15,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: What is Sociology?
- Sprache: Englisch
Given the escalating and existential nature of our current environmental crises, environmental sociology has never mattered more. We now face global environmental threats, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as local threats, such as pollution and household toxins. The complex interactions of such pervasive problems demand an understanding of the social nature of environmental impacts, the underlying drivers of these impacts, and the range of possible solutions. Environmental sociologists continue to make indispensable contributions to this crucial task. This compact book introduces environmental sociology and emphasizes how environmental sociologists do "public sociology," that is, work with broad public application. Using a diversity of theoretical approaches and research methods, environmental sociologists continue to give marginalized people a voice, identify the systemic drivers of our environmental crises, and evaluate solutions. Diana Stuart shines a light on this work and gives readers insight into applying the tools of environmental sociology to minimize impacts and create a more sustainable and just world.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 259
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
Ähnliche
Table of Contents
Cover
Series Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
1 Environmental Sociology: In Uncharted Waters
In Uncharted Waters
Navigating Nature and Society
Public Environmental Sociology in an Age of Crisis
Book Overview
Discussion Questions
Suggested Reading
2 The Social Dimensions of Environmental Impacts
The Role of Science: How Do We Know?
Environmental Impacts as Risks and Problems
Environmental Impacts as Crises
The Unequal Distribution of Impacts
The Social Dimensions Matter
Discussion Questions
Suggested Reading
3 Examining Drivers of Environmental Impacts
Global Drivers: Beyond Population Growth
Individual and Household Drivers
Structural Drivers
The Role of Ideology
Seeing the Whole Picture
Discussion Questions
Suggested Reading
4 Identifying Solutions
The Big Picture
Individual Solutions
Modernization
Reflexive Modernization
Ecological Modernization
Structural Changes
Toward a New System?
We Cannot Be Radical Enough
Discussion Questions
Suggested Reading
5 Moving Forward
Social Movements and Social Change
Growing Momentum for Change
Moving Forward in Environmental Sociology
Doing the Necessary Work
Discussion Questions
Suggested Reading
References Cited
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Pages
ii
iii
iv
vi
vii
viii
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
Series Title
What is Sociology? Series
Elisabeth S. Clemens,
What is Political Sociology?
Hank Johnston,
What is a Social Movement?
Richard Lachmann,
What is Historical Sociology?
Neil Selwyn,
What is Digital Sociology?
Lyn Spillman,
What is Cultural Sociology?
Diana Stuart,
What is Environmental Sociology?
What is Environmental Sociology?
DIANA STUART
polity
Copyright Page
Copyright © Diana Stuart 2021
The right of Diana Stuart to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2021 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press
101 Station Landing
Suite 300
Medford, MA 02155, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4438-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4439-4 (pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stuart, Diana (Diana Lynne), 1979- author.
Title: What is environmental sociology? / Diana Stuart.
Description: Medford : Polity Press, 2021. | Series: What is sociology? | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A succinct primer on how to think critically about society/environment interactions”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000067 (print) | LCCN 2021000068 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509544387 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509544394 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509544400 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Environmental sociology.
Classification: LCC GE195 .S7858 2021 (print) | LCC GE195 (ebook) | DDC 304.2--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000067
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000068
by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com
Preface
My approach for this book was inspired by my experiences teaching undergraduate and graduate-level environmental sociology and environmental studies courses over the past ten years. In recent years, I have noticed a significant shift in student morale. The existential environmental threats we currently face, especially those posed by climate change, are impossible for students to ignore, and many feel powerless and defeated by the lack of meaningful action taken. In my courses, I actively work to counter these feelings, as they only help to ensure our current trajectory. I emphasize potential solutions and alternative pathways. I also find it critical to repeatedly communicate and illustrate that another way and a different future is possible. We are not simply “doomed,” as there are many paths left to choose from, some that offer much more positive social and ecological outcomes than others.
