INTRODUCTION TO "SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES" - - PDF document

INTRODUCTION TO "SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES"

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What is environmental sociology? A: In short, the study of the interactions between society and environment. Below are listed some traditional foci of sociological inquiry. How might these topics relate to the study of society and the natural environment? 1. social stability ! the problem of maintaining a stable economy, stable communities 2. social change ! what drives social change ! how can desirable social change be created 3. social stratification ! how are natural resources allocated to different social groups? ! who benefits from exploitation of natural resources?

4. deviance and crime ! environmental crimes ! breaking fishing regulations ! white collar crime by corporate executives 5. culture/socialization/education/media ! the creation of values and attitudes related to consumption, lifestyles that have impacts on the environment, protection, environmental politics 6. gender relations ! do men and women have different relationships to the environment? If so, why? ! is there a gendered pattern to employment in natural resource

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7. population/demography ! what is a desirable population size ! how to deal with overpopulation ! what is the relationship between population, poverty, and the environment ! how to predict and adapt to demographic trends?

8. ethnic/race relations ! First Nations ! environmental racism 9. formal organizations ! bureaucracy and regulation and how these related to creating or solving environmental problems. 10. family ! family and population, consumption, socialization 11. religion ! world views concerning the environment 12. politics and economy, social movements ! environmental regulation, policy, who has power? ! environmental protest. 13. industrialization/work ! what is the relationship between economic systems and the environment

14. urbanization ! how has increase urbanization affected the environment? social inequality, transportation? ! how are urban communities different from rural communities? 15. development ! what is sustainable development? 16. regionalism/globalization ! globalization, trade, power inequalities, 17. health care and the life cycle ! environmental threats to health, intergenerational equity