Environmental Sociology - American Sociological Association

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Sociology 30-2
Phil Brown
Brown University
This course examines the intersection between the environment and the social structures and institutions
of our society. It is centered around environmental sociology, a subfield that examines how
environmental issues are defined and constructed in various arenas: personal ideology, group beliefs,
social and political institutions, and scientific knowledge and practice. We are concerned with social
problems definitions of issues such as the greenhouse effect and the global environmental crisis; risk
perception and risk communication; the determination of what environmental elements are valuable;
origins and effects of government regulation; lay-professional differences in the nature and role of
scientific knowledge; the rise of environmental consciousness and environmental movements; physical
and mental health effects of environmental contamination. Our readings are very broad – we will be
studying the work of sociologists, physicians, biologists, journalists, epidemiologists, lawyers, playwrites,
and novelists.
Course goals and content
We will begin with fundamental questions, such as:
· How do we define the environment? Is it a personal experience of one’s surroundings, a collective
context, a changeable set of relationships?
· What social and ethical values are involved in our conceptions of the environment?
· Are there basic rights to a healthy environment? How do such rights vary across populations within a
country and between countries?
· Who is responsible for maintaining, improving, remediating, and protecting the environment?
We will then progress to matters of sociology, history, and policy, asking such questions as:
· How has the environment been treated as an issue in American history?
· How committed is our society to solving environmental problems?
· How has government policy on the environment developed?
· What role has environmental activism played in our society?
· How do class, race, and gender affect attitudes and actions concerning the environment?
· How do environmental problems get defined as social problems (e.g., the greenhouse effect and the
global environmental crisis)?
· How do lay, professional, and governmental perception of hazards differ, and how are these
differences mediated?
· What is the relationship of the environment to demographic phenomena, scientific/technological
development, and social change?
· How do we choose which environmental issues to focus on?
Course readings
Books available at the bookstore:
Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Ross Gelbspan, The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis, the Cover-Up, the Prescription
Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People (in 4 Major Plays)
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