Chapter 14 - Going Green - Environmental Soci

Demography

The study of human populations.

Ecological Footprint

A measure of the environmental impact of a person, community, or activity. It represents the amount of natural resources (such as land, water, and energy) required to support a particular lifestyle or behavior, and the ability of the environment to absorb the waste generated, especially carbon emissions.

Ecological Overshoot

Growth beyond the earth’s carrying capacity. Means the rather gradual degradation of ecological assets (fishing grounds, grazing lands, forests).

• When we consume more resources than the Earth can replenish during that same period, leading to the depletion of resources and environmental degradation.

Population Checks

Include factors that help limit population growth, such as events that lead to deaths, including war or disease, and factors that prevent births, such as birth control and the postponement of childbearing.

Human Carrying Capacity

The number of people that can be supported in a given area indefinitely.

Total Fertility Rate

The number of live births a female can be expected to have in her lifetime.

Three Main Factors that Account for a Country’s Population Growth

1. Fertility

2. Mortality (death)

3. Migration

Infant Mortality Rate

Refers to the number of infant deaths (typically under the age of 1 year) per 1,000 live births in a given population during a specific time period, usually within a year.

• Countries with high infant mortality rates have low economic and social development.

Demographic Transition Theory

Explains changes in populations as countries progress from premodern societies with high birth and death rates, to modern societies characterized by low birth and death rates.

Carbon Footprint

Method for identifying and keeping track of human behaviours that negatively impact the environment through greenhouse gas production.

Stage 1 of the Demographic Transition

Preindustrial societies

Agricultural-based economies with high fertility rates to compensate for high infant mortality rates.

• High birth rates: Due to lack of family planning (e.g., no contraception), need for agricultural labor, low life expectancy, and elderly care.

• High mortality: Caused by poor healthcare, lack of sanitation, insufficient education, and factors like famine, drought, and disease.

• Agriculture based villages.

• Countries include Brazil and Peru, Polynesian societies.

Stage 2 of the Demographic Transition

Early Industrialization

Improvements in crop cultivation, education, and healthcare.

• Population growth: Driven by machinery, innovations like fertilizers and pesticides, and resource extraction (e.g., fossil fuels).

• Marked by: High birth rates and reduced death rates.

• More machinery: Use of fertilizers, pesticides, extraction resources, fossil fuels.

• Countries include Africa, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Mexico, Brazil, India, Turkey.

Stage 3 of the Demographic Transition

Advanced (mature) industrialization

Declining birth rate and already reduced death rate.

• Slow population growth: Population increases slightly, much slower than Stage 2.

• Decline in birth rate: Fewer children due to higher child survival rates and no longer being economic assets (e.g., farmhands).

• Industrial shift: Focus on exporting manufactured products, not just extracting raw resources.

• Countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Stage 4 of the Demographic Transition

Postindustrial Economy

Declining birth rates and stable low death rates.

• Reasons for low death rates: Higher socioeconomic status, wealth, health, education, and gender equality.

• Population growth: Zero population growth or even declining population.

• Service-based economy: Majority of the workforce is in sectors like finance, healthcare, and sales, not industry.

• Countries include Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden.

Urbanization

Consequence of population growth and economic development.

The process by which an increasing percentage of a population moves from rural areas to urban (city) areas, resulting in the growth and expansion of cities.

Urban Sprawl

Rapid growth of urban centres leads to the absorption of land and coastal ecosystems, wherein natural lands are converted to human uses (residential, commercial, transportation).

Consumption

The general use of natural resources as people go about their daily lives.

Overconsumption

Refers to the use of resources at a rate that exceeds sustainability (i.e., the use of natural resources at a rate on par with natural replenishment).

Disposable Society

Advanced industrial societies are distinguished by an overabundance of material culture, especially in the form of technologies (televisions, computers, smartphones, etc.) that are used for only a short time and then disposed of.

Greenwashing

Misleading of consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.

Inclusive of the “Seven Sins of Greenwashing.”

Seven Sins of Greenwashing

1. Hidden Tradeoff: Claiming a product is “green” based on limited attributes, ignoring other impacts.

2. No Proof: Making claims without evidence or certification.

3. Vagueness: Using unclear terms that can mislead (e.g., "all-natural").

4. Irrelevance: True but unimportant claims (e.g., "CFC-free" when banned).

5. Lesser of Two Evils: Focusing on minor benefits while ignoring bigger environmental issues.

6. Fibbing: Making false environmental claims.

7. False Labels: Giving the impression of third-party endorsement when none exists.

The First Wave of Environmentalism

Occurred from the (1960s-1970s) focused on

Pollution

Resource depletion

Disasters.

