The Emergence of Environmental Sociology: Contributions of Riley E. Dunlap and William R. Catton, Jr.

Human beings have a dualistic relationship with the environment, being subject to physical and biological limits and yet being unique in the capacity for culture and symbolic communication. Sociology reflects this context and adds another dualism, drawing heavily from the concepts and perspectives of biological ecology, but reacting almost violently against "reductionism" of any sort, specifically including social Darwinism and environmental determinism. During much of the twentieth century, the predominant trend within sociology was for scholars to downplay or even ignore the importance of the environment, particularly in the United States. This trend was ultimately counterbalanced by sociological responses to the environmental movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and by the efforts of selected sociologists-particulady Riley Dunlap and William Catton-who helped bring together the field of "environmental sociology." Given the finite nature of many natural resources and the ways in which human activities depend upon and affect the environment, the field of environmental sociology is likely to be an increasingly important one in the years to come.     

Sociology and the environment: An analysis of journal coverage

Many sociologists have suggested that the dominant paradigm in sociology ignores the environment, which accounts for the fact that environmental sociology is poorly represented in sociology’s mainstream journals. The purpose of this article is to test this assumption empirically by examining the coverage of environmental sociology in nine mainstream sociology journals from 1969 through 1994. The nine journals are separated into two tiers, representing higher and lower prestige journals. Each environmental article is categorized by its area (attitudes and behaviors, environmental movement, political economy, risk, and “new human ecology”) and whether it involves “sociology of the environmental issues” (the application of standard sociological perspectives to environmental issues) or “core environmental sociology” (the examination of societal-environmental relationships). We find that less than two percent of all articles published in the sampled journals in the twenty-five-year period of study were environmental, and that the higher tier journals were less likely to publish environmental articles than were the lower tier journals. Environmental articles were more likely to be part of “core environmental sociology” after 1981 than they were “sociology of the environmental issues,” which suggests a greater recognition among both environmental sociologists and journal reviewers that human societies are ecosystem-dependent. The number of environmental articles increased in the 1990s, portending a fruitful period for sociologists specializing on the environment. We argue that the broader field of sociology can benefit by recognizing the linkages environmental sociology has to other sociological specializations and that, ultimately, sociology needs to be able to address environmental variables in order to understand society. Naomi T. Krogman’s primary interest is in stakeholder framing of environmental disputes and natural resource policy change. She is currently a research sociologist at the Center for Socioeconomic Research at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and adjunct faculty in the Department of Sociology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504-0198. JoAnne DeRouen Darlington is a research sociologist focusing on social change and community sustainability emerging from the disastrous interactions between society and the environment. She is currently employed with the Natural Hazards Research Center, Campus Box 482, Boulder, CO 80309.     

Between sociology and the business school: critical studies of work,employment and organization in the UK

This is a paper about what happens when a form of knowledge moves to another part of the university. The author, identifying himself as an ‘ex‐sociologist’, investigates the relationship between the sociology of work, employment and organization and various ‘critical’ traditions within the business school. I argue that the contemporary divide between sociologies of work and employment, and Critical Management Studies (CMS) within the business school rests in part on developments in UK sociology in the 1960s and 70s. This means that divergent understandings of the role of sociology and its relevant theoretical resources provided the deep structure for the current tension between CMS on the one hand and research on work and employment on the other. The movement of sociologists and industrial relations academics to the business school provided the preconditions for two very different critical traditions. The paper concludes with thoughts on what it means to be an outsider inside an institution, and on the future prospects for Burawoy's ‘critical’ or ‘public’ sociologies in UK business schools.     

Environmental Sociology in Japan and Environmental Problems in Asian Societies

This paper discusses typical aspects of environmental sociology in Japan and what characteristics can be found in Japanese environmental problems when they are viewed from their relation to environmental problems in Asian societies.
The most prominent feature of environmental sociology in Japan is that it has been mainly the sociology of environmental problems, whereas in the United States is has been mainly the sociology of the environment. The second characteristic is closely related to the first: environmental sociology in Japan has focused on the local community and the life of people and victims affected by environmental problems.
The third property would be that many studies by environmental sociologists have been accumulated by the Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology, which was set up in 1990.
The approach to the study of environmental problems in Asian societies reflects these characteristics. Views from the historical interaction between Japan and other Asian countries are essential to the study of environmental problems in Asian countries.     

