Environmental Sociology: From Analysis to Action

Front Cover
Leslie King, Deborah McCarthy Auriffeille
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Mar 16, 2009 - Nature - 518 pages
A third edition of this textbook is now available.

This environmental sociology reader emphasizes utilizing the sociological imagination to examine the race, class, gender, and other power dimensions that intersect environmental issues. It includes excerpts from recently published pieces that use various sociological perspectives, especially critical frameworks, to examine a wide range of topics-from the globalization of hazardous wastes and industries to mountaintop removal for mining to the construction of nature in a television sitcom.

This second edition, like the first, aims to engage undergraduate students, and includes nine new selections chosen from recent work. A section on social constructionism has been added, and the section on science, risk, and health has been expanded to mirror the increased interest in that field. The new edition also includes a chapter on climate change and new selections in the section on "Thinking about Change/Working for Change," which helps students see how individuals can affect the future of the planet through their actions.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Part I Political Economy
23
Ch01 The Vulnerable Planet
25
Ch02 Mountaintop RemovalinWest Virginia
38
Ch03 Treadmill Predispositionsand Social Responses
51
Race Class and Gender
61
Ch04 Environmental Justice
63
Ch05 Turning Public Issuesinto Private Troubles
80
Ch14 PrimeTime Subversion
230
Part VII Science Risk and Health
245
Ch15 Science inEnvironmentalConflicts
247
Ch16 An Ounce of Precaution
260
Ch17 Risk Society andContested Illness
268
Ch18 The SocialConstruction of Cancer
287
PartVIII Social Movements
305
Ch19 AmericanEnvironmentalism
307

Ch06 The NextRevolutionary Stage
93
Part III The SocialConstruction of Nature
109
Ch07 Wild Horses andthe Political Ecologyof Nature Restoration inthe Missouri Ozarks
111
Ch08 Touch the Magic
128
Part IV CorporateResponsibility
147
Ch09 Silent Spill
149
Ch10 CorporateResponsibilityfor Toxins
164
Part V Globalization
179
Ch11 The Unfair Tradeoff
181
Ch12 Driving South
200
Part VI Media andPopular Culture
213
Ch13 Selling Mother Earth
215
Ch20 Coalition Buildingbetween Native Americanand EnvironmentalOrganizations inOpposition toDevelopment
327
Ch21 People Want to ProtectThemselves a Little Bit
350
PartIX Thinking about ChangeWorking for Change
369
Ch22 Individualization
371
Ch23 Cleaning the Closet
396
Ch24 Greetings from theNonBarcode People
408
Ch25 Healing the Rift
425
Ch26 On the Trail ofCourageous Behavior
438
Index
455
About the Editors
481
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Leslie King is assistant professor of sociology and environmental science and policy at Smith College.

Deborah McCarthy is assistant professor in sociology and anthropology at the College of Charleston.

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