There is tremendous work to be done to correct our current trajectory and steer a course toward the best future possible. Even if this path is through uncharted waters and the challenges are daunting, there is a moral imperative to keep going. We are also in an exciting moment in history, where public opinions have shifted and social movements are challenging the current system. At the same time, powerful groups are using vast financial resources to protect the status quo. In addition, unexpected events, like the Covid-19 pandemic, can quickly reshape what is politically and socially possible. Rather than feeling powerless and dreading the inevitable environmental disasters ahead, it remains critical that we keep working to justly minimize harm. Environmental sociologists continue to play a key role in this work. In this book, I highlight this work and focus on how environmental sociology can help us to address the escalating environmental threats we face and forge pathways for the best possible future.
1Environmental Sociology: In Uncharted Waters
Environmental sociology is a subdiscipline of sociology that examines the relationships between humans and the entities and processes on Earth that are often lumped together and referred to as “nature” or “the environment.” Dominant philosophical views from the past fortified the use of such terms to refer to what lies outside of the human or social world. In other words, we humans are here in society and “nature” or “the environment” is somewhere else, out there. However, as scientists, philosophers, environmentalists, and many others increasingly have realized, the idea of a separation between nature and society is far from accurate. We must also acknowledge that both “nature” and “society” represent complicated configurations of beings and entities and are concepts that are diverse, complex, and socially constructed.
If there is something called “the environment,” then we live in it, depend on it, and are a part of it. It is where we live, work, and recreate. It includes all life, plant and animal, as well as nonliving things such as soil, rocks, water, and atmosphere. While some who want to protect “the environment” might be thinking only about the nonhuman world, our inherent relationships and dependencies make humans a part of the biophysical community. The idea of a divide between nature and society has perniciously masked these fundamental linkages. The belief that we can take resources from “the environment” and put waste into “the environment” without any consequences is not only false, but dangerous. The long-ignored interconnections between the human and nonhuman worlds are now clear, as environmental impacts directly affecting humans have increased over time. In response to these impacts, environmental sociology emerged in the 1970s to better understand these overlooked relationships.
While environmental sociology emerged over forty years ago, this book focuses on more recent definitions and applications. Gould and Lewis (2009: 2) define environmental sociology as “the study of how social systems interact with ecosystems.” Lockie (2015: 140) defines environmental sociology as “the application of our sociological imaginations to the connections among people, institutions, technologies and ecosystems that make society possible.” In both of these definitions is the term ecosystem, which refers to all living organisms in a community, the nonliving components of this community, and their relationships. While humans affect ecosystems and ecosystems affect humans, a more accurate depiction is that humans depend on ecosystems, live in ecosystems, and are also driving rapid ecosystem change. With accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, it has become clear that human activities now shape the fate of all species on the planet. Therefore, as a field of study, environmental sociology examines how humans interact with the nonhuman beings, entities, and processes on Earth and how these relationships shape our mutual existence, survival, and possibilities for flourishing.
In Uncharted Waters
As we now face global and existential environmental threats, environmental sociology has never been more important. Early environmental issues such as the pollution in the Cuyahoga River and Love Canal were regional. While we still face these kinds of environmental issues, which threaten humans and other species in certain places, we now also face environmental crises that are existential because they threaten the future existence of our species and others. Environmental issues have been on the social radar for decades, yet we have reached a new era of global and existential environmental threats.
Calling these threats “existential” may sound extreme or exaggerated, but unfortunately it is not. We face unprecedented global environmental impacts putting our existence at risk. In recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2018) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES 2019), scientists have illustrated the severity of both the climate and biodiversity crises and how current trajectories put us at risk of societal collapse, massive population loss, and even possible extinction. These reports call for rapid and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society to address these crises and minimize ecological and social impacts. The climate and biodiversity crises together pose a global existential threat to the human race. While these two distinct crises are discussed here, they will sometimes be grouped together and referred to as “the environmental crisis” or “existential threats” throughout the book.