Beyond Denialism: Think Tank Approaches to Climate Change

Sociologists have done important research documenting the key role that think tanks play in the climate change denialism movement in the United States, which has sought to mislead the American public about the realities of global warming. Sociologists have not, however, assessed the full range of ways that think tanks are responding to – or planning for – global environmental change. This article proposes a typology of elite responses to global warming, which goes beyond denialism to include (i) limited climate mitigation, (ii) climate adaptation/privileged accommodation, and (iii) climate opportunism. Ultimately, this article provides insights on ways to build upon previous research in both environmental and political sociology to study the interface between elite‐driven policy, climate change, and capitalism.     

Catholic Sociology in Ireland in Comparative Perspective

This paper examines the relationship between the Catholic Church and Irish sociology within a comparative framework. Drawing on archival and documentary research, this linkage is investigated at an institutional and intellectual level, across three stages of the “career” of Irish Catholic sociology, and employing comparisons with Catholic sociology in France, Germany, and the United States. I discern important sources of variation between the four cases including major intellectuals, organisational hosts, and publishing outlets. Irish Catholic sociology’s quite sudden movement in the direction of secular sociology in the 1950s is explained as a result of normative pressure to jettison its value-driven orientation as a result of more frequent interaction with the mainstream discipline via scholarly collaboration, the reforms of Vatican II emphasising engagement with the modern world, the demise of the broader Catholic Action movement of which it was a part, and changes in the national higher education environment.     

Environmental/Green Cultural Shifts: Dynamics of Social Change

The greening of society is a strong cultural wave as we enter the second decade of the century. This article considers what it means to be ‘green’, core issues that the environmental sustainability wave brings to society and the role of sociology its evolution in public culture. A key argument offered is that sociologists’ historic commitment to critical analysis and to social justice could be important in determining whether the green wave is simply a cultural trend or if it will expand to become a cultural shift. The contributions of environmental sociology, ecofeminism, deep ecology, and green economics are considered significant influences on the relationship between environmentalism and social analysis. Whether scholars and activists can link key concepts such as sustainable development, ecological sensitivity, human dignity, and social justice may prove critical for achieving the goal of societal transformation toward a greener culture.     

Interpersonal trust and voluntary associations: examining three approaches

The relationship between interpersonal trust and membership in voluntary associations is a persistent research finding in sociology. What is more, the notion of trust has become a central issue in current social science theorizing covering such diverse approaches as transaction costs economics or cognitive sociology. In different ways and for different purposes, these approaches address the role of voluntary organizations, although, as this paper argues, much of this thinking remains sketchy and underdeveloped. Against an empirical portrait of this relationship, the purpose of this paper is to assess such theorizing. We first set out to explicate major approaches to trust in economics, sociology and political science, using the non-profit or voluntary organization as a focal point. We then examine the various approaches in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and, finally, identify key areas for theoretical development. In particular, we point to the social movement literature, the social psychology of trust, and recent thinking about civil society.     

Love of Land: Nature Protection,Nationalism, and the Struggle over the Establishment of New Communities in Israel

Although there is burgeoning research on environmental activism, few studies have examined the interrelationship between nationalism and nature protection in detail. This article examines how groups manage the tension between national commitment and caring for the environment. It focuses on two opposing Israeli activist groups: a settler movement that aims to establish new communities in the fast-dwindling Israeli open expanses and a “green” movement intent on preserving open spaces. Our observations, interviews, and textual analysis show that both groups believe themselves to be committed to the protection of nature, and that both groups see environmental responsibility as an integral aspect of their Zionist identity. However, the Israeli green movement sees abstaining from interventions in nature and adhering to sustainable development as Zionist because it preserves Israel for future generations. Conversely, the settler movement sees active intervention in nature—by building new communities, planting trees, and hiking—as the proper way to protect Israeli natural expanses and to maintain the livelihood of Israeli society. Our case study demonstrates that, although environmental movements often aspire to universalism, local movements also interlace environmentalism and nationalism in ways that generate multiple (and even contradictory) interpretations of the appropriate way to care for nature.     

