Environmental Sociology:

Environmental Sociology:
The Ecology of Late Modernity Thomas J. Burns and Beth Schaefer Caniglia Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Introduction: Late Modernity and the Natural Environment
1 Introduction: Late Modernity and the Natural Environment Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction Environmental Problems Are Not New
Our Problems Now Are as Pressing as Ever We Will Look at Ways to Address Them Natural Ecosystems and Human Society The Trajectory of Large-Scale Social Change and Why It Matters Environmental Problems Particular to Late Modernity and “The Anthropocene Age” Economics as the Default Lens of Late Modernity The Unique Place of Environmental Sociology Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

1 Some Environmental Issues of the Past: Irish Potato Famine – 1840’s
Dust Bowl – 1920’s and 1930’s USDA/Public Domain Rothstein, Arthur, , photographer Rothstein, Arthur, , photographer In nineteenth century Ireland, absentee landlords, eager to maximize profits from cash crops, implemented mono- cropping and other techniques which eventually resulted in massive famine and human suffering. In the early twentieth century, landowners in Oklahoma and elsewhere in the American “Heartland” removed natural land breaks to facilitate extensive plowing, thereby exacerbating dust storms and other natural or weather-induced disasters. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

More Recent Environmental Events
1 Hurricane Katrina / Cancer Alley in 2005 caused devastation throughout the Gulf Coast states in the United States that will be felt for many generations. Hurricane Sandy in 2012 affected the East Coast causing the debate to be raised again about Climate Change and its effect it has on natural disasters. Flooding in 2015 created record-breaking flooding occurring in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and other surrounding states. The drought of 2012 – 2015 which at its peak in July of 2012 was estimated to cover over 80% of North America. AMR Ambulances during Hurricane Sandy. New York City Photo by Susie Derkins Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… More Recent Environmental Events
1 Click the picture to go to the video from Democracy Now on Hurricane Sandy’s effects that provide us with information to consider in the ongoing debate on climate change's effects on weather and nature. This video is 16:21 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is an Ecosystem? 1 A community of interdependent life forms, and of the non-living things that are important for those life forms to continue. An ecosystem can be healthy or sick. Smaller ecosystems can nest in larger, more complex, ecosystems. Ecologists warn of overshoot when the natural biodiversity is pushed beyond its limit. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Garrett Hardin on The Commons
1 Click the picture to go to the video interview with Garrett Hardin on The Commons. This video is 8:19 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Ecological Imbalance?
1 When a natural or human-caused disturbance disrupts the natural balance of an ecosystem. Examples of natural imbalances are volcanic eruptions, floods, or natural fires. Examples of humanly caused imbalances are water and air pollution, deforestation, mass farming, landfills, improper waste disposal, and global climate change. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

