Environmental Sociology Midterm 2

Income

flow of money received over a period of time (e.g., wages, salaries, benefits)

Wealth

total accumulated assets owned (e.g.

Community segregation today

ongoing spatial separation of racial and class groups in neighborhoods shaped by housing policy

US racial wealth gap

persistent difference in average wealth between racial groups in the US largely driven by historical and ongoing housing and labor discrimination

Racial housing covenants

legal clauses in property deeds that prohibited selling or renting homes to non-white buyers

Federal Housing Administration backed loans/mortgages

government-insured home loans that largely excluded Black Americans and reinforced segregation through biased lending criteria

Racial distribution of GI Bill benefits

unequal access for Black veterans to education

Redlining

practice of denying mortgages or insurance in predominantly Black neighborhoods labeled “hazardous” by federal housing maps

Fair Housing Act of 1968

US law that prohibited discrimination in housing based on race

Zoning

local land-use regulations that determine what types of housing and development can be built in specific areas

Inclusionary zoning

policy requiring developers to include affordable housing units in new residential developments

Exclusionary zoning

zoning rules (like single-family-only districts or large lot requirements) that limit affordable housing and reinforce segregation

Environmental racism

institutional policies or practices that disproportionately expose communities of color to environmental hazards and pollution

White privilege

systemic advantages and unearned benefits experienced by white people in racially structured societies

Racialized emotional labor

emotional and behavioral management required of racialized individuals (often Black Americans) to navigate discrimination in public spaces

Racism and highway construction

pattern where infrastructure projects displaced Black communities and reinforced segregation through urban redevelopment

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956

US law funding interstate highway construction that often cut through and destroyed Black neighborhoods

Race is not biological

idea that race has no genetic basis and is socially constructed through history and power relations

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

early anthropologist who proposed racial classification systems that influenced scientific racism

Racial formation

racialization

Social construction of race

concept that race is not natural or biological but produced through society and institutions

Racial project

effort to organize and explain racial meanings while also distributing resources along racial lines

Slavery as racial project

system that defined Blackness as inferior to justify forced labor and economic exploitation

Post-slavery/Jim Crow as racial project

legal and social system enforcing segregation

Race

socially constructed category used to classify people based on perceived physical traits and linked to power relations

Racial identity

individual and collective sense of belonging to a racial group shaped by history

Gap in race theory (per Norgaard)

limitation in sociological theory where emotional

Nature and race as both symbolic and material

idea that nature and race are shaped by cultural meanings and also produce real material effects

Nature as source of wealth

view that natural resources are extracted for economic gain

Symbolic power of nature

ability of “nature” to carry cultural meanings like purity

Primitive accumulation

historical process of land theft and displacement of populations to create conditions for capitalism

Bodies

nature

Racialization of landscapes

process where spaces are assigned racial meanings and hierarchies (e.g.

Three main racial projects in the Klamath

Indigenous land stewardship erased as “natural abundance

Tourism

movement of people for leisure

Unsustainable tourism challenges

environmental degradation

Eco-chic tourism

luxury tourism that markets “authentic” nature and culture while often producing exclusivity and inequality

Nature-based tourism

travel centered on experiencing natural environments

Ecotourism

tourism intended to be environmentally responsible and support conservation and local communities

Responsible ecotourism

ideal form of ecotourism emphasizing low impact

Practices as social

idea that everyday actions are shaped by shared social structures rather than individual choice alone

Practices as embodied

understanding practices as physical

Three elements of practice

materials (objects), competences (skills), and meanings (cultural understandings)

Using practice theory

approach for analyzing how behaviors form

Means of production

resources and tools used to produce goods in a capitalist system

Use value

usefulness of a good or service for satisfying human needs

Exchange value

market value of a good expressed in price or what it can be traded for

Three principal characteristics of capitalism

private ownership of production, production for profit, and wage labor system

Mixed economies

systems combining free markets with government intervention

Moral argument for capitalism

claim that markets support individual freedom and voluntary exchange

Pragmatic argument for capitalism

claim that capitalism is efficient at producing wealth and innovation

Positive freedom

ability to actively achieve goals and self-realization

Negative freedom

freedom from interference or coercion by others or the state

Information failures

markets failing due to incomplete or asymmetric information

Concentration of economic power

dominance of markets by a few firms limiting competition

Negative externalities

costs imposed on third parties not reflected in market prices (e.g.

Short time horizons

market focus on immediate profit rather than long-term sustainability

Underproduction of public goods

markets failing to provide goods that are non-excludable and non-rival

Exit over voice

tendency in markets to respond by leaving rather than participating in democratic decision-making

Eco-modernization

belief that technological innovation can allow continued economic growth with reduced environmental harm

Treadmill of production

theory that capitalism requires constant growth

Growth machine/coalition

alliance of business and political actors promoting urban growth for profit

Relative decoupling

reducing environmental impact per unit of economic output

Absolute decoupling

total reduction of environmental impact even as economy grows

Rebound effect

efficiency gains leading to increased overall consumption

Jevon’s paradox

efficiency improvements increase total resource use instead of decreasing it

First contradiction of capitalism

capitalism undermines profitability by increasing costs due to environmental degradation

Second contradiction of capitalism

capitalism undermines its own conditions of production by damaging nature and social systems

Historical materialism

theory that material economic conditions shape society

Base and superstructure

economic base (production system) determines legal, political, and ideological structures

Humans as part of nature

idea that humans are embedded within ecological systems rather than separate from them

Labor

human activity that transforms nature into useful goods

Labor exploitation

extraction of surplus value from workers by capitalists

Hegemony

cultural dominance of ruling class ideas that appear “natural” or common sense

Metabolic rift

disruption in nutrient cycles between humans and ecosystems caused by capitalism

The robbery

extraction of natural resources and nutrients from land without return

The rift

separation between human production systems and ecological regeneration

Corporeal rift

harm to human bodies caused by industrial production systems

Primitive accumulation in England

historical enclosure of common lands forcing rural populations into wage labor

Karl Marx

theorist of capitalism

Friedrich Engels

co-author with Marx who analyzed industrial capitalism and labor conditions

Antonio Gramsci

theorist of cultural hegemony and ideological power

John Bellamy Foster

contemporary Marxist ecologist who developed metabolic rift theory

Justus von Liebig

chemist whose soil nutrient theory influenced Marx’s idea of ecological depletion