extreme final set!!!

Environmental Sociology

The study of how humans and nature affect one another socially, politically, and economically.

Core Questions of Environmental Sociology

Why people treat nature the way they do, and who benefits or is harmed.

Social vs Personal Environmental Concern

Environmental concern is considered social rather than personal because it is shaped by culture, power, institutions, and inequality.

Ideology

A shared set of beliefs about how the world works and what matters.

Environmental Concern

The level of care, worry, or action people take toward environmental protection.

Actions Showing Environmental Concern

Voting, protesting, recycling, supporting laws, or lifestyle changes.

Issue-Attention Cycle

A pattern where public concern rises after a crisis and fades over time.

Decline of Environmental Concern

People become emotionally exhausted or distracted by other issues.

Compassion Fatigue

Emotional burnout from prolonged exposure to social or environmental problems.

Wealth and Environmental Concern

Concern does not consistently increase with wealth.

Environmentalism of the Poor

The idea that poor and marginalized communities often care deeply because they experience environmental harm first.

Importance of Environmentalism of the Poor

It challenges postmaterialist assumptions.

Postmaterialism

The theory that people care more about the environment once basic needs are met.

Material Values

Priorities focused on survival, safety, and economic security.

Post-Material Values

Priorities focused on quality of life, freedom, and environmental protection.

Postmaterialism Theory Developer

Ronald Inglehart.

Criticism of Postmaterialism

It cannot explain environmental concern among poor communities.

Paradigm

A broad way of thinking about how humans relate to the world.

Human Exemptionalism Paradigm (HEP)

The belief that humans are separate from nature and can overcome limits through technology.

New Environmental Paradigm (NEP)

The belief that humans are part of nature and must respect ecological limits.

Criticism of the Paradigm Shift

Real beliefs are mixed and cannot be reduced to two categories.

Ecological Modernization

The idea that environmental problems can be solved through smarter industry and regulation.

Ecological Modernization's View of Pollution

Pollution is seen as inefficiency that can be fixed.

Role of Technology in Ecological Modernization

Technology helps reduce waste and improve efficiency.

Global Agreements Linked to Ecological Modernization

Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol.

Criticism of Ecological Modernization

It is overly optimistic and works unevenly across countries.

Human Nature of Nature

Nature is real, but our understanding of it is shaped by society.

Power and Danger of Nature's Idea

It can justify inequality and excuse harm.

Naturalizing Something

To present social systems as inevitable or biologically determined.

Moral Holism

The belief that humans are part of nature and nature has moral value.

Moral Separatism

The belief that humans are separate and only humans matter morally.

Tension from Moral Views of Nature

People often believe both moral holism and moral separatism at the same time.

Wilderness Definition

Land untouched by humans.

Social Construction of Wilderness

Humans decide where wilderness exists and who is excluded.

Social Construction of Nature

Nature is real, but meanings are shaped by culture and power.

Naturalizing Capitalism

Claiming capitalism is natural and unavoidable.

Danger of Naturalizing Capitalism

It makes inequality seem inevitable.

Scientific Racism

The misuse of science to justify racial inequality.

Example of Scientific Racism

Craniometry or climate determinism.

Realism Belief about Nature

Nature exists independently of humans.

Constructionism Belief about Nature

Knowledge about nature is shaped by society.

Critical Realism

Nature is real, but our understanding is socially shaped.

Tourism's Effect on Nature

It turns landscapes into products.

Ghosts of Place

Romanticized histories used to sell landscapes.

Environmental Exclusion

When people are pushed out of protected spaces.

Ideology of Environmental Domination

A belief system that justifies human control and exploitation of nature.

Christianity's Contribution to Environmental Domination

By placing humans above nature and framing nature as something to be used.

Anthropocentric

A human-centered worldview that values nature mainly for human use.

Christianity's Promotion of Anthropocentrism

Humans are created in God’s image and given authority over nature.

Biblical Mandate about Nature

Humans are commanded to dominate and use the Earth.