With only about a 1.1° Celsius (C) average global temperature increase thus far, we are already seeing serious impacts due to global climate change, including unprecedented fires, floods, and hurricanes; and much more severe impacts are projected as warming continues. The words “crisis” and “emergency” are increasingly used by scientists and in the media to describe climate change. Steffen and colleagues (2018) explain the very real possibility of reaching a critical threshold of warming, a global tipping point, after which additional warming would be uncontrollable, resulting in a “Hothouse Earth” scenario. In Nature, Lenton and colleagues (2019: 595) state that climate change “is an existential threat to civilization,” explaining that “the evidence from tipping points alone suggests that we are in a state of planetary emergency.” Finally, Ripple and colleagues (2019: 1), representing the Alliance of World Scientists, identify “disturbing” and “worrisome” vital signs that they state “clearly and unequivocally” illustrate we are in a “climate emergency.” Klinenberg et al. (2020: 664) and other sociologists argue that climate change needs to be a central focus in all subdisciplines of sociology, as it is rapidly transforming the conditions of life on the planet for all people and “everything is at stake.”
Although the climate crisis contributes to biodiversity loss, the biodiversity crisis is considered a separate yet related crisis. Biodiversity loss receives much less public attention than climate change, yet it too poses an existential threat to humans. Imagine the impacts on humans if extinction cascades resulted in the loss of insect pollination or the loss of all ocean life. This is why terms like “ecological crisis” and “biodiversity crisis” are now commonly used by scientists and in the media. For example, a letter representing almost 100 scientists was published in October of 2018 titled: “Facts about our ecological crisis are incontrovertible” (Green and Scott Cato 2018). A year later, the United Nations report on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES 2019) resulted in scientists publicly calling for rapid funding and intervention to address the “biodiversity crisis” (Malcom et al. 2019). The IPBES media release (2019) states that species loss has accelerated to rates that “constitute a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.” The climate and biodiversity crises can both be seen as “crises of civilization” that together represent an unprecedented existential threat.
The climate and biodiversity crises are related, as climate change increases extinction rates, but they are also related in how the impacts of these crises are unfolding, who is most affected, the underlying drivers, and the likely solutions. Environmental sociology can play a critical role in understanding these impacts, drivers, and solutions. Already, environmental sociologists are working to identify unequal and unjust impacts, root drivers of impacts that are overlooked by oversimplified diagnoses, the ineffectiveness and inadequacy of proposed solutions, and the extent of social transformation necessary to stave off these existential threats. While this book will draw from examples beyond these global crises, it will emphasize how current and future environmental sociologists can contribute to understanding and addressing these escalating threats. We are in uncharted waters, and environmental sociologists can play an important role identifying and advocating for the most effective and just paths forward.
While crises create uncertain and daunting times, they also can create opportunities for change that can be positive. Having plans for positive social transformation already formulated is critical for being prepared to direct the path of change. It is those who have studied and who understand the impacts and drivers of problems who can point us in the direction of effective and just solutions. Conditions can rapidly change due to environmental, economic, and health crises (e.g., the Covid-19 pandemic) and ideas that were previously deemed unfeasible can suddenly gain popular support. As windows open for positive social change, environmental sociologists can play a key role in identifying effective solutions and helping to steer society toward paths that increase social and ecological well-being. This important work requires a thorough understanding of the complex relationships between nature and society.
Navigating Nature and Society
Navigating the study of nature and society is a relatively recent endeavor, due to philosophical and scientific paradigms that remained dominant for hundreds of years. The Enlightenment period, between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, was also called the Age of Reason, as scholars emphasized how humans can use their unique intellectual abilities to control and dominate nature for social progress. Nature was regarded as separate from and subordinate to humans, reinforcing the notion of human exceptionalism. This rationality also influenced the development of the sciences into distinctive and isolated disciplines for examining the social and natural worlds. Sociology developed specifically as a science of society, using social facts to explain social phenomena. Yet, as with many other disciplines, over time scholars increasingly realized that separating nature and society was a false and dangerous depiction of the world.
