Environmental Problems

Lecture 6

The Paris Agreement

A goal of having carbon emissions be halved by 2030, but based on current policies global emissions will simply have plateaued

Drawdown

The point where atmospheric greenhouse gases begin to decline on a year-to-year basis

4 tenets of structural functionalism

• Functionalism stresses that human behaviour is governed by relatively stable patterns of social relations, or social structures

• Functionalism underlines how social structures maintain or undermine social stability

• Functionalist theories emphasize that social structures are bases mainly on shared values or preferences

• Functionalism suggests that re-establishing equilibrium can best solve most social problems

Macro theroy

More concerned with the overall picture than any specific parts

Externality

Situations when the effect of production or consumption of goods and services imposes costs or benefits on others which are not reflected in the prices charged for the goods and services being provided

Regulation

A rule or law that aims to restrict or alter certain actions or behaviors

Path dependancy

The dependence of future societal decision processes and/or outcomes on those that have occurred in the past

Evolutionary sociological theory

A perspective in sociology that explains social changes and the development of societies through analogy to biological evolution. It emphasizes that societies evolve over time through processes of adaptation, differentiation, and increasing complexity

5 types of moral foundation theory

• Harm/care

• Fairness/reciprocity

• In-group loyalty

• Authority/respect

• Purity/sanctity

Liberals vs Conservatives on moral foundation theory

• Liberals = fairness, harm

• Conservatives = ingroup loyalty, purity, authority/respect

Immediacy bias

Process by which our brains tend to prefer instant gratification or reward over something potentially of more value in the future

Affinity or in-group bias

Our natural gravitation towards those who are like us in beliefs and/or backgrounds

Echo chambers

An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so their existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered

Dictatorships

Form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations

Military juntas

A military government in which power is taken by force versus elections and military officers rule

Para-military groups

Armed groups that resemble a military but are not part of a state’s formal armed forces

Competition as ‘external coercive law'

• Karl Marx

• Corporations that make the most money have the ability to outlast and drive their competition out of business

Bureaucracy

• Max Weber

• Bureaucracy creates a structure of positions with duties and obligations, each position in the structure ensures the other positions do their job so that no individual can upset the structure

Social constrictionism

The objective reality is often less important than the way it is constructed through social relationships - subjective is more important

Tragedy of the commons

When someone does not own something, and everyone has access to it, people will abuse and exploit it

Free rider problem

When not everyone who stands to benefit from something does their fair share of the work

Unfair share solution

Despite someone not doing their fair share of the work, the rest of the group picks up the slack, accepts that it is unfair, and continues to respect the public good

Everyone loses solution

The rest of the group decides that if ne group will not do their fair share then they won’t either

Violent enforcement

The rest of the parties create rules and enforce then with violence if necessary to ensure everyone respects doing their part