Cultures of Environmentalism : Empirical Studies in Environmental Sociology

As environmental issues increasingly impinge on society, sociologists have turned their attention to nature and the environment. However, unlike the majority of sociological work on environmental issues, which has too often been dominated by abstract theoretical disputes, this book concentrates on empirical studies in environmental sociology. It shows what sociologists can bring to current debates over environmental topics (including genetic modification) and - using the author's first-hand research - demonstrates how sociologists can best pursue practical work on environmental topics.
This concise and clearly written book, now available in paperback, demonstrates the power and scope of empirical analysis in environmental sociology. In doing so, it provides an antidote to the recent dominance of abstract theoretical disputes in sociological work on nature and the environment.

Dividing the author's first-hand research studies into three categories -- on cultures of movement, on environment, law and public policy, and on cultures of knowing and proving -- this text uses case studies, interviews, focus-group techniques and observational analyses to explore the development of environmentalism and the environmental movement. The analyses enable the reader to understand how environmental disputes are contested, perpetuated and resolved. The cases are carefully documented with extensive use of original materials. Drawing on the substantive findings in the empirical chapters, the book concludes with an original sociological treatment of the challenges that will face attempts to live sustainably. It is essential reading for students and academics in sociology, social anthropology, social geography and cultural studies.

This concise and clearly written book demonstrates the power and scope of empirical analysis in environmental sociology. In doing so, it provides an antidote to the recent dominance of abstract theoretical disputes in sociological work on nature and the environment. Dividing the author's first-hand research studies into three categories - on cultures of movement, on environment, law and public policy, and on cultures of knowing and proving - this text uses case studies, interviews, focus-group techniques and observational analyses to explore the development of environmentalism and the environmental movement. The analyses enable the reader to understand how environmental disputes are contested, perpetuated and resolved. The cases are carefully documented with extensive use of original materials. Drawing on the substantive findings in the empirical chapters, the book concludes with an original sociological treatment of the challenges that will face attempts to live sustainably. It is essential reading for students and academics in sociology, social anthropology, social geography and cultural studies Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction: Studying Environmental Issues Sociologically....Pages 1-4 Front Matter....Pages 5-5 Social Movement Theory and the Character of Environmental Social Movements....Pages 7-25 Shell, a Sure Target for Global Environmental Campaigning?....Pages 26-40 How Environmental Problems Come to be ‘Global’: Sociological Perspectives on the Globalisation of the Environment....Pages 41-53 Front Matter....Pages 55-55 Bog Standards: Contesting Conservation Value at a Public Inquiry....Pages 57-74 Independence and Impartiality in Legal Defences of the Environment....Pages 75-88 Modelling the Environment: Participation, Trust and Legitimacy in Urban Air-Quality Models....Pages 89-109 Front Matter....Pages 111-111 Green Ambivalence about Science....Pages 113-143 Mad about the Buoy: Trust and Method in the Brent Spar Controversy....Pages 144-158 Genetically Modified Organisms and the Unbearable Irresolution of Testing....Pages 159-175 The Value of Environmental Sociology: Towards a Sociology of the Sustainable Society....Pages 176-184 Back Matter....Pages 185-205