Environmental sociology emerged in the 1970s as a result of calls for new theories and methods that cast away Enlightenment notions of society as separate from nature, offering a more holistic (and realistic) understanding of the world. In a series of articles, Dunlap and Catton convincingly argued for a new kind of sociology involving a paradigmatic and methodological shift away from a solely anthropogenic focus (Catton and Dunlap 1978a, 1978b, 1980; Dunlap and Catton 1979, 1983). They called for a purposeful move away from the dominant human exceptionalism perspective in sociology toward one that incorporates ecological entities and processes. It has been over forty years since these articles were published, and a diverse body of scholarship has emerged in environmental sociology.
It is important to know that sociology was not the only or first discipline to breach the nature-society divide. Human geographers were examining the relationships between people, place, and the environment long before environmental sociology existed. Anthropologists were also examining how people lived and related to their surroundings. In addition, human ecology, a subfield related to multiple disciplines, focused on relationships between humans and the biophysical world. In the past few decades, new areas of study have also emerged that cross the nature-society divide. Political ecology, a subdiscipline in geography, examines nature-society relations, focusing on power, marginalization, and political economy. Ecologists have also developed approaches to study the resilience of social-ecological systems. In summary, as the nature-society divide has been increasingly deemed false, scholars in a range of disciplines have developed new theories and approaches to examine nature and society together.
What are theories? Theories are general explanations of how the world works or how processes unfold. For example, the theory of evolution explains how over time life evolved into diverse and specialized species across the globe. The theory of inheritance explains how the traits from one generation are passed on to the next. These are theories that have stood the test of time and are still widely believed to explain reality accurately. Other theories, however, have been found to be false and were replaced by others. For example, the flat earth theory was deemed false and superseded by the round earth theory. Maternal impression theory, which explained birth defects as a product of the pregnant mother’s thoughts, was also found to be false and replaced by genetic theory. Some theories offer explanations that hold, while others are eventually debunked, replaced, and disregarded. Theories are useful for multiple reasons: they can guide research questions, they can help to reveal specific patterns, and they can foster broader discussions that many scholars can contribute to over time.
In sociology, theories explain how society functions or how people act and relate to each other. Some theories explain how society works at a macro scale and focus on how the structures of social institutions, policies, and economic systems shape society. For example, Marxist theory posits that the mode of production, or how our economy is organized, creates a social order that results in specific class relations, power dynamics, and social and environmental outcomes. Other theories focus on individuals or groups of people and how they behave or interact with each other. For many years, social scientists debated whether it is the structure of our social order or choice and individual agency that most influence human behavior. Most scholars now agree that both are very important and that they are in many ways related. The ideas, beliefs, and choices of individuals are shaped and reinforced by the social order; and the ideas, beliefs, and actions of individuals are critical to either maintain or alter the social order.
While many theories from sociology have been applied or adapted to study the environment, new theories have also emerged specifically to examine nature-society relations. For example, the treadmill-of-production theory (Schnaiberg 1980), which will be further explained in Chapter 3, describes how increasing levels of production result in both more withdrawals from the environment and more additions into the environment, increasing levels of environmental degradation. Another example is ecological modernization theory, which will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 4. This theory explains how we can solve environmental problems using science, markets, and policy reforms to reshape relations in ways that adequately address environmental degradation and support economic growth (Mol and Spaargaren 2000). You may have noticed that these two theories are not complementary. These contrasting theories and related debates will be further examined in later chapters, as they continue to shape not only our understanding of the drivers of environmental impacts but also what solutions we should pursue.
