Environmental Sociology

GERALD YOUNG INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER


New second edition


With its global perspective, Environmental Sociology: The Ecology of Late Modernity is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate level classes in a number of disciplines, including sociology, environmental studies, political science, political economy, geography and international relations.


The book's primary focus is on environmental problems associated with modernity. With increases in the size and concentration of populations, economies of scale, advanced technological capabilities, elaborate divisions of labor and widely skewed access to resources and wealth, there also have arisen large ecological imbalances which, in turn, have manifested in myriad ways. These include air and water pollution, deforestation, global climate change, and rises in environment-based diseases in plant, animal and human life.


This leads us to one of the wicked problems of modernity itself: we have the ability now, and perhaps even the propensity, to create problems beyond our ability to address them in sustainable ways.


In spite of this frustrating predicament, the book takes a decidedly optimistic approach, examining in detail solutions stemming from major institutions and local communities, as well as individual lifestyle changes that can bring us closer in line with the natural environment. As such, the book goes beyond merely describing environmental problems, to discuss catalysts for change across an array of perspectives and on multiple levels. Because we examine such a diverse set of institutions, the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems and solutions takes center stage.