The Social Model of Disability and the Disappearing Body: towards a sociology of impairment

What is the case for and how would one begin to construct a sociology of impairment? This paper argues that the realignment of the disability/impairment distinction is vital for the identity politics of the disability movement. The body is at the heart of contemporary political and theoretical debate, yet the social model of disability makes it an exile. The transformation of the body from a reactionary to an emancipatory concept implies a sociology of impairment. This paper explores the contribution that post-structuralism and phenomenology might make to this end.     

Knowledge Conflicts: The Strategic Use and Effects of Expertise in Social Movements

Based on a unique data set of research reports that appear in media coverage of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline conflict in the United States, the study brings together perspectives in social movement theory and the sociology of science and technology by (1) developing an understanding of the epistemic dimension of framing through the analysis of the strategic use of different types of research produced by experts in the context of social movement conflicts and (2) examining the extent to which research is relevant for regulatory and judicial decision making. The project identifies over 50 research reports that proponents and opponents discuss in the media. Proponents favor reports with economic framing, and opponents respond to those reports but also produce or fund reports that document environmental and other risks and political influence. Regulatory agencies at both the federal and state level tend to be aligned with proponents, but the federal courts provided independent decisions that contributed to the decision by developers to withdraw from the project. The analysis draws attention to an under-studied area of environmental and social movement conflict that brings together the framing and political sociology of science literatures. It also develops generalizable implications for future research as well as actionable, problem-oriented knowledge for activists and advocates. For example, the study suggests that activists may want to focus limited research resources on developing studies that can be used in regulatory and legal battles. If regulatory agencies are somewhat or highly captured, resources would best be spent on litigation in the courts.     

Science and neoliberal globalization: a political sociological approach

The political ideology of neoliberalism is widely recognized as having influenced the organization of national and global economies and public policies since the 1970s. In this article, we examine the relationship between the neoliberal variant of globalization and science. To do so, we develop a framework for sociology of science that emphasizes closer ties among political sociology, the sociology of social movements, and economic and organizational sociology and that draws attention to patterns of increasing and uneven industrial influence amid several countervailing processes. Specifically, we explore three fundamental changes since the 1970s: the advent of the knowledge economy and the increasing interchange between academic and industrial research and development signified by academic capitalism and asymmetric convergence; the increasing prominence of science-based regulation of technology in global trade liberalization, marked by the heightened role of international organizations and the convergence of scientism and neoliberalism; and the epistemic modernization of the relationship between scientists and publics, represented by the proliferation of new institutions of deliberation, participation, activism, enterprise, and social movement mobilization.     

From the New Ecological Paradigm to Total Liberation: The Emergence of a Social Movement Frame

Drawing on theories of social movements and environmental sociology, this article considers a frame transformation that is taking place within ecological social movements. This transformation produced a new frame: “total liberation.” We explore this phenomenon by analyzing interviews with activists, fieldwork observations, and documents from radical environmental and animal rights movement networks in the United States. Beyond introducing the total liberation frame, the article expands current understandings of how and why frame transformations occur through a consideration of how multiple frames, as well as intra‐ and intermovement tensions and influences, shape frame transformation.     

Agriculture,Pesticide Use,and Economic Development: A Global Examination (1990–2014)

Modern agricultural production typically requires large quantities of chemical pesticides, a potential source of both environmental and human harm. Previous social science research has suggested that environmental problems such as those associated with pesticide use may begin to decline at higher levels of economic development. Using fixed effects models, we examine whether this possible relationship holds within nations and over time. This study draws on data from the World Bank as well as pesticide use data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to examine the relationship between pesticide use and economic development within nations from 1990 to 2014. The findings are considered from theoretical perspectives in environmental sociology on the drivers of environmental impacts: the treadmill of production theory, structural human ecology, ecological modernization theory, and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. The results of this study show a positive relationship between economic development and pesticide consumption over time, with no decline in use at higher levels of economic development. Thus, they generally support the claims made by treadmill of production and structural human ecology.     

