Sociology 470

 

 

Sociology of Natural Resources and the Environment
Spring 2008

 

Professor:  

Course:
Douglas Smith Section 001
104 Grise Hall

1:50 - 2:45 MWF
Department of Sociology -- Western Kentucky University

134 Grise Hall
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11057
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1057
Phone:  (270) 745-2152
Email:  Douglas.Smith@wku.edu
Webpage:  www.wku.edu/~Douglas.Smith/
Office Hours: MW 3:00 to 5:00pm or by appointment
 

Course Objective

Sociology 470 is a survey course specifically concerning the ways human beings relate to the world around them. My goal is to make you think sociologically about your own relation to the environment.  I'm not interested in making clones of me. Nor am I interested in preaching at you or telling you how bad you are. I am interested in you becoming intelligent examiners of and participants in the social world around you so that you can create opportunities to build a just and sustainable future for yourselves. Hopefully, you will discover how much the world shapes you and your life chances as well as how much the world is shaped by you.  To do this I will provide you with knowledge of what environmental sociology is and is not through an examination of its concepts, theories, and methods of investigation. It is hoped that the course will inspire you to seek out additional material on issues that are of interest to you.

We will begin by discussing (public) environmental worldviews and (scientific) environmental paradigms.  This will lead into a discussion of how these attitudes and beliefs have affected or have not affected the main sociological theories.  Next, we will examine how sociological theories focus on the three main areas of environmental concern: sustainability, environmental justice, and the rights of nature.  We will end with a consideration of social movements working to build a more ecological society, their tactics, and their prospects for success. 

Required Course Materials

Evaluation Criteria

This is NOT the standard exam driven course.  Grades will be assigned on a 350-point scale:

Grade Points Required
A 329 and above
B 287 - 328
C 245 - 286
D 210 - 244
F 209 or Less

Points are available for the activities listed below.  Each student is expected to submit a game plan describing which activities they will undertake to the professor by the end of the day (5:00p) February 1, 2008. 

NOTE:  You must attempt at least 100 points prior to the midterm if you expect to skip the midterm exam. You will keep to your filed game plan you set unless you file a new one with the professor.  You can file a new game plan during the week following the midterm examination.  Again you will only be allowed to try up to 350 points.  

ALSO NOTE:  Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room 445, Potter Hall.  The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745-5004 v/tty.  Per University policy, please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.

Possible Activities

Attendance (60 points)

Attendance will be taken and is worth 2 points per day for each day you sign in.

Exams (100 points each)

A mid-term exam and a final exam will be offered.  

Book Reviews (50 points each)

Students have the possibility to read and review environmental sociology books.  Some potential candidates for review include:

Bullard, Robert D.  1994.  Dumping in Dixie:  Race, Class, and Environmental Quality.  Boulder, CO:  Westview Press.

Crawford, Colin.  1996.  Uproar at Dancing Rabbit Creek:  Battling over Race, Class and the Environment.  Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Devall, Bill and George Sessions. 1985.  Deep Ecology:  Living as if Nature Mattered.  Layton, UT:  Gibbs-Smith Press.

French, Hillary.  2000.  Vanishing Borders:  Protecting the Planet in the Age of Globalization.  Available for download at:  http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/books/15/

Homer-Dixon, Thomas F.  1999.  Environment, Scarcity, and Violence.  Princeton:  Princeton University Press.

Jacoby, Karl.  2003.  Crimes Against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation.  University of California Press.

Kahn, Peter H.  1999.  The Human Relationship with Nature:  Development and Culture.  London:  MIT Press.

McKibben, Bill.  1998.  Maybe One:  A Case for Smaller Families.  New York:  Plume.

Merchant, Carolyn.  1992.  Radical Ecology:  The Search for a Livable World.  New York:  Routledge.

Princen, Thomas, Michael F. Maniates, and Ken Conca.  2002.  Confronting Consumption.  MIT Press.

Scarce, Rik.  2000.  Fishy Business:  Salmon, Biology, and the Social Construction of Nature.  Philadelphia:  Temple University Press.

Schlosser, Eric.  2002.  Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.  HarperCollins.  

Schurman, Rachel A.  and Dennis Doyle Takahashi Kelso. 2003. Engineering Trouble: Biotechnology and its Discontents.  Berkeley: University of California Press.

Shiva, Vandana.  2002.  Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit.  South End Press.

Shiva, Vandana.  Stolen Harvest:  The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply.  1999.  South End Press.