A variety of different social science methods are used in environmental sociology. These include both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative studies include examining survey and public opinion data to better understand attitudes, values, and beliefs. Surveys are also useful to understand behaviors. In addition, quantitative studies have looked at both social and biophysical data together to better understand correlations, drivers, and impacts. Quantitative work usually involves large data sets and statistical analysis, and has been used in some cases to test different social theories. Qualitative work in environmental sociology includes discourse or policy analysis, focus groups, and personal interviews to examine framing, influences, rationales, and justifications. While quantitative analysis might be better suited to understand what is happening and to what extent, as well as opinions, attitudes, and correlations, qualitative work is often needed to understand why people do or think what they do, and to expose influences that might otherwise be overlooked. Many publications in environmental sociology also focus on applications of theory to specific environmental issues; they may not use any primary data. All of this work contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts on, drivers of, and solutions to environmental issues. Throughout the book, specific studies will be highlighted along with the methods used to illustrate the range of research conducted.
It should also be noted that while rural sociology and the sociology of natural resources developed distinctively from environmental sociology, the differences in theory, approach, problems, and institutions define these subdisciplines rather than the locations and topics of case studies (Buttel 2000). Rural sociology has a long history of studying the relationships between people and rural places, including examining agriculture, recreation, and natural resources. While distinctive frameworks and theories initially guided rural sociology, increasingly theory and approaches from environmental sociology have also been applied to case studies. This makes the distinction between rural and environmental sociology increasingly blurry, but in a way that likely benefits scholars associated with each subdiscipline. Just because a case study is in a rural location or focuses on agriculture does not mean that theories from environmental sociology cannot be applied. In fact, an increasing number of scholars have demonstrated the benefits of such applications (e.g., Ipsen 2016, Houser et al. 2017, Ternes 2019).
Similarly, approaches from environmental sociology can be applied to studies that might be topically more associated with other subdisciplines. This includes science and technology studies (e.g., Lidskog and Sundqvist 2018), urban studies (e.g., Scanu 2015), migration (e.g., Ransan-Cooper 2016), and development (e.g., Givens et al. 2016, Westoby and Lyons 2016). Overall, the approaches from environmental sociology can be applied much more widely than the topics that were originally the focus of the subdiscipline. These approaches are also increasingly important in interdisciplinary work. There is growing recognition of the benefits of not only crossing the nature-society divide but also of being open to using theories, frameworks, and approaches from a variety of different social and natural science disciplines. As a result, interdisciplinary projects have received increasing levels of funding over the past few decades and will continue to be a vital part of environmental research. As we face escalating existential threats, the theories and methods used by environmental sociologists will be vital to interdisciplinary efforts to understand and address our environmental crisis.
Public Environmental Sociology in an Age of Crisis
Increasingly, environmental sociologists are participating in cutting-edge research and are publishing work with important social implications. Their research has illustrated how environmental impacts are unequally experienced, and elucidated the overlooked relationships between economic and environmental realities, the false promises of “silver bullet” environmental solutions, and how we can find environmental solutions that are the most effective and just. This work is not only published in prominent academic journals but is also highlighted in mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times. As we are in uncharted waters, facing increasing existential threats, this work is more important than ever.
This book introduces environmental sociology through focusing on recent work in the field and also through emphasizing public sociology. Public sociology goes beyond sociology for academic purposes and involves research that has important implications for society. For example, work highlighted in this book has important implications for identifying, understanding, and addressing our escalating environmental crisis, which is of increasing public concern. Public sociology can result in findings that garner widespread attention and are useful to policymakers, social movements, and others working to foster positive social change. Environmental sociologists continue to make significant contributions to public sociology, and diverse examples of public sociology will be emphasized throughout the book. While most of the examples and approaches in this book focus on scholars from the United States (US) and Europe, there is important work in environmental sociology happening across the globe and in the Global South, some of which will be highlighted in this book. The primary focus on the Global North is due to the accelerating levels of over-production and overconsumption in affluent nations that are primary drivers of our environmental crisis and therefore must be addressed.