CAFOs (Concentrated Agricultural Feeding Operations)
1 CAFOs are design to make money for the corporate owners in far greater amounts than any small farm could ever hope to make in the farmer’s lifetime. They create intolerable conditions for the animals and introduce externalities that overwhelm them, the environment and the people who live around them. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Dan Imhoff: CAFOs
1 Click the picture to go to the video interview with Dan Imhoff on CAFOs . This video is 10:22 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Technological Lifestyle
Then Vs. Now 1 Vs. Agrarian Lifestyle Technological Lifestyle Most of the population lived in more rural settings Most people worked the land and water sources for their livelihood There was a greater interdependence on community and family Large growth in population and migrating to industrial areas to dwell A larger dependency on industry and technology for jobs and for personal needs Higher Levels of consumption and environmental externalities Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Scientific Management?
1 A term coined by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911 with his published work, Principles of Scientific Management, and became a popular term with the invention of the first mechanical assembly lines around 1913. A theory that looks at patterns and methods of workflow in business. Its main purpose is to provide information on how to make more efficient and productive business models. Based on hyper-specialization and clear lines of management control. Some of the negatives….Alienation (Marx), “Iron Cage of Rationality” (Weber) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Modernity? 1 Modernity is a whole system of interrelated processes that include: An increase in overall population and in population density. A rise in industrialization and a more complex form of division of labor. Decline in traditional hierarchies such as religion and feudalism. An increased reliance on science and technology. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Features of Late Modernity
1 An unprecedented technological development. Inability of norms to keep apace (particular problems of cultural lag). Population is larger than it has ever been before and continues to grow at an increased rate. Most of this increase being in urban areas. An ever increasing unequal balance of ecological exchange. An ever increasing overall culture of consumption. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Environmental Problems of Late Modernity (two of the countless examples…)
1 Deforestation in Mexico – Jami Dwyer Beach erosion due to rising sea levels. – USFWS/Steve Hillenbrand Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 1 Environmental problems are not new modernity. Their problems can be seen found throughout history and affecting many generations. However, environmental problems of the Late-Industrial Age (sometimes referred to as the Anthropocene Age) and particularly since World War II are unprecedented in their scale and scope. Economic decision-making often suggests that bigger is necessarily better. For ecological systems, such thinking needs to be tempered with prudence, caution, and keen attention to how human actions impact the ecosystems upon which we all ultimately depend. Our technological innovation, driven in no small measure by a culture of consumption, has brought us to the point where we have created problems that technology has not, or the culture will not, address. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Environmental Sociology?
1 A comprehensive social scientific perspective examines the human interface with the natural environment, considers important processes of modernity, and articulates their impact on social institutions. Focuses on environmental problems associated with late modernity. Works on defining problems from that impact and what might be done to correct the problems. Environmental sociology acknowledges the importance of each of the parts of systems. At its best, the sociological perspective goes beyond that and takes seriously the elusive, but crucial, balance among the various parts of the complex interweaving of human and ecological systems. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Sociological View and the Unique Vision of Environmental Sociology
2 The Sociological View and the Unique Vision of Environmental Sociology Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chapter 2: The Sociological View and the Unique Vision of Environmental Sociology
In this chapter we will discuss: Major Influences in the Rise of Sociology The Critical Need to Think Ecologically and the Limits of the Pioneers of Sociology Thought, Discourse and the Natural World Contemporary Sociological Theories about the Environment Work in the Critical Tradition Work in the Conflict Tradition Work Crossing Traditional Boundaries Human Ecology Some Other Notable Environmental Voices Using Sociology to Understand Environmental Problems Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Major Influences in the Rise of Sociology
2 2 Emile Durkheim Karl Marx Max Weber Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Karl Marx 2 Metabolic Rift – the "irreparable rift in the interdependent process of social metabolism,” underscoring the inherent contradictions of capitalism, in which the natural resources typically are taken from one place. Processes of social inequality are inherent in virtually every interaction, not only with others but with the natural environment. Alienation – There is a separation amount people and between human kind and natural environment. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Max Weber 2 Weber saw that with modernity came rises in formal rationality, levels of bureaucracies, red tape, rules, and regulations. Ideal Types – idea-constructs not built from perfect concepts or moral values but formulations that help put the seeming chaos of social reality in order. Verstehen – deep cultural empathy. Understanding the context of social action and the intent of the participants and putting understanding ahead of judgement. Some ideas become "legitimate" as they are accepted and internalized by a critical mass of people. While a person may or may not like it, organizing behavior around something is what lends it legitimacy. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Emile Durkheim 2 Durkheim articulated how modes of thought are profoundly shaped by the environments in which they arise. Totemism - "If we have taken primitive religion as the subject of our research," he insisted, "it is because it has seemed to us better adapted than any other to lead to an understanding of the religious nature of man, that is to say, to show us an essential and permanent aspect of humanity.“ - - The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912 [13]) Social Facts – “manners of acting, thinking, and feeling external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him.” -- The Division of Labor in Society (1859 [52]) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

2 Georg Simmel Georg Simmel asked, “What is society”?
Studied Social Network Analysis and in particular how networks, and their size have an impact on how individuals respond and make decisions in these loosely constructed networks. This will become important in the study and development of the social environmental movements. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

2 William Ogburn William Ogburn Cultural Lag
Human culture typically adapts to reflect material conditions such as natural geography, technology, and the constraints people encounter in making their livings. However, there tends to be a time lag between those material conditions and the cultural adaptations to them. That time lag may be measured in weeks, years, or even centuries. This accounts for potential mismatches between cultural attitudes towards the environment and actual environmental resources, particularly when there is rapid social change. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Thought, Discourse and the Natural World
2 Symbolic Interaction is the use and exchange of significant symbols, whether it is ideas or objects by individuals and groups which transforms the natural and social environments. Those symbols in turn derive largely from the culture of which we are part, and in which we act. A large part of a culture, in fact, is the set of symbols that the people in it share. Phenomenology questions how “social facts” such as class, structure, status, norms, roles, etc. come to be viewed as real in social constructions. Reification is the perception that humanly created social arrangements are naturally occurring. Ways of seeing the world become culturally embedded, and can hold on long after they are no longer adaptive. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