Szasz, Andrew.  1994.  EcoPopulism:  Toxic Waste and the Movement for Environmental Justice.  Minneapolis:  University of Minneapolis Press.

The books are available either available in the library or from your professor.  Moreover you can order them from any bookstore.  Students may substitute other books at the discretion of the professor.

These reviews are designed to be both a critical assessment of the book's content as well as an opportunity for you to react to the material.  These are NOT book reports where a simple reporting/regurgitation of the book generally suffices.  

Book Review Guidelines

Sample Book Review

Term Paper (100 points)

This is a major writing assignment.  The choice of topics is left to the student.  Explore an area of interest to you.  I strongly urge you to begin thinking about this paper and begin work on it as soon as possible.  This paper will be due in class on December 6, 2002.

Form: Maximum length:  15-20 typed, double-spaced pages. 
Content: Each student is expected to conduct library research on a topic of her/his choice related to the human-environment interface or on a particular natural resource or environmental issue or problem.  This paper must reflect a critical analysis and review of the extant literature.
Sources: Scientific journals, monographs, and/or books.

Topic proposals must be submitted within the first four weeks of the course.  It should include an outline of the proposed research paper.  No proposals will be accepted after Friday, September 13, 2002.

Movie Reviews (25 points; limit 4)

The Greentoppers (a campus environmental group) is planning an environmental film series over the course of this semester.  The current plan is to show films at 7:00pm in MMTH auditorium on the following Wednesday nights:  Feb. 20, Feb. 27, Mar. 19, Mar. 26, April 16, April 23, and April 30.

Field Trips (25 points)

I will be looking for potential field experiences that we might take which would bring the society-environment relationship into closer focus.  Students would attend and sociologically analyze the field trip.  At the moment, there are no field trips scheduled; however, if the students are interested the professor would attempt to plan and lead trips.  Given that we (the class) would have to align our actions with those individuals outside of the university, the professor and the students would need to agree on field trips very early in the semester.  Students should not expect to schedule new field trips after February.

Special Events (15 points; limit 2)

From time-to-time, the professor and the students may become aware of campus/community activities that may demonstrate environmental sociology concepts and principles.  If you attend these events, you may write them up.  However, to receive the points, one will need to correctly use concepts from our texts and/or classroom experiences.  Again, while I certainly encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity to learn, you can only write up two special events for credit.

Special Self-Directed Projects (25 points; limit 2)

Any student can design a special written project for him/herself for points.  Each such report will be about five pages long and require at least 4 scholarly articles/books beyond the textbooks.  Do these as early as possible since time will be a problem the last weeks of class. Any aspect of the human-environment relationship is fair game.  Approval required; talk to the professor before starting.

Personal Creativity (15 points, limit 1)

You may submit a personal assignment for up to 15 points.  Creativity is of the essence for this work.  Cartoons, brochures, posters, editorial pieces in the paper, songs, poetry, sculpture, performance art and/or even three dimensional models of the sociological/ecological concepts from this course would qualify.

 

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

This is a general schedule of quiz dates, due dates for reaction papers, and readings to be done in preparation for class.  

Introduction to the Course
Quick History of Environmental Sociology

Catton, Jr., William R. and Riley Dunlap.  1978. "Environmental Sociology:  A New Paradigm"  The American Sociologist 13:41-9.

Buttel, Frederick H. 1978. "Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm?" The American Sociologist 13:252-6.

Not So Fast:  The Quick History of Natural Resources Sociology

Buttel, Frederick H.  2002.  "Environmental Sociology and the Sociology of Natural Resources:  Institutional Histories and Intellectual Legacies."  Society and Natural Resources 15(3): 205-12.

Field, Donald R., A. E. Luloff, and Richard S. Krannich.  2002.  "Revisiting the Origins of and Distinctions Between Natural Resource Sociology and Environmental Sociology."  Society and Natural Resources 15(3):213-28.

 
The Sociological Imagination and Deep Ecology

Mills, C. Wright.  "Chapter 1.  The Promise" in The Sociological Imagination

Leopold, Thinking Like a Mountain

Drengson, The Deep Ecology Movement

Devall, Bill.  1993.  "Chapter 4.  We're All Natives Here"  Pp. 103-119 in Living Richly in an Age of Limits:  Using Deep Ecology for an Abundant Life.  Layton, UT:  Gibbs Smith.
Structural Functionalism and Human Ecology

Namboodiri, Krishnan. 1994. "The Human Ecological Approach to the Study of Population Dynamics" Population Index 60(4):517-39.