Importance of Biblical Mandate Sociologically

It legitimizes environmental exploitation as morally acceptable.

Biblical Mandate's Nature as a Suggestion or Command

A command.

Max Weber

A sociologist who studied the relationship between religion and capitalism.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

How Protestant beliefs helped shape capitalist values.

Predestination

The belief that salvation is decided at birth.

The Elect

Those believed to be chosen for salvation.

Calling in Protestantism

One’s God-given purpose, often expressed through work.

Work's Moral Importance

Hard work was seen as evidence of being among the elect.

Moral Anxiety Creation from Work

People constantly sought signs of salvation through success.

Wealth Accumulation Encouragement

It signaled discipline and divine favor.

Asceticism

Living simply and avoiding luxury.

Asceticism's Support of Capitalism

People earned money but didn’t spend it, leading to reinvestment.

Asceticism's Effect on Capitalist Development

It promoted saving, reinvestment, and economic growth.

Link between Protestantism and Environmental Exploitation

Nature was seen as a resource for fulfilling one’s calling.

Western Exploitation of Nature Reasons

Religious beliefs justified transforming the environment.

Western Science Aid to Environmental Exploitation

Through inventions that increased extraction and control.

Technologies Enabling Environmental Domination

Steam power and machine power.

Symbolic Importance of the Plow

It represented humans 'splitting' the Earth.

Native American Views of Nature vs Europeans

Indigenous cultures emphasized connection and respect.

Native American Puzzlement by Europeans

Europeans treated land as something to own and exploit.

Lynn White

A historian who linked Christianity to environmental crisis.

Lynn White's Main Argument

Christianity made environmental domination morally acceptable.

Christianity's Change in Views of God and Nature

God became transcendent, not part of nature.

Significance of Christianity's Change

Nature lost sacred status and became exploitable.

Criticism of Lynn White’s Argument

Christianity is not uniformly anti-environmental.

Green Christianity

Religious movements emphasizing stewardship of nature.

Noah’s Ark's Support of Environmental Care

It frames humans as protectors of animals and ecosystems.

Non-Western Philosophies vs Western Domination

They emphasize harmony rather than control.

Daoism's View of Nature

Humans should flow with nature, not dominate it.

Non-Action in Daoism

Acting in accordance with natural processes.

Importance of Water in Daoist Philosophy

It symbolizes adaptability and natural flow.

Discouragement of Swimming Upstream in Daoism

It wastes energy and disrupts balance.

Environmental Lesson of Daoism

Respect natural limits and processes.

Religion and Ideology's Influence on Environmental Behavior

They define what is morally acceptable and “natural.”

Weber's Importance for Environmental Sociology

He shows how beliefs shape economic and environmental systems.

Individualism

An ideology emphasizing personal responsibility over collective responsibility.

Individualism's Effect on Environmental Thought

It discourages thinking about interconnected systems and shared consequences.

Support of Competition by Individualism

It prioritizes self-interest over community well-being.

Problematic Nature of Individualism for Environmental Justice

Environmental problems require collective solutions.

Sociology's Study of Body in Environmental Thought Reason

How we view our bodies shapes how we view nature.

The Body is Ecological

Humans constantly exchange matter and energy with the environment.

Bakhtin's Carnivalesque Body

A body that is open, expressive, and connected to others and nature.

Features of the Carnivalesque Body

Dancing, eating, drinking, humor, exposed skin.

Ecological Emphasis of the Carnivalesque Body

It emphasizes exchange between body and environment.

Lower Stratum Meaning

Bodily functions and processes usually hidden in polite society.

Classical Body

A controlled, closed, and disciplined body.

Features of the Classical Body

Covered skin, controlled behavior, hidden bodily functions.

Classical Body's Relation to Social Class

It signals elite status and separation from nature.

Nature's Offensiveness in Classical Body View

Bodily and ecological connections are treated as shameful.

Balancing Body Conceptions Importance

Pure carnival ignores hygiene; pure control denies ecological reality.