2 Framing Fracking provides jobs
Framing is the question of how issues are presented and perceived. An example of this is the fracking for natural gas. Causes pollution Earthquakes have increased since fracking has increased Is not a provider of green jobs. Fracking provides jobs Produces natural gas which is cleaner than oil Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Fracking and the Environment
2 “Rex Tillerson is leading the fracking revolution, just not in his backyard.”― Chris Hayes, Editor at large for the Nation Click the picture by Ostroff Law to go to the video on the story about Exxon Mobile CEO suing to stop fracking by his home. This video is 3:44 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Contemporary Theories about the Environment
2 Unequal Ecological Exchange Resources from one part of the planet can be moved in large scale out of their natural ecological niches. This often leads to the consumption of resources and the production of waste outpacing the natural ecology’s ability to adapt. Recursive Exploitation Theory recognizes the multi-level, or fractal, nature of environmental problems. On the most macro level, well-connected and politically powerful nations enjoy a high ecological footprint at the expense of the poorer, less-connected and dependent nations and these relationships are replicate at lower levels, from the regional to the local. World Polity Theory focuses on a growing uniformity of institutions across cultures and nations. With this uniformity comes a rise in bureaucratic structures that should, in the ideal, protect the environment. Ecological Modernization Theory sees the inevitability of the processes of modernity and advanced industrialization. It seeks to make the best of that situation by stressing environmentally responsible action. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Thomas Robert Malthus 2 Coined the term “overpopulation” and he thought that overpopulation would put a strain on the ability to provide the basic necessities, and would ultimately lead to a world on the brink of an apocalypse, accompanied by the “Four Horsemen” of: war, famine, plague and pestilence. Various thinkers have adopted a Malthusian approach. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

2 The POET Model Developed by Otis Dudley Duncan, human ecologist.
It focuses on Population, human Organization, the natural Environment, and Technology. Explores how all four components are interrelated and function in concert with the other. Each of the other variables affects, and is affected, by the others. Population Technology POET Organization Environment Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is IPAT? 2 An equation, first developed by Paul R. Ehrlich and John P. Holdren, that formulates what Impact humanity has on the environment. Its key components are Population, Affluence and Technology. IPAT Equation: I=P x A x T This (and variants, such as “STIRPAT”) has inspired important empirical research. One promising model, which will be covered more in depth in the final chapter, is POETICAA. POETICAA stands for population, organization, environment, technology, illness and health, culture, affluence and addressing problems historically. This acronym serves as a convenient schema for many of the important considerations to keep in mind when thinking about the environmental and human interface. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Rachel Carson 2 “If, having endured much, we have at last asserted out "right to know," and if by knowing, we have concluded that we are being asked to take senseless and frightening risks, then we should no longer accept the counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poisonous chemicals; we should look about and see what other course is open to us.” ― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Pesticides - DDT - Rachel Carson - Silent Spring
2 Consider This… Pesticides - DDT - Rachel Carson - Silent Spring Click the picture to go to the video documentary Pesticides - DDT - Rachel Carson - Silent Spring . This video is 10:58 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Some Other Notable Environmental Thinkers
2 Thomas Homer-Dixon, Environment, Scarcity and Violence (1999) Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded (2008) Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream (1997) Michael Bell, Farming for Us All: Practical Agriculture and the Cultivation of Sustainability (2004) Thich Nhat Hanh, Love Letter to the Earth (2013) Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating (2005) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Porter Ranch Gas Leak
2 Consider This… Porter Ranch Gas Leak Click the picture by EARTHWORKS to go to the video on the current methane gas leak in Porter Ranch, CA. This video is 12:43 minutes long and requires an internet connection to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