Haines, Valerie. 1985. "From Organicist to Relational Human Ecology." Social Theory 3(1):65-74.
Critical Theory and Environmentalism

Foster, John Bellamy. 1995. "Marx and the environment." Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 47(3), 108. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from Sociological Collection database.

Gimenez, Martha E. 2001. "Does Ecology Need Marx?" Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 52(8):60-2.

GRAD READING: Foster, John Bellamy. 1999. "Marx's Theory of Metabolic Rift: Classical Foundations for Environmental Sociology." The American Journal of Sociology 105(2):366-405. 
Constructing Reality:  The Social Construction of Nature and Environmental Problems

Murphy, Raymond. 2002. "The internalization of autonomous nature into society." Sociological Review 50(3):313-333.

Hannigan, John A.  1995.  "Social Construction of Environmental Problems."  Pp. 32-54 in Environmental Sociology:  A Social Constructionist Perspective.  New York:  Routledge.

GRAD READING: Demeritt, David. 2002.  "What is the 'social construction of nature'? A typology and sympathetic critique." Progress in Human Geography 26(6):767-790.
Ecological Self  and Identity

Devall, Bill.  1988.  "Chapter 2.  The Ecological Self."  Pp. 38-72. in Simple in Means, Rich in Ends:  Practicing Deep Ecology.  Salt Lake City:  Gibbs-Smith Books.

Thomashow, Mitchell.  1995.  Chapter 1.  The Voices of Ecological Identity."  Pp. 1 - 24 in Ecological Identity:  Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  The MIT Press.
Constructing the Self:  Socialization and Animals

Bixler, Robert D., Myron F. Floyd, and William E. Hammitt.  2002.  "Environmental Socialization:  Quantitative Tests of the Childhood Play Hypothesis."  Environment and Behavior 34(6): 795-818.

Grier, Katherine C.  1999.  "Childhood Socialization and Companion Animals:  United States 1820-1870." Society and Animals 7(2):95-120.

GRAD READING: Raupp, Carol D.  1999.  "Treasuring, Trashing, or Terrorizing:  Adult Outcomes of Childhood Socialization about Companion Animals."  Society and Animals 7(2):141-159.
Constructing Identity:  Image, Lifestyle, and The Treadmill of Consumption I

Bell, Michael Mayerfield.  1998.  "Chapter 2.  Consumption and Materialism"  Pp. 35-64 in An Invitation to Environmental Sociology.  Thousand Oaks:  Pine Forge Press.

GRAD READING: Shove, Elizabeth and Alan Warde.  2002.  "Inconspicuous Consumption:  The Sociology of Consumption, Lifestyles, and the Environment."  Pp. 230-251 in R.E. Dunlap, F.H. Buttel, Peter Dickens, and August Gijswijt (eds.) Sociological Theory and the Environment:  Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights.  Lanham, Maryland:  Rowman and Littlefield.

Constructing Identity:  Image, Lifestyle, and The Treadmill of Consumption II

Cahill, Michael.  2001.  "The Implications of Consumerism for the Transition to a Sustainable Society."  Social Policy and Administration 35(5): 627-639.

Berry, Wendell.  2002.  "The Pleasures of Eating."  Pp. 321-327. in The Art of the Commonplace.  Washington, DC:  Counterpoint.

GRAD READING: Klingle, Matthew.  2003.  "Spaces of Consumption in Environmental History."  History and Theory, Theme Issue 42: 94-110.
Constructing Difference:  Individual Deviance 

Forsyth, Craig J. and Thomas A. Marckese.  1993.  "Thrills and Skills: A Sociological Analysis of Poaching."  Deviant Behavior 14:157-172.

Fox, Nicols.  2003.  "The Clothesline Question:  How Hanging Out the Laundry Sparked a Political Firestorm."  Utne Reader Nov-Dec(120): 47-49.

Stretesky, Paul B. and Michael J. Lynch. 2004. "The Relationship between Lead and Crime." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 45(2):214-29.

GRAD READING (                                      ): Green, Gary S.  2002.  "The Other Criminalities of Animal Freeze Killers:  Support for a Generality of Deviance." Society and Animals 10(1):5-30.
Constructing Difference:  Group Deviance

Simon, David R.  2002.  "Chapter 4.  Corporate Deviance:  Human Jeopardy."  Pp. 121-157 in Elite Deviance, 7th ed.  Boston:  Allyn and Bacon.
Building Relationships:  Relationships in and with the Environment

Tuan, Yi-Fi.  1974.  "Chapter 8. Topophilia and Environment."  Pp. 92-112 in Topophilia:  A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values.  New York: Columbia University Press.

