence over other’s choices)
•Social Context: the system of meanings, and availablestrategies for communicating meanings, within a given
situation
•Social Values: Beliefs and ideas about what is good,right, or beautiful that are held collectively by members of a social group
Other aspects of social organization: stratification (i.e., systems
of inequality), social structure, education, traditions, beliefs,
myths, production of knowledge, and more
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How might humanshalt environmental changes?
Society’s technological bias has focused on three types of solutions:
1. Use of more technology to “fix” the problems (e.g., newtechnologies to find new sources of oil)
2. Appropriate technology (e.g., solar, hydro, geothermalor other renewable energy sources to meet energy
demands)
3. Technological simplification or “atavism” (e.g.,abandoning harmful technologies and returning to“simpler” times)
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Non-technological Fixes1. Cognitive (or knowledge) fix…“Give people the right
information and they’ll change their behavior”PROBLEMS: A-B split, structural obstacles, attribution of
responsibility
2. Structural (or legislative) fix…“Give people no choice by
mandating certain behaviors”PROBLEMS: lack of political power or will, unintended
consequences
3. Behavioral fix…“Reward people for the ‘correct’ behavior”PROBLEMS: consumers aren’t always rational, inequitable
distribution of impacts
Which works best?
A combination of all three…and social scientists can help predict
the best balance (but first we need to know the problem and itscauses)
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What are the social impacts and/or their possible solutions?
Environmental sociologists have tended to focus on thedistributional impacts of environmental changes.Extensive evidence of inequitable distribution has beenobserved over the last 30 years, a driving force of theEnvironmental Justice movement.
Our original model,at left, has no arrows
leading away from‘E,’ as does themodel at right.
P E
O
T
SOCIAL CAUSES OF…
P E
O
T
SOCIAL IMPACTS FROM…
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Distributional Impacts of Climate Change Policies
Ø … a ton of CO2 reduced inAfrica has the same impact… as a ton of CO2 reducedin Minneapolis. But …[r]educing carbon
emissions invariably alsoreduces toxics … like leador mercury. An urban-based coal fired powerplant that offsets its CO2emissions by helping to
plant trees in Africacontinues to emitpollutants that adverselyaffect the health of localresidents.
Ø Using $10 per ton of CO2as the average offset price(current prices are as lowas $8 per ton), the U.S.,which generates about 24
percent of the world'sgreenhouse gases, couldbuy complete absolutionfor about $100 billion ayear. For that price it wouldannounce to the world …
that we are not responsiblefor any net newgreenhouse gases. Thecost is less than half theannual spending on thewar in Iraq.
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Environmental SociologyResearch
Social causes of environmental change
Macro-level Theories
Treadmill of Production
Risk Society
Micro-level analyses
Social traditions, routines, practices,
behavioral motivation
EXAMPLE: What one daily activity of individuals
consumes more water than any other?
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Additions
Withdrawals
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Additions
Withdrawals
S i l Lif E l i l
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Figure 1. Conceptualization of Human-Environment Interaction
social lifeprocesses
Biophysical
Reality
Social World
ecologicalprocesses/
services
ENVIRONMENT
Social LifeProcesses
Cultural beliefs
Technology
Material culture
Value systems
Economicsystems
Political systems
Social institutions
Self-concept
Socialization
Social control
Social structure
EcologicalProcesses
Water and air purification
Drought and floodmitigation
Decomposition anddetoxification of wastes
Generation andrenewal of fertilesoil
Pollination
Seed dispersal andtranslocation of nutrients
Maintenance of biodiversity
Protection from UVrays
Climate stability
Moderation of extremes (e.g.,temperature,waves, wind)
(Daily 1997)
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Showering
[Solutions] that focus on resource use alone, including
injunctions to use less water, fail to appreciate the bigger
picture - namely the longer-term transformation of normal
practice. Technologically grounded efforts (like the design
and promotion of low flow showerheads) have to be
understood and situated in this wider context.
Significant factors:• Piped water and private baths
• Electrification and instant hot water
• Hygiene
• Transformation of body as site of self-representation
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What to conclude aboutshowering…
…it should by now be clear that the quantities of energy andwater consumed by those who shower are more significantly
affected by the nature of showering as a practice than by
individual environmental commitments. In the longer run, what
matters is how the practice of showering is defined and
conceptualised. The case of showering indicates that by focusing
exclusively on the resources involved - that is on energy and
water - policy makers have failed to pay anything like enough
attention to the services and practices that their consumptionmakes possible. In environmental terms, the challenge is to avert
the normalisation of distinctively resource intensive combinations
of technology and convention - not to promote efficiency as an
end in its own right.
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Environmental SociologyResearch
Ways of Halting Social Causes of Environmental Change
Macro-level Theories
Ecological Modernization
Micro-level AnalysesBehavior change research (e.g., recycling)
What would it take to get peopleto recycle?
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Environmental SociologyResearch
Macro-level Analyses
Environmental Justice research
Micro-level AnalysesCommunity and Family impacts of contaminationEnvironmental illness experience
Social Impacts of Environmental Changes