An Invitation to Environmental Sociology

Michael Mayerfeld Bell is Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For his day job, he is principally an environmental sociologist and a social theorist, focusing on dialogics, the sociology of nature, and social justice. These concerns for the world have led him to studies of agroecology, the body, community, consumption, culture, development, food, democracy, economic sociology, gender, inequality, participation, place, politics, rurality, the sociology of music, and more. He is also a part-time composer of grassroots and classical music, and a mandolinist, guitarist, and singer. Loka Ashwood is an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Sociology. She theorizes about democracy, the environment, and social action to pinpoint points of aggravation and openings for change. She analyzes specific corporate and regulatory structures that undergird dispossession of property and community in rural places. She works with people to explore creative pathways forward amid intense distrust and government neglect. Learn more at www.lokaashwood.com.Isaac Sohn Leslie is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Ike’s primary research area is the sociology of global environmental and economic change, with a focus on developing food systems for a just climate transition. Their research in the U.S. and Argentina centers queer, feminist, and anti-racist perspectives on designing food chains that prioritize healthy ecological and social relations. Ike recently co-edited a Special Issue of Society & Natural Resources on gender, sexuality, and sustainability in U.S. farming. They are also a beginning farmer and active in queer farmer organizing. For more, visit www.isaacleslie.com. Laura Hanson Schlachter is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her scholarship and teaching focus on environmental sociology, social movements, and economic sociology. As a mixed methods researcher, Laura has directed the first national survey about workplace democracy, interviewed activists seeding a regenerative economy in Appalachia, and collaborated with village leaders to improve walkability in rural Wisconsin. Laura has a background in inclusive economic development and an ongoing volunteer role at the Madison affiliate of 350.org. Her writing has appeared in peer-reviewed academic journals, policy reports, and neighborhood newsletters. Her current research about constructive strategies to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis and alternative ways of organizing work has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation and Corporation for National and Community Service. Learn more at www.lauraschlachter.com.

• PrefaceAbout the AuthorsChapter 1: Environmental Problems and SocietyJoining the DialogueEnvironmental Justice Across TimeEnvironmental Justice Across Social SpaceEnvironmental Justice Across SpeciesThe Social Constitution of Environmental Problems and SolutionsPart I: The MaterialChapter 2: Health and JusticeThe Material Basis of the Human ConditionOne HealthOne JusticeLiving Downstream: The Precautionary PrincipleMaking TiesChapter 3: Consumption and MaterialismThe Hierarchy of NeedsConsumption, Modern StyleGoods and SentimentsGoods and CommunityThe Treadmill of ConsumptionChapter 4: Money and MarketsThe Growth CompulsionThe “Invisible Elbow”Overproduction and UnderproductionThe Constructed MarketRock Steady Farm and the Economics of OptimismChapter 5: Technology and ScienceThe Monologues of Technology and ScienceTechnology as a DialogueTechnological SomnambulismScience as DialogueDisasters, Fast and SlowScience and Technology as PoliticalChapter 6: Population and DevelopmentThe Malthusian ArgumentPopulation as CultureThe Inequality Critique of MalthusianismThe Technologic Critique of MalthusianismThe Demographic Critique of MalthusianismThe Environment as a Social ActorPart II: The IdealChapter 7: The Ideology of Environmental DominationChristianity and Environmental DominationIndividualism and Environmental DominationHeteropatriarchy and Environmental DominationThe Difference That Ideology MakesChapter 8: The Ideology of Environmental ConcernAncient BeginningsThe Moral Basis of Contemporary Environmental ConcernThe Extent of Contemporary Environmental ConcernTwo Theories of Contemporary Environmental ConcernThe Dialogue of Environmental ConcernPostscriptChapter 9: The Human Nature of NatureThe Contradictions of NatureNature as a Social ConstructionEnvironment as a Social ConstructionThe Dialogue of Nature and IdeologyPart III. The PracticalChapter 10: Mobilizing the Just Ecological SocietyMobilizing Ecological ConceptionsMobilizing Ecological ConnectionsMobilizing Ecological ContestationsThe Pros of the Three ConsChapter 11: Transitioning to the Just Ecological SocietyDemocracy and BureaucracyLegal StructureThe Bottom and the TopParticipatory GovernanceLocal KnowledgeGoverning ParticipationGrounding Our KnowledgeSoul Fire Farm and Just Ecological TransitionFinding Our BalanceChapter 12: Living in the Just Ecological SocietyThe A-B SplitThe Reconstitution of Daily LifeReconstituting OurselvesReferencesNotesIndex