In an age of increasing and intersecting crises—not only related to climate change and biodiversity loss but also economic inequality, health, democracy, and institutionalized racism—it is easy to become overwhelmed and disillusioned by any one of the crises we face. For some it may seem more comforting to deny that these crises exist. Others may choose the path of optimism, believing that everything will work out fine in the end because technology or human innovation will save us from the worst possible outcomes. In addition, there are those who have already decided that the fate of humanity is sealed, we are doomed, all hope is lost, and there is nothing we can do about it. These are narratives that people often tell themselves because, according to each of these narratives, we should simply continue with the status quo. These responses are understandable, as social change is difficult to imagine and it is easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless when faced with multiple and escalating crises.
However, these narratives represent forms of delusion that distract us from the real work that needs to be done. Both falsely optimistic and fatalistic narratives can serve as pernicious distractions that delay the necessary action. We stand at a critical moment in time where there is still a small window of opportunity to act to prevent the worst-case scenarios. Indeed, the impacts are very serious and some are already unavoidable. For example, average global temperatures will continue to increase; however, the extent of this increase is yet to be determined. As Rebecca Elliott (2018) explains, climate change has and will continue to result in material, psychological, and emotional loss. Some loss is inevitable, yet a 2°C warmer future and a 4°C warmer future by 2100 will be dramatically different, with vast moral implications. None of the crises we face represent an “all or nothing” situation that would support giving up. In each case, we can either do very little and experience tremendous loss, or we can do as much as we can to create the most sustainable and just future possible. Therefore, public environmental sociology takes on critical importance in this crucial moment. It is not a time to take comfort in false narratives. It is a time to understand what is at stake and to go all in. As we will see throughout this book, public environmental sociology has and will continue to play an important role in this work.
Book Overview
In the following chapters, we will examine the topics, theories, and approaches that embody environmental sociology and illustrate specific contributions to understanding the social dimensions of environmental impacts, the drivers of environmental impacts, and possible solutions. Recent work will be emphasized, yet some classic studies will also be discussed. Throughout the book, we will continue to focus on the existential environmental crisis that we face related to climate change and biodiversity loss. This crisis is very real, and the risks are so great that for some of us it is difficult to think about anything else. In this book, the reality of these threats will be consistently acknowledged—as well as the moral implications of our choices moving forward. In this time of crisis, we cannot shy away from questions of morality. This focus is not intended to induce fear. It is meant to be truthful, as knowing the truth is necessary to act most effectively to minimize the impacts ahead. In addition to these existential threats, we will also examine a range of other environmental topics, including toxins, health, and environmental justice, as well as diverse examples of methodologies and public sociology.
Chapter 2 focuses on the social dimensions of environmental impacts, or the ways in which impacts are identified, perceived, framed, and communicated. It covers the contested interpretations of science, risk perception, social constructionist perspectives, as well as environmental justice. Environmental sociologists have examined why in some cases environmental impacts remain unnoticed, ignored, or tolerated, and in other cases are deemed unacceptable and demanding of immediate attention. In addition, they have identified how environmental impacts are distributed and experienced unequally, in many cases harming those who are already most vulnerable. While environmental impacts are very real in a biophysical sense, how they are perceived, framed, and understood by individuals, in the media, and throughout society determines which impacts are deemed problematic and if there will be a meaningful response.
Chapter 3 illustrates how the work of environmental sociologists has helped to identify the drivers of environmental impacts. While early and oversimplified explanations of environmental degradation focused on population growth alone, quantitative analysis has consistently revealed the important role of consumption and affluence in driving environmental impacts. Theoretical and empirical work also reveals how rising levels of consumption and affluence are being driven by a system that is growth-dependent, always producing more goods and services. This constant expansion results in increasing levels of pollution and depleted resource reserves. This chapter also describes how the concepts of the treadmill of production, the metabolic rift, and the second contradiction of capitalism contribute to our understanding of the underlying drivers of environmental degradation.
Chapter 4
