The goal of this course is to familiarize students with the subfield of environmental sociology. Following recent natural disasters, such as those in Indonesia, New Orleans and Haiti, researchers have been reminded that patterns of human settlement and inequality make such catastrophes as much social disasters as they are “natural.” As such, this course will apply sociological inquiry to environmental issues. This course examines the intersection between different types of environments and social life.
This syllabus is set up for both introductory and upper-level courses in environmental sociology. All introductory readings come from:
Gould, Kenneth A., and Tammy L. Lewis. 2008. Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Additional optional readings include selections from:
Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Fourth Edition. Sage.
Course outline
I. Introductions
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 1
Advanced Readings
- Catton, William R., and Riley E. Dunlap. 1978. “Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm.” American Sociologist 13:41–49.
- Dunlap, Riley E., and William R. Catton. 1994. “Struggling with Human Exemptionalism: The Rise, Decline and Revitalization of Environmental Sociology.” The American Sociologist 25(1):5–30.
- Mol, Arthur P. J. 2006. “From Environmental Sociologies to Environmental Sociology?: A Comparison of U.S. and European Environmental Sociology.” Organization Environment 19(1):5–27.
Optional Readings
- Buttel, F. H. 1987. “New Directions in Environmental Sociology.” Annual Review of Sociology 13:465–88.
- Dunlap, Riley E., and William R. Catton. 1983. “What Environmental Sociologists Have in Common (whether Concerned with ‘Built’ or ‘Natural’ Environments).” Sociological Inquiry 53(2-3):113–35.
- Foster, John Bellamy. 2002. “Environmental Sociology and the Environmental Revolution.” Organization & Environment 15(1):55-58.
- “Chapter 1” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
II. Theories
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 2 and 3
Advanced Readings
- Barbosa, Luiz C. 2008. “Theories in Environmental Sociology.” Pp. 25–46 in Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology, edited by Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis. Oxford University Press, USA.
- Foster, John Bellamy. 1999. “Marx’s Theory of Metabolic Rift: Classical Foundations for Environmental Sociology.” American Journal of Sociology 105(2):366–405.
- Goldman, M., and R. A. Schurman. 2000. “Closing the‘ Great Divide’: New Social Theory on Society and Nature.” Annual Review of Sociology 26:563–84.
Optional Readings
- Cronon, William. 1993. “The Uses of Environmental History.” Environmental History Review 17(3):1–22.
- Baber, Zaheer. 1994. “Beyond Hyper-Constructivist Fads and Foibles: Toward a Critical Sociology of Science, Technology and the Environment.” Critical Sociology 20(2):125.
- Demeritt, David. 2002. “What Is the ‘Social Construction of Nature’? A Typology and Sympathetic Critique.” Progress in Human Geography 26(6):767–90.
- Moore, Jason W. 2000. “Environmental Crises and the Metabolic Rift in World-Historical Perspective.” Organization & Environment 13(2):123–57.
- “Chapter 8” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
III. Systemic Causes
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Advanced Readings
- Gould, K. A., D. N. Pellow, and A. Schnaiberg. 2004. “Interrogating the Treadmill of Production.” Organization & Environment 17(3):296–316.
- Freudenburg, William R., R. Gramling, S. Laska, and K. T. Erikson. 2009. “Organizing Hazards, Engineering Disasters?: Improving the Recognition of Political-Economic Factors in the Creation of Disasters.” Social Forces 87(2):1015–38.
- Rudel, Thomas K., J. Timmons Roberts, and JoAnn Carmin. 2011. “Political Economy of the Environment.” Annual Review of Sociology 37(1):221–38.
- Swyngedouw, Erik. 2009. “The Political Economy and Political Ecology of the Hydro-Social Cycle.” Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education 142(1):56–60.
Optional Readings
- Moore, D. S. 1993. “Contesting Terrain in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands: Political Ecology, Ethnography, and Peasant Resource Struggles.” Economic Geography 69(4):380–401.
- “Chapter 2” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
- “Chapter 3” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
- “Chapter 4” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
IV. Systemic Consequences
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Advanced Readings
- Brunsma, D and Picou, JS. 2008. “Disasters in the Twenty-First Century: Modern Destruction and Future Instruction.” Social Forces 87(2):983–91.
- Elliott, James R., and Jeremy Pais. 2006. “Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina: Social Differences in Human Responses to Disaster.” Social Science Research 35(2):295–321.
- Fatton, Robert. 2011. “Haiti in the Aftermath of the Earthquake: The Politics of Catastrophe.” Journal of Black Studies 42(2):158–85.
- Samuels, A. 2012. “Moving from Great Love: Gendered Mobilities in a Post-Tsunami Relocation Neighborhood in Aceh, Indonesia.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 36(4): 742-756
Optional Readings
- Alagona, Peter S. 2006. “What Makes a Disaster ‘Natural’?” Space and Culture 9(1):77 –79.
- Brosius, J. Peter. 1997. “Endangered Forest, Endangered People: Environmentalist Representations of Indigenous Knowledge.” Human Ecology 25(1):47–69.
- “Chapter 5” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
V. Responses
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Advanced Readings
- Agarwal, Bina. 1998. “Environmental Management, Equity and Ecofeminism: Debating India’s Experience.” Journal of Peasant Studies 25(4):55–95.
- Hershkovitz, L. 1993. “Political Ecology and Environmental Management in the Loess Plateau, China.” Human Ecology 21(4):327–53.
- Whitesell, E. A. 1996. “Local Struggles over Rain-Forest Conservation in Alaska and Amazonia.” The Geographical Review 86(3).
Optional Readings
- Bezmez, D. 2008. “The Politics of Urban Waterfront Regeneration: The Case of Haliç (the Golden Horn), Istanbul.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 32(4):815–40.
- Erdik, Mustafa, and Eser Durukal. 2008. “Earthquake Risk and Its Mitigation in Istanbul.” Natural Hazards 44(2):181–97.
- “Chapter 9” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
VI. Conclusions
Introductory Readings
- Gould & Lewis, Chapter 20
Advanced Readings
- Capek, Stella M. 1993. “Environmental Justice Frame: A Conceptual Discussion and an Application.” Social Problems 40(1):5–24.
- Cutter, Susan L. 1995. “Race, Class and Environmental Justice.” Progress in Human Geography 19:111–111.
- Martínez-Alier, Joan. 2012. “Environmental Justice and Economic Degrowth: An Alliance Between Two Movements.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 23(1):51–73.
Optional Readings
“Chapter 11” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.
“Chapter 11” in Bell, Michael M. 2011. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. 4th Edition. Sage.