Sociological Theory and the Environment

In the past few years, the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Environmental Sociology has emerged as one of the world's liveliest and most important for the exchange of ideas about the relationships between environment and society. This volume on sociological theory and the environment grows out of a particularly important international workshop on the same topic that was sponsored by that Research Committee, and it summarizes some of the most important thinking that has recently been done in the area. As such, it offers a valuable compilation of some of the most thoughtful work now available on this increasingly significant topic. -- William R. Freudenburg, University of Wisconsin Anyone with an interest in sociology and how this discipline has met the challenge of addressing the human/environment interaction will find this book rewarding. It provides a rich but critical overview of the contributions of classical sociologists such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber; the more recent Niklas Luhman, Theodor Adorno, and Jurgen Habermas; and contemporary writing on modernity and culture by Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck. * Environment * A unique book giving clear evidence of the relevance of all major traditional and contemporary social theories for understanding how modern society deals with the contemporary environmental crisis. Remarkably comprehensive and accessible, the book is essential reading for scholars and students in sociology and environmental studies. -- Arthur P. J. Mol, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and Renmin University, China

Riley E. Dunlap is Boeing Distinguished Professor of Environmental Sociology at Washington State University and past president of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Environment and Society. Frederick H. Buttel is professor of rural sociology and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently president of the Environment and Society Research Committee of the International Sociological Association. Peter Dickens is senior research fellow, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK. He is also fellow and director of studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. August Gijswijt retired as an environmental sociologist from the University of Amsterdam in 1998. In 1990 he and Gyorgy Szell founded the Research Committee on Environment and Science.

Part 1 Preface Part 2 I Introduction and Overview Chapter 3 1 Sociological Theory and the Environment: An Overview and Introduction Part 4 II The Classical Tradition and Environmental Sociology Chapter 5 2 Environmental Sociology and the Classical Sociological Tradition: Some Observations on Current Controversies Chapter 6 3 A Green Marxism? Labor-Processes, Alienation, and the Division of Labor Chapter 7 4 Ecological Materialism and the Sociology of Max Weber Chapter 8 5 Has the Durkheim Legacy Misled Sociology? Part 9 III Environmental Sociology and Twentieth Century Sociological Theory Chapter 10 6 Social Theory and the Environment: A Systems-Theoretical Perspective Chapter 11 7 Dynamic Constellations of the Individual, Society, and Nature: Critical Theory and Environmental Sociology Chapter 12 8 World-System Theory and the Environment: Toward a New Synthesis Part 13 IV Sociological Theory and Environmental Sociology in the Late 1990s: Modernity, Culture, and the Natural World Chapter 14 9 Modernity, Politics, and the Environment: A Theoretical Perspective Chapter 15 10 Inconspicuous Consumption: The Sociology of Consumption, Lifestyles, and the Environment Chapter 16 11 Social Theory and Ecological Politics: Reflexive Modernization or Green Socialism? Chapter 17 12 The Social Construction of Environmental Problems: A Theoretical Review and Some Not-Very Herculean Labors Chapter 18 13 When the Global Meet the Local: Critical Reflections on Reflexive Modernisation Chapter 19 14 Cultural Analysis and Environmental Theory: An Agenda Part 20 V Sociological Paradigms and Environmental Sociology Chapter 21 15 Paradigms, Theories, and Environmental Sociology Part 22 Index Part 23 About the Editors 24 About the Contributors