2 What Is? Institutional Disarticulation:
the logic of one institution (such as the economy, for example) does not dovetail with the logic of other institutions (the polity and civil society, for instance). When institutions don’t link well with each other, inefficiencies creep into the system. This, in turn, can lead to serious problems when trying to address environmental problem, because the various institutions are working at cross purposes. From the individual, through the meso-level of institutions, to the planetary, problems arise in late modernity that present tremendous challenges to ecological sustainability. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 2 Important figures in sociology such as Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim developed key concepts that social thinkers use to make sense of the problems and complexities of modernity, and point the way toward addressing them. Karl Marx theorized and addressed topics such as metabolic rift and alienation. He discussed his theory about those that are a part of the bourgeoisie class who made demands on the proletarian class through labor and taking of their resources for capitalistic gain. By taking resources from one group or area and redistributing them among more affluent populations, he believed it would bring about an alienation of consumers from the productive process. Max Weber introduced ideas such as ideal types and Verstehen. He influenced many different theories and he stressed the importance of culture with a particular focus on how ideas and ethics associated with them can influence outcomes in the material world. As societies continue to get bigger and more complex, their institutions tend to become more differentiated and specialized. While this has some positive features, it also tends to lead to a situation that Weber predicted over 100 years ago – institutions developing a life of their own, following their own logic. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Natural Environment and the Culture of Late Modernity
3 The Natural Environment and the Culture of Late Modernity Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3: The Natural Environment and the Culture of Late Modernity
In this chapter we will discuss: What is Culture? Understanding Environmental Problems through the Lenses of Culture Culture and the Trajectory of Modernity The Individual and Society in Late Modernity Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3: The Natural Environment and the Culture of Late Modernity (Continued)
The Problem Writ Large: Mismatches between Culture and Sustainability Mismatches between Evolution and Technology Mismatches between Large Scale Economies and the Natural Ecology Enantiodromia: Nature Senses Imbalances, and Pushes Back Why Institutional Fixes by Themselves Often Are Ineffective Cultural Lag and Cultural Diffusion Take-Away Lessons about Culture and the Natural Environment Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Culture? 3 According to Weber, culture is a system for organizing and prioritizing communication, belief, thought, value, and action in the context of an ethical framework. It enables us to prioritize the information that we perceive in our day-today existence, and ultimately, over the course of a lifetime. Culture provides ethical meaning to our perceptions. Perception is filtered through the prism of culture. It works as a mechanism of socialization from birth. Culture, for each of us, determines what is right or wrong; good or bad; just or unjust; true or false. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Framework of Meaning?
3 Culture can be thought of as an Interpretive Framework or Network of Meaning. Directs us in assigning correctness and value to actions. It profoundly influences how we see the world. Behaviors, mores, folkways, traditions, and all sorts of information are judged against the backdrop of culture. We may experience events using the same five senses, but our resulting perceptions are not universal. Networks of meaning determine which ideas and perceptions are valuable. Different cultures and sub-cultures within them place different meanings and values on the natural environment, and on our relationship with it. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

3 Prioritizing What is Prioritizing?
Centrality is a key feature of the prioritizing power of networks. More central elements or “nodes” of the culture have a more powerful influence than those peripheral elements. When a lack of harmony occurs between an object of perception and a network of meaning, it is always the object of perception and not the culture, which is deemed other and rejected as strange and foreign. We may think of ourselves as unbiased and open-minded, but our judgments, perceptions, and ideas are influenced by our own culture. The act of prioritization means that some ideas are more important than others. One example is how some people recycle paper, plastic, and other items from their homes to be more environmental friendly with their waste. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Story of Bottled Water and the Environment
3 Click the picture above from The Story of Stuff Project to view the video about “The Story of Bottled Water” 8:04 minutes long. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