Hidalgo, M. Carmen and Bernardo Hernandez.  2002.  "Attachment to the Physical Dimension of Places."  Psychological Reports 91(3,Pt2):1177-82.

Fried, Marc.  2000.  " Continuities and Discontinuities of Place." Journal of Environmental Psychology 20(3): 193-205.

Vaske, Jerry J. and Katherine C. Kobrin.  2001.  "Place Attachment and Environmentally Responsible Behavior." Journal of Environmental Education 32(4):16-21. 
Social Dilemma 1:  The Tragedy of the Commons

Hardin, Garrett.  1968.  "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science 162:1243-8.

Gardner, Gerald and Paul C. Stern.  2002.  "Environmental Problems as a Tragedy of the Commons." Pp. 22-32 in Environmental Problems and Human Behavior.  Boston:  Pearson Custom Publishing.

Thomashow, Mitchell.  1995.  Pp. 67 - 83 in Ecological Identity:  Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  The MIT Press.
Social Dilemma 2:  The Free Rider Problem

Stroup, Richard L. 2000.  "Free Riders and Collective Action Revisited." Independent Review 4(4):485-500.

Walsh, Edward J., and Rex H. Warland.  1983.  "Social movement involvement in the wake of a nuclear accident: Activists and free riders in the TMI area." American Sociological Review 48(6): 764-780.
Population

Harper, Charles.  "Population, Environment, and Food."  Pp. 179-224 in Environment and Society:  Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson.

"Does population matter?" 2002.  Economist 365:74.

GRAD READINGS:  United Nations Population Fund.  2003.  Women and Sustainability.  New York:  UNFPA. 

United Nations Population Fund.  2003.  "Gender Inequality and Reproductive Health."  Pp. 15-21 in State of the World Population 2003. New York:  UNFPA.
Community Matters

Thomashow, Mitchell.  1995.  Pp. 84 -102 in Ecological Identity:  Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist.  Cambridge, Massachusetts:  The MIT Press.

Gardner, Gerald and Paul C. Stern.  2002.  "Community Management of the Commons." Pp. 125-151 in Environmental Problems and Human Behavior.  Boston:  Pearson Custom Publishing.

GRAD READING:  Wilkinson, Kenneth P. 1993.  "The Community and Rural Well-Being."  Pp. 61-79 in The Community in Rural America.  Middleton, WI:  The Social Ecology Press.
The Treadmill of Production

Bell, Michael Mayerfield. 1998. "Money and Machines." Pp. 65-101 in An Invitation to Environmental Sociology.  Thousand Oaks:  Pine Forge Press. 
Economic Incentives for Pro-Environmental Behavior.

Gardner, Gerald and Paul C. Stern.  2002.  "Changing the Incentives." Pp. 95-124 in Environmental Problems and Human Behavior.  Boston:  Pearson Custom Publishing.
Globalization 

Harper, Charles.  2004.  "Globalization:  Trade, Environment, and the Third Revolution."  Pp. 404-446 in Environment and Society:  Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson.

Luoma, Jon R.  2002.  "Water for Profit."  Mother Jones  27(6):35-37, 88.

Jeter, Jon.  2002.  "South Africa's Driest Season." Mother Jones 27(6):39-45.
Education and the Environment

Gardner, Gerald and Paul C. Stern.  2002.  "Educational Interventions:  Changing Attitudes and Providing Information." Pp. 71-94 in Environmental Problems and Human Behavior.  Boston:  Pearson Custom Publishing.
Religion and the Environment

Gardner, Gerald and Paul C. Stern.  2002.  "Religious and Moral Approaches:  Changing Values, Beliefs, and Worldviews." Pp. 33-70 in Environmental Problems and Human Behavior.  Boston:  Pearson Custom Publishing.

GRAD READINGS: Gardner, Gary.  2003.  "Engaging Religion in the Quest for a Sustainable World."  Pp. 152-175 in State of the World 2003.  New York:  W.W. Norton.
Science, Uncertainty, and Risk

Harper, Charles.  2004.  "Global Climate Change, Scientific Uncertainty, and Risk."  Pp. 131-178 in Environment and Society:  Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson.
Environmental Politics and Law

Harper, Charles.  2004.  "Transforming Structures:  Markets, Politics, and Policy."  Pp. 318-357 in Environment and Society:  Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson.

