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Core Concepts in Environmental Sociology
Core Concepts in Environmental Sociology
Tuesday, 12 July 2016: 09:00-10:30
Location: Hörsaal 50 (Main Building)
RC24 Environment and Society (host committee) Language: English
What are the core concepts in environmental sociology that have contributed to scholarship and praxis, and what theoretical advances are needed? Since the early 1970s, environmental sociology has successfully “brought nature back in” to sociology. Environmental sociology has become one of the strongest sub-disciplines in sociology. But are the prevailing core concepts in our field adequate to describe, understand and explain contemporary and global environmental challenges? What is the need for conceptual innovation to better understand and cope with our most demanding environmental problems and risks today and in the future?
Core concepts of interest may, firstly, originate from sociology and be commonly discussed and applied in environmental sociology.
- What happens when the prefix “environment” is placed before classical sociological concepts, or when sociological concepts are applied to environmental studies? Do adequate understandings and explanations of environmental problems require particular developments/applications of these concepts?
- Second, what core concepts have emerged that originate within environmental sociology? How can they feedback to sociology in general?
- Third, there are concepts from other fields of environmental science increasingly discussed in environmental sociology. What are the implications of importing “non-sociological” concepts into the tool kit of environmental sociology?
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