Sociologization,Pedagogization, and Resociologization: Has the Post-war Japanese Sociology of Education Suffered from the Galapagos Syndrome?

When considering the trends in the Japanese sociology of education over the 70 years since the end of World War II, there have been several significant changes in the nature and social position of the sociology of education within the academic history of expansion and development. These changes can be further understood by focusing on: (i) the relationship between the sociology of education in Japan and research trends in Western sociology; (ii) the relationship between the sociology of education and pedagogy in Japan; and (iii) the relationship between the sociology of education and changes in Japanese society itself. This paper focuses on these three relationships to provide an overview of the characteristics and the future direction of post-war Japanese sociology of education. The keywords of this paper will be sociologization, pedagogization, resociologization, and the Galapagos syndrome. The post-war Japanese sociology of education has not suffered from the Galapagos syndrome. However, it is evident that it lacks transmission of research results to other countries. So, the future task for Japanese researchers in the sociology of education is to demonstrate the significance of their research on Japanese education to international sociology of education markets. To achieve a more generalized perspective and regain a sense of equilibrium within the Japanese sociology of education, a “resociologization” will be required for the sociology of education in Japan, though the Japanese sociology of education especially seems to be experiencing a pedagogization.     

Music and Social Movements

Music is a key component of social movements. This article addresses the relationship between music and social movements through four foci: collective identity, free space, emotions, and social movement culture. Collective identity is developed and nurtured within free spaces through the use of music. These spaces are often rife with emotions that are instrumental in development of collective identity. A social movement culture may develop as these processes unfold. Music is part of this culture and serves as an important mechanism for solidarity when participants move beyond free spaces to more contested ones. Examples of song lyrics demonstrate these processes. Research on music and social movements, it is argued here, can be enhanced by addressing technology and popular culture.     

Marxist sociology and humanist sociology: Diversity, intersections, and convergence

Marxist sociology is at the intersection of Marxism and sociology; while humanist sociology is at the intersection of humanist thought and sociology. Both see sociological theory as a living, evolving activity, and both take a critical stance toward the workings of capitalism. The main difference between them is that Marxist sociology is a body of thought tied to a movement, whereas humanist sociology is a movement tied to a body of thought. Professor of Sociology, Purdue University Calumet. He is past chair of the Section on Marxist Sociology, has been a member of the AHS for twenty years, and is co-author of Crisis and Change: Basic Questions of Marxist Sociology.     

Theorizing fields

Field analysis, inspired largely from the work of Pierre Bourdieu, is becoming widely used in sociology today. In A Theory of Fields Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam elaborate selectively on Bourdieu’s thinking to offer a conceptual framework for better understanding the creation, institutionalization, and transformation of “mesolevel social spaces” where actors compete, often through cooperation and coordination, for material and status rewards. In lieu of calling those spaces markets, organizations, networks, systems, or institutions, as is commonly done in the specialized subfields of social movements, political sociology, organizations, and institutional work in political science, FM propose the language of “strategic action field.” They argue that their strategic action field perspective can link agency to structured social spaces and serve as an integrative conceptual umbrella for these fragmented subfields of scholarly specialization. This review presents and evaluates this intellectual field strategy to provide a common and integrative conceptual framework, while calling attention to its key strengths and weaknesses.     

Filling the ‘empty space’: Site-specific dance in a techno club

While organisational space has received broad scholarly attention, movement in organisational spaces remains under-researched. This paper introduces the notion of site-specific dance from dance theory to consider the dynamic relationship between space and people, emphasising that movements are a response to a space, its materiality and context. Berghain, in Berlin and one of the world’s most famous techno clubs, is discussed as a case. An interdisciplinary analysis shows how a site-specific performance is created through the interplay of the architecture, the sound and the music organised by the DJ, and the dancing crowd. Methodologically, the dance and performance studies approach develops suggestions for how to analyse movement interaction in organisational space. Reference to dance theory broadens our understanding of how organisational spaces and human interaction enable, produce and negotiate experiences that are transitory, embodied and difficult to pin down.