Dowie, Mark.  2003.  "In Law We Trust:  Can Environmental Legislation Still Protect the Commons."  Orion Magazine 22(3)

Orr, David W. 2004.  "Law of the Land:  Can the Most Powerful Nation on Earth Throw Off the Shackles of an Unforeseen Tyranny?"  Orion Magazine  23(1):19-25.

Cullinan, Cormac. 2008. "If Nature Had Rights: What Would People Need to Give Up?" Orion Magazine 27
Health Care and the Environment

von Schirnding, Yasmin.  "Issues in Health, Environment, and Sustainable Development:  An Overview."  Pp. 9-18 in Health in Sustainable Development Planning:  the role of indicators.  Geneva:  World Health Organization.

von Schirnding, Yasmin.  "Framework for Linkages Between Health, Environment, and Development."  Pp. 105-120 in Health in Sustainable Development Planning:  the role of indicators.  Geneva:  World Health Organization.

World Health Organization.  2002.  "Climate and Health."  WHO Fact Sheet 266.
Military and the Environment

Renner, Michael.  2002.  The Anatomy of Resource Wars.  Worldwatch Paper 162.  Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
Power

Bruins, Jan.  1999.  "Social power and influence tactics: A theoretical introduction." Journal of Social Issues 55(1):7-14.

Wilson, Matthew A.  1997.  "The Wolf in Yellowstone: Science, Symbol, or Politics?  Deconstructing the Conflict Between Environmentalism and Wise Use."  Society and Natural Resources 10(5):453-468. 

Scott, John.  2002.  "Social Class and Stratification in Late Modernity."  Acta Sociologica 44:23-35.
Poverty, Wealth and Environment

Flavin, Christopher.  2001.  "Rich Planet, Poor Planet."  Pp. 3-20 in State of the World 2001.  New York:  W.W. Norton.

Renner, Michael and Molly O. Sheehan.  2003.  "Overview: Poverty and Inequality Block Progress."  Pp. 17-24 in Vital Signs 2003.  New York:  W.W. Norton.

Sarin, Radhika.  2003.  "Rich-Poor Divide Growing" Pp. 88-89 in Vital Signs 2003.  New York:  W.W. Norton.
Environmental Justice

Daniels, Glynis and Samantha Friedman. 1999. "Spatial Inequality and the Distribution of Industrial Toxic Releases:  Evidence from the 1990 TRI."  Social Science Quarterly 80(2):244-262.

Taquino, Michael.  Domenico Parisi, and Duane A. Gill.  "Unit of Analysis and the Environmental Justice Hypothesis:  The Case of Industrial Hog Farms."  Social Science Quarterly 83(1):298-316.
Ecofeminism and Ecogender

Smith, D. Clayton.  2001.  "Environmentalism, Feminism, and Gender." Sociological Inquiry 71(3):314-334.

Banerjee, Damayanti and Michael Mayerfield Bell. 2007. "Ecogender: Locating Gender in Environmental Social Science." Society & Natural Resources 20(1): 3-19
Futures

Bright, Chris.  2003.  "A History of Our Future."  Pp. 3-13 in State of the World 2003.  New York: W.W. Norton.

Harper, Charles.  2004.  "Alternative Futures:  Sustainability, Inequality, and Social Change."  Pp. 274-317 in Environment and Society:  Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson.

Gallopin, Gilberto C. and Paul Raskin.  "Windows on the Future:  Global Scenarios and Sustainability."  Environment 40(3)

Berry, Wendell.  2002.  "Think Little."  Pp. 81-90 in the Art of the Commonplace.  Washington, DC:  Counterpoint.

Make-up Exams:

I view make-up exams as inherently unfair to the other students in the class, to me, and to you as well.  Additionally, given the nature of the evaluation system stated above, I do not view them as necessary.  Still, I will give a make-up exam if truly necessary.  However, the petitioner must provide me with a written verification of illness, death, or other extenuating circumstances that required them to miss the exam.  If a make-up exam is approved, it will be scheduled during finals week.

A Word to the Wise:

Note taking is very important, especially for students who are taking exams.  Exam questions come from the assigned readings as well as definitions, statistics, and examples discussed in class.  Write down examples used in class, and be sure that you understand what concept or idea they are illustrating.  One helpful strategy is to recopy your class notes within 24 hours of taking them.