3 More Culture… Culture:
It can, by its very nature, be taken for granted by the participants. Culture is woven into our everyday existence, and often involves reification, or taking certain aspects of it just as “the way it is”. It is difficult indeed to view one’s culture from a distance, given that culture is so personal. An example is the American culture is the reverence given to individual choice. In contrast, many other cultures stress cooperation and societal harmony. This may, at times, manifest feelings of entitlement and expectation for using resources outweighing norms or stewardship and preservation for future generations. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Culture and Hyper-Individualism:
3 The spread of hyper-individualism among cultures of the modern world is one of the major contributing factors that make sustainability such a hard goal to achieve. Ways in which we have constructed ideas about individualism can sometimes, for example, be taken to extremes, when an individual obsessed with her/his own rights, and not feeling constrained by a sense of social or ecological responsibility to counter- balance those rights, can drift into selfishness. This sort of selfishness can aggregate to truly astounding proportions in causing significant and wide-spread environmental problems (tragedy of the commons). Selfishness and greed, while age-old problems to be sure (reliably showing up as problems in the canonical texts of virtually every one of the wisdom traditions, from the Bible, to the Bhagavad Gita, to the Analects of Confucius, and pretty much everything in between!), have, if anything, seem to have gotten even more acute and problematic in the modern age. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Understanding Environmental Problems through the Lenses of Culture
3 Humankind has always had an impact on the environment. The need to survive and adapt to the environment at hand will inevitably give rise to cultures very much dictated by place. Institutions, classes, customs, arts, social mores, marriage and family structure, and all of the many hallmarks of culture are both limited and encouraged by place. Even the earliest civilizations were responsible for environmental degradation. Some cultures have had a greater impact on the natural environment than others. Likewise, some cultures have some of the valued of sustainability more than others. Still other cultures — the Native American tribes of North America for example — have placed a high priority on conservation and bequeathing a natural legacy to future generations. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Culture and the Trajectory of Modernity
3 Irish potato farmers Photo by Lewis Hine Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Culture and the Trajectory of Modernity
3 The relationship between humans and the natural ecology has also changed profoundly. Two instances stand out as examples of this type of sweeping change: The first of these is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution, or, more aptly, the Agricultural Revolution It led to a gradual change in how humans organized themselves and to an increasingly complex society. The rooted (in more than one sense!) nature of farming gave rise to new ways of organizing society and to new technologies. during the Agricultural Revolution that we see the development of village life, writing and record keeping, divisions of labor and specialization, and social classes. The Agricultural Revolution had a profound impact on culture and humankind’s relationship with nature. Despite the sweeping changes experienced during the transformation from nomadic hunter- gatherers to farmers, people and nature still shared a powerful bond. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Culture and the Trajectory of Modernity (continued)
3 A drawimg of a factory during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Picture by Hans-Peter Bärtschi Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Culture and the Trajectory of Modernity (continued)
3 The second of these is referred to as the Industrial Revolution: For many it seemed to severe the bond between humankind and nature. Machines were invented to complete old tasks that had previously been done by animals or humans; and other machines were built to accomplish work that had never even been dreamed of on the farm. The nature of work and the division of labor changed, and people began to move from the countryside to the city in search of employment Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Individual and Modern Society in Late Modernity
3 As the Western world transitioned from rural, agrarian village life to urban, industrial city life and culture was transformed, so, too, did the individual within society experience profound changes. The old support systems of extended family and clan began to break down. Noblesse oblige, that ancient code of responsibility and loyalty that bound master and subject, began to wane. Ideological and cultural belief systems emerged to justify the new social order. Adam Smith’s seminal work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations attempted to explain why some cultures prospered while others did not. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Individual and Modern Society in Late Modernity
3 Core tenets of capitalism, such as the division of labor, supply and demand, wages, profit, investment, stocks, and the accumulation capital were set forth in its pages. Max Weber (1904/5) published The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. A central theme of his work is that individual hard work led to the rise of capitalism, and the accumulation of wealth in those countries where religious thinking (Protestantism generally, and its Calvinist branches most particularly) encouraged hard work and thrift. Karl Marx theorized that capitalism led to tremendous alienation and a “fetishism of commodities”. The net effect of industrial and post-industrial era economistic thinking is a culture that emphasizes a hyper-individualism, capitalist economies, and large-scale production and consumption. In capitalistic, individualistic cultures, people seek to maximize their own short-sighted individual self-interests. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Atrazine and the Environment
3 Click the picture above from picture above to view the video about Atrazine and the Environment 4:04 minutes long. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Evolution and Technology:
3 Mismatches between Evolution and Technology: Humankind’s own technology has created mismatches between what our bodies are able to adapt to and the changes to the natural environment that occurs through the widespread use of technology. Examples The widespread use of pesticides and herbicides have provided an easy solution to an age-old problem — how to maximize food production by eliminating loss of crops to insects, pests, and plant diseases, but their widespread and irresponsible use has resulted in a whole host of problems, including cancers, birth defects, fertility issues and neurological disorders. The widespread use of additives, preservatives, and high-fructose corn syrup in the foods we consume has resulted in obesity, cancers, diabetes, and hypertension. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Problem Writ Large: Mismatches Between Culture and Sustainability