• Pesticides: Early biodegradable, later toxic and non-biodegradable.

• DDT: Once seen as a "miracle," later recognized as harmful and a "persistent organic pollutant."

• Persistent pollutants (POPs): Chemicals that last in the environment, accumulate in organisms, and are toxic.

The Second Wave of Environmentalism

• 1980s Environmental Threats: Industrial growth led to ozone depletion, acid rain, and global warming.

• Ozone Depletion: Discovery of the "ozone hole" led to the 1987 Montreal Protocol to phase out CFCs.

• Acid Rain: Caused by fossil fuels, damaging ecosystems and air quality.

• Global Warming: Greenhouse gases trap heat, causing temperature rise, weather changes, and sea level increase.

Environmental Refugee

Used to describe the forced migration that results from life-endangering natural and human-made environmental change.

Acid Rain

Dilute sulphuric and nitric acids that, many believe, are created when fossil fuels like coal and oil are burned in power stations, smelters, and motor vehicles.

Anthropocentrism

A worldview that considers humans the most important form of life. Correlates to the human exceptionalism paradigm (HEP).

Human Exemptionalism Paradigm (HEP)

Refers to the tendency to consider humans as unique from other organisms in the natural world because of their capacity to reason and develop culture.

• Assumes that humans have the ability to overcome problems through technological innovation.

• Can lead to humans thinking we are exempt from environmental constraints.

• Created by Catton and Dunlap.

• Previously lacking because humans were seen as separate from the environment.

New Ecological Paradigm (NEP)

Highlights the superior capacity of humans to reason and adapt to social/cultural conditions while also recognizing the interdependence between humans and the natural environment.

• Does not assume that technology can solve all problems due to nature feedback loops.

• Catton and Dunlap.

• Consider the relationship between humans and the natural environment.

Functionalist Perspective

Includes Ecological Modernization which is the assumption that humans, industry, and the environment can coexist provided that everyone (politicians, industry management, environmentalists) works together to protect the environment for the collective good of society.

• Advocate for alternative and more efficient fuel sources, such as solar and wind energy in developed countries and bioenergy.

Conflict Perspective &

Treadmill of Production

Includes the Treadmill of Production (Schnaiberg) which is the incessant need to increase production and profit.

Suggests that modern economies are locked in a cycle of continually increasing production, consumption, and environmental degradation, making it difficult to achieve sustainability or reduce environmental harm.

Puts the economy at the heart of decision making, over the actual environment itself.

4 Factors Posing Environmental Challenges

1. Human overpopulation

2. Industrialization

3. Urbanization

4. Overconsumption of
   resources

Two Environmental Concerns (Schnaiberg’s model)

Treadmill of Production

Conflict Perspective

Become more prevalent in the 20th century.

1. High extraction of natural resources: Factories required capital for machinery, machinery replaced workers, increased use of raw materials led to resource depletion.

2. High accumulation of waste (& Chemicals): Modern factories utilize “energy/chemical intensive technologies to transform raw materials into finished products” en masse, which has contributed to the creation of more and more pollution and waste.

Five Shared Pillars of Modern Industry (Gould)

Treadmill of Production

Conflict Perspective

1. Economic expansion

2. Increased consumption

3. Speeding up the treadmill;

4. Economic expansion via large firms

5. Alliances among capital, labour, and governments

Help us better understand the changing relations among capitalists, workers, and the state.

Ecofeminism (& Four Pillars)

A social movement that links women with nature (oppression against women with the domination of nature).

From this perspective, patriarchal society rests on four pillars of injustice:

1. Racism

2. Sexism

3. Class exploitation

4. Environmental destruction

Created by Davies and Harris.

Environmental Justice

A movement aimed at environmental security and the equitable treatment of all people in relation to environmental impacts.

In Canada this involves and claims, health risks, and environmental politics.

3 Strategies for Better Environmental Choices

1. Living green (sustainable food choices, electric cars, conscience consumption)

2. Sustainable development

3. A global call to action (United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals).

4 Suggestions to Be Less Consumptive

1. Change your eating habits.

2. Change your energy habits.

3. Change your waste habits.

4. Change your purchasing habits.

Sustainable Development

Meets the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Modern Conflict Theorist

Given the speed at which irreversible climate change is occurring, modern conflict theorists suggest the only solution is that an ecological revolution that will replace capitalism with socialism.

Post Modern Approach

A questioning of human-centred views that prioritize human interests over nature conservation including how science is used to study the environment.