What is Environmental Sociology?. Diana Stuart

and identifying pathways to create a more just and sustainable world. Despite the existential threats we face and some already unavoidable impacts, there are still many possible paths forward and many ways we can do meaningful work to minimize global warming, species extinction, and human suffering. In other words, the path toward the most sustainable and just future is worth pursuing.

Discussion Questions

      1 Why might it be problematic or even dangerous to separate “nature” and “society” in our academic disciplines and in our personal understanding of the world?

      2 What is “the environment” and are we a part of it?

      3 What is a theory? Why might theories be useful in the social sciences?

      4 What makes “public sociology” different from other types of sociological research?

Suggested Reading

      1 Bell, M. M., & L. L. Ashwood. (2015). Environmental problems and society. In An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Fifth Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

      2 Catton, W. R., & R. Dunlap. (1978). Environmental sociology: a new paradigm. American Sociologist 13: 41–49.

      3 Dunlap, R. E. & W. R. Catton. (1979). Environmental sociology. Annual Review of Sociology 5: 243–273.

      4 Gould, K. A., & T. L. Lewis. (2020). Theories in environmental sociology. In Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology. Edited by K. A. Gould and T. L. Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press.

      5 Hannigan, J. (2014). Environmental sociology: key perspectives and controversies. In J. Hannigan, Environmental Sociology. Abingdon: Routledge.

      6 Klinenberg, E., M. Araos & L. Koslov. (2020). Sociology and the climate crisis. Annual Review of Sociology 46: 649–669.

      7 Lockie, S. (2015). What is environmental sociology? Environmental Sociology 1 (3): 139–142.

      8 Aruffielle, M. D. & L. King. (2020). Introduction: Environmental problems require social solutions. In Environmental Sociology: From Analysis to Action. Edited by L. King and D. M. Auriffeille. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

      9 York, R., & R. E. Dunlap. (2019). Environmental Sociology. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Sociology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.