3 Our bodies caught in the middle: For example: Hypertension, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and asthma are examples of physical ailments that have a direct link to modern lifestyle. We are, however, products of both our earlier selves and our modern world and have retained traits that were once valuable but are now less so. Evolution is slow — change in the modern world is fast. Our bodies, emotions, and minds struggle to keep up. A “mismatch” between our inherited makeup and the modern conditions that we find ourselves in today can be most easily illustrated by the preponderance of diseases of civilization. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Large Scale Economies and the Natural Ecology
3 Mismatches between Large Scale Economies and the Natural Ecology: The modern global economy is predicated on steady growth and greater productivity. Our financial institutions, stock markets and businesses, large and small, rely on greater and greater consumption to fuel economic expansion. So too, individuals are dependent on growth as the engine of employment and an increase in living standards. This “treadmill of production” has profound environmental consequences. Human history has been a tale of growth and expansion, with a “grow or die” ethic often the driving force. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Economy and the Environment
3 Click the picture above from picture above to view the video about Economy and the Environment, 6:54 minutes long. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Enantiodromia? 3 The tendency for an action to cause a reaction to itself. The reaction experienced in enantiodromia may in fact be more forceful or violent, particularly if it has gone past some tipping point (which may not have been apparent before the action took place). The idea of enantiodromia pre-dates Newton and, in the West, goes back to the pre-Socratic thinker, Heraclitus. Enantiodromia is a principle that can be found in many, if not most, wisdom traditions. The law of Karma in Hinduism and Buddhism, and the principle of Wu Chi, or the balancing of Yin and Yang energies in Taoism, and the idea of “As you sow, so shall you reap” in the Judeo-Christian tradition, all reflect this idea. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Enantiodromia? (continued)
3 A keen observer of enantiodromic processes, can readily discern, the dialectical relationships led to there being a fatal flaw, or contradiction of capitalism, such that “Capitalism produces its own grave diggers…”. The environmental sociologist James O’Connor (1998) has pointed out a second contradiction of capitalism, in which, in virtually every exchange, resources are taken from the natural environment without their being replaced. What is given back to the earth is in the form of pollution or some other form of degradation. This ultimately is unsustainable and will lead to collapse not only of capitalism, but of the ecosystem itself if action is not taken. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Why Are Institutional Fixes by Themselves Often Ineffective
3 Institutions are a reflection of the culture in which they were created and all institutions are equally influenced by culture. Culture is the glue that connects and binds institutions to one another. Institutions such as commerce, banking, and the labor system are linked by culture as are connections link social, family, school, class, religion and the polity. An isolated fix in one institution that ignores how it is culturally embedded and linked to others, is likely to trigger an enantiodromic process of cascading consequences. Ever-increasing advances in technology allow us to impact the environment to a degree never imagined, and its affects are not experienced uniformly by individuals, or across institutions. . Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Some Paradoxical Effects of Institutional Action
3 Frederick H. Buttel (2000) has pointed out that despite the fact that developing countries have established environmental agencies and entered into environmental treaties, there is no guarantee of environmentally friendly action. “Jevons paradox” shows that the more sweeping a technological change is, the more likely it is to trigger processes upsetting the ecological balance unless there are also off-setting cultural adaptations. Because of this, it has often been the case that increases in efficiencies due to technological change has resulted in greater use of natural resources rather than conservation (e.g. The introduction of more “fuel efficient” cars without tempering cultural expectations about consumption). Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Cultural Lag and Cultural Diffusion?
3 Material culture is simply a material change, for instance, the development of a new technology or the discovery of new sources of natural resources. Adaptive culture is the cultural response to the new material culture. For instance, culture adapted to the widespread use of the automobile by building housing a great distance from places of employment. William Ogburn also noticed that there is usually a time difference between a material cultural change and an adaptive cultural response. (“cultural lag”) Hegemony is the cultural domination of one culture over another and was coined by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian social thinker. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What is Cultural Lag and Cultural Diffusion? (continued)
3 Cultural Warp is the process resulting from the pace of change today being so rapid and because of this culture struggles to keep pace with an increasingly rapid succession of material changes even though culture does adapt, the pace of adaptation does not keep up with the pace of change in technology. Cultural Diffusion is when change in once part of part of the world causes change in other parts of the world. These changes normally start first in more technologically advanced cultures and move out into the less technologically advanced cultures regardless of whether the change is desired or not by that culture within societies, diffusion of values often occurs in by goin gfrom urban to rural areas, with enantiodromic reactions often in reverse. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 3 Culture for humankind is somewhat analogous water for fish. It is so ubiquitous, so ever-present a part of our experience that we may sometimes forget to notice that it is even there. Although humans may experience events using the same five senses, resulting perceptions are not universal. Culture informs our judgments. Opinions often are formed and conclusions drawn based on shared culture. Networks of meaning determine which ideas and perceptions are valuable. Behaviors, mores, folkways, traditions, and all sorts of information are judged against the backdrop of culture. Culture is in part shaped and in turn has profound affects on the natural environment. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Science and Technology
4 Science and Technology Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

