From a ‘Sociology of Nature’ to Environmental Sociology: Beyond Social Construction1

This paper aims to provide some theoretical starting points for constructing a social science approach to environmental issues which goes beyond narrower forms of constructivism without dismissing the importance of interpretative sociology. An ecological understanding of society is compared with the notion of structuration and integrated into the concept of coevolution in order to shed light on the dynamic nature of socioenvironmental relations and move beyond the constructivist/realist dualism.

[1]  A. Giddens.  Central Problems In Social Theory , 1979 .

[2]  L. Lutzenhiser.  Sociology, energy and interdisciplinary environmental science , 1994 .

[3]  I. Simmons,et al.  Interpreting Nature: Cultural Constructions of the Environment , 1993 .

[4]  R. Goodland.  The Concept of Environmental Sustainability , 1995 .

[5]  F. Buttel,et al.  From limits to growth to global change: Constraints and contradictions in the evolution of environmental science and ideology☆ , 1990 .

[6]  M. Altieri.  Agroecology: The Scientific Basis Of Alternative Agriculture , 1987 .

[7]  F. Buttel,et al.  Environmental sociology and global environmental change: A critical assessment , 1992 .

[8]  Rudolf B. Husar.  ECOSYSTEM AND THE BIOSPHERE: Metaphors for Human- Induced Material Flows , 1994 .

[9]  R. Dunlap,et al.  Struggling with human exemptionalism: The rise, decline and revitalization of environmental sociology , 1994 .

[10]  S. Gliessman,et al.  Agroecology: researching the ecological basis for sustainable agriculture. , 1990 .

[11]  G. Conway.  The properties of agroecosystems , 1987 .

[12]  A. Giddens.  The Constitution of Society , 1985 .

[13]  R. Williams.  Socialism and ecology , 1995 .

[14]  Timothy O'Riordan,et al.  An Annotated Reader in Environmental Planning and Management , 1983 .

[15]  Richard B. Norgaard,et al.  Coevolutionary Agricultural Development , 1984, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

[16]  John Urry,et al.  Towards a Sociology of Nature , 1995 .

[17]  F. Buttel.  NEW DIRECTIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY , 1987 .

[18]  Allan Schnaiberg,et al.  The Environment: From Surplus to Scarcity , 1980 .

[19]  J. Hannigan,et al.  Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective , 1995 .

[20]  Edward W. Said,et al.  Culture and Imperialism , 1993 .

[21]  K. Milton.  Environmentalism: The View from Anthropology , 1993 .

[22]  Michael Redclift,et al.  Wasted: Counting the Costs of Global Consumption , 1996 .

[23]  R. Dunlap,et al.  A New Ecological Paradigm for Post-Exuberant Sociology , 1980 .

[24]  M. Redclift,et al.  Social Theory and the Global Environment , 1994 .

[25]  D. A. Munro.  Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living , 1991 .