Description
Book SynopsisCan sociology help us to tackle environmental problems? What can sociology tell us about the nature of the environment and about the origins and consequences of environmental risks, hazards and change? In this important new book Alan Irwin maps out this emerging field of knowledge, teaching and research.
Trade Review'Irwin inspires. Finally, an introduction to the sociology of the environment that recognizes the critical importance of knowledge in mediating the exchanges between people and nature. "Realists" and "Constructivists" are both invited to revisit their entrenched positions in a book that charts a new and evocative course in the social study of the environment.'
Steve Kroll-Smith, The University of New OrleansTable of ContentsPreface.
Introduction.
Chapter 1: Sustainability as Social Challenge.
Chapter 2: The Risk Society Thesis: The End of the World as We Know It?.
Chapter 3: Science and the Social Construction of Environmental Threat.
Chapter 4: Risks in Context: The Local Construction of Environmental Issues.
Chapter 5: Institutional Judgements and Contested Decisions: The Governance of Environmental Problems.
Chapter 6: Kamikazes and Chromosomes: Sociological Perspectives on Technology.
Chapter 7: Society, Nature, Knowledge: Co-constructing the Social and the Natural.
Notes.
References.
Index.