4 Introduction In this chapter we will discuss:
Technology and Social and Environmental Change Technological Development and Cultural Lag Science and Technology as Tools of Progress, but Sometimes as Hubris Paradoxes of Technological Innovation The Effect of Technology Is Best Understood as It Interacts with Other Macro-Level Variables Technology and the Economy in Advanced Capitalism Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

4 Timeline Anthropocene Era
The term “Anthropocene” was coined by a Dutch chemist and Nobel Prizewinner, Paul Crutzen. He sought to give a meaningful term to an age in which, for the first time ever, human beings have made significant and lasting changes on the planet earth. The precise dates are a matter of debate and discussion, the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth century is a commonly held tipping point in the process. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Noam Chomsky: The Anthropocene Period
4 Consider This… Noam Chomsky: The Anthropocene Period Click the picture above to view video from Noam Chomsky: The Anthropocene Period and its Challenges. 8:05 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Some Problems With Technology and the Environment
4 Some Problems With Technology and the Environment: Historically a huge abundance of resources. Technologies are developed to take them. Culture then adapts, “enframing” the technology as a given. Technological growth ratchets up beyond the point the environment can sustain it. Eventual collapse occurs. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Problem With Technology and the Environment
4 Large abundance of Resources Technology Developed To Take Them Culture Then Adapts Technological Growth Ratchets up Beyond the Point The Environment can Sustain It Eventual Environmental Collapse Occurs Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

https://youtu.be/nUPDtBkBlj8
4 Consider This… Beyond GMO: Hidden GMOs, Hidden Glyphosate, Hidden Dangers Click the picture above to view video from Beyond GMO:Hidden GMOs, Hidden Glyphosate, Hidden Dangers. 4:04 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

You Deserve to Know GMO 4 “We truly believe that if there were labels telling people what they were eating in their food less people would buy genetically modified food and more people would buy organic food.” Thalia Kazakos, Environmental Activist (Beyond GMO: Hidden GMOs, Hidden Glyphosate, Hidden Dangers ) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

“The Advantage of Backwardness”
4 “The Advantage of Backwardness” An idea developed by Gerhard Lenski and other researchers to describe the process when developing countries are able to take advantage of a technology that models itself after the leader. Some of the worst pollution is in developing countries especially in those countries at the higher end of the developing countries and are rapidly growing. For example the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) It often is a potent and toxic combination when countries or regions with population or cultural pressures and unprotected resources have access to potentially devastating technologies, yet lack the environmental regulation to steward the environment. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Technological Environment
4 Technological Environment: Human ecologists note differences between the technological environment and the natural environment Technological environment, include, for example: Office buildings, cars, roads, machines and other such things The know-how that goes into making things Engineering and mathematics Ideas of the architects, engineers and creators According to William Ogburn, during modern times the technological environment has changed more rapidly than the natural environment did for much of human evolution. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Consider This… Beyond GMO: Jane Goodall
4 Click the picture above to view video from Beyond GMO: Jane Goodall - GMOs are an important issue for us all. 3:59 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

4 Hubris and Aristotle Hubris and Aristotle
Science and technology can be used as tools of progress, but sometimes it can feed into what is known as Hubris. Aristotle studied many things including classical Tragedy. He noticed that the protagonist tended to have a fatal flaw or Hamartia. The flaw of Hubris – an over-the-top arrogance, combined with narcissistic confidence of invincibility would eventually be the undoing of the character. As wide-ranging technology develops ever greater abilities to make incursions into the earth, it is important to keep these lessons in mind. Photo by: Eric Gaba – Wikimedia Commons user: Sting Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

4 Hardin’s Paradox Hardin’s Paradox:
Garrett Hardin observed that technology can create problems it cannot solve. Considered one of the central paradoxes of the third millennium – the more advanced the technology becomes, the greater, other things held equal, the environmental displacement it can cause. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

