The Environment
A Sociological Introduction
1. Edition February 2007
208 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
How are human societies changing the global environment?
Is sustainable development really possible?
Can environmental risks be avoided?
Is our experience of nature changing?
This book shows how questions about the environment cannot be
properly answered without taking a sociological approach. It
provides a comprehensive guide to the ways in which sociologists
have responded to the challenge of environmental issues as diverse
as global warming, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss and marine
pollution. It also covers sociological ideas such as risk,
interpretations of nature, environmental realism, ecological
modernization and globalization. Environmentalism and green
politics are also introduced. Unlike many other texts in the field,
the book takes a long-term view, locating environmental dilemmas
within the context of social development and globalization.
The Environment: A Sociological Introduction is unique in
presenting environmental issues at an introductory level that
assumes no specialist knowledge on the part of readers. The book is
written in a remarkably clear and accessible style, and uses a rich
range of empirical examples from across the globe to illustrate key
debates. A carefully assembled glossary and annotated further
reading suggestions also help to bring ideas to life.
The book will be a valuable resource for students in a range of
disciplines, including sociology, geography and the environmental
sciences, but also for anyone who wants to get to grips with
contemporary environmental debates.
Preface ix
1 Natural Environments 1
Defining Nature and Environment 1
Humans in Natural Environments 7
Natural and Artificial Environments 14
Conclusion 16
2 Knowing the Environment 18
Involvement and Detachment 18
The Scientific Revolution 22
Social Constructions of Nature 26
Critical Realism 32
Conclusion 36
3 Experiencing the Environment 38
An Environment of the Senses 38
Experiencing Environments 41
Ecological Identifications 44
Ecological Citizenship 52
4 Transforming the Environment 55
Social Development and the Environment 55
Industrialization 59
Urbanization 64
The Treadmill of Production and Consumption 67
5 Polluting the Environment 72
Types of Pollution 72
Awareness and Significance of Pollution 74
Sensitivity to Risks 80
Conclusion 88
6 Defending the Environment 91
Changing Attitudes 91
The Modern Origins of Nature Conservation 95
The Development of Environmentalism 99
Conclusion 107
7 Politicizing the Environment 109
A Politics of Nature 109
Ecologism: A New Political Ideology 113
The Emergence of Green Parties 116
Conclusion 124
8 Sustaining the Environment 126
The Idea of Sustainable Development 126
A Brief History of Sustainable Development 130
Sustainable Development in Practice 135
Can Societies Become Sustainable? 139
Conclusion 142
9 A Global Environment 144
What is Globalization? 144
The Biosphere as Environment 148
Global Problems, Global Solutions? 150
Conclusion 161
Glossary 164
References and Further Reading 170
Index 178
Times Higher Education
"This book is an excellent introduction for students new to this
area of inquiry and should enthuse them to deepen their
investigation of some of the most important issues of the 21st
century."
Sociology
"In a relaxed and readable style, Sutton introduces key
concepts with a light touch, illustrating theories with major
events and relevant contemporary issues."
Area
"Phillip Sutton has crafted a systematic and thorough
introduction to the social science of the environment: its
definition, transformation, politicization and defence. He
expansively charts the emergence of the field and points to how
global changes and politics will affect its future. This book will
become a key resource for new students of environmental sociology
and a point of engagement for future discussion."
Hank Johnston, San Diego State University
"Philip Sutton combines an excellent introduction to the
sociology of the environment with an innovative approach to the
field. A stimulating and wide-ranging text."
Tim Newton, Exeter University
"Written for undergraduate students, Philip Sutton's The
Environment demands no prior knowledge of sociology. Remaining
faithful to its subject matter, the book ranges freely across human
and environmental sciences. Sutton rejects the "retreat into
the present" that characterizes much contemporary sociology
and frames environmental problems in relation to very long-term
processes of human social development. This "sociological
introduction" is challenging in all the right ways."
Stephen Quilley, Keele University