4 Jevons Paradox Jevons Paradox
The Jevons Paradox points out that often, when a new technology leads to greater efficiency in the use of a given resource, the usage rate goes up. Automobiles Made More Efficient Increase in Car Purchases More Freeways Built Longer Commutes and More Freeways More Fuel is Burned Than Before the Better Efficiency Was Put in Place Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Technology and Class Interests
4 Technology and Class Interests The effects of technology on the natural environment began to grow exponentially in the post-World War II era. Production processes can have catastrophic consequences for the environment, particularly when externalities are not taken into account and large scale production occurs. The more far-reaching a technology the more devastating the consequences can be. Marxist ideas of class interests fit well here: history is replete with examples of technology taken to extremes. These extremes are a function of how volatile a technology has the potential to be depending on who benefits from it and who has interests in it being developed. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Modern Capitalism – Mismatches Between Technological Expansion and Environmental Concerns
4 Example on how technology can play a role in the process: Mono-Cropping or planting in huge swaths of land can cause a number of problems including: Soil degradation Biodiversity loss Crop vulnerability to pests and fungus infestations Technology is created to combat the pests and fungus to attempt to alleviate some of the issues. This leads to other issues: Ground water and other water source pollution Damage to wet lands and wild life, particularly those living downstream Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Technology Assessment Act (TAA) of 1972
4 The example of the Technology Assessment Act (TAA) of 1972 Charged with estimating the probable impacts of new technologies on the environment. Drafters of the TAA pointed out that though impacts may not be known in advance, it was prudent to make good faith attempts to try. Technology was understood to be growing and gaining complexity causing there to be extensive and poorly understood impacts on the environment. This may help to set the stage for innovative thinking and planning, which may in turn be facilitated by the development of New Ecological Measures [NEMs]. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 4 Technology has, over time, afforded ever greater mastery over the planet. At some point, this mastery become profound, that those effects go beyond what can be simply incorporated and balanced in the ecosystem, and change the nature of the planet itself. Now, in the third millennium, we face truly daunting social and environmental problems. Many of those problems we can attribute to the invasive technologies that have been developed during and since industrialization. In beginning to unwind these problems, green technology can best thrive in a culture that is organized around ecological principles and norms of sustainability. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Economics—The Capitalization of Everything or Natural Capital?
5 Economics—The Capitalization of Everything or Natural Capital? Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

5 Introduction In this chapter we will discuss:
The Discipline of Economics and How It Came about What is the Value of Nature? Its value goes beyond money. Economic Truisms and Their Perversities Economics of Scale Externalities Comparative Advantage Perpetual Expansion Discounting the Future The Invisible Hand of the Free Market Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Introduction (continued)
5 Individual and Collective Interests Distribution of Wealth and the Environment The Treadmill of Production and Consumption Contributions and Limitations of Environmental Economics Economic Incentives What Can Society Do Now? Conclusion/Summary Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

5 Early sociologists and related thinkers focused on:
Alienation (Marx) Egoism and Anomie (Durkheim) Narcissism (Freud) Iron Cage of Rationality (Weber) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Adam Smith 5 Adam Smith Early in the Industrial Revolution, Adam Smith (1776) published what was destined to become one of the most influential books history. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith proposed the new discipline of economics. He could never have imagined the larger impact his work would have on the world and the environment. A number of his ideas came to be reified into barely questioned truisms. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

5 What is a Truism? What is a Truism?
Economic truisms are those beliefs, such as from The Wealth of Nations, that have been embraced and used over time far beyond their original pragmatic utility. Their meanings come to outstrip their original usefulness over time. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Economism Verse Planetism
Economism Vs Planetism A view that gives importance to economic achievements or goals, even at the expense of the natural world Sometimes identified with a longing for higher standards of living. It creates a dependency on other areas for goods and resources instead of meeting needs locally. Its view can lead to materialism and the “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality that causes people to feel like they should continually strive to have more. John Cobb Jr sees planetism’s goal as “meeting physical needs with the smallest possible disruption of the larger, natural, economy” It encourages community and connection between nature and humanity. All things on the planet matter and we all have a responsibility to them. It seeks self-reliance and self-sufficiency. There is a move for people to use more sustainable practices that benefit all inhabitants. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Undercover at Smithfield Foods
5 Click the picture above to view video from The Humane Society discussing the pollution of the Smithfield CAFOs. 3:35 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

What Are Externalities?
5 What are Externalities? Variables that is left out of an equation. In a statistics class, all the externalities get lumped into a category of “residual (or unexplained) variance.” These also can be an economic decisions made by one person or group that extracts a cost on another person, or group of people, where the affected group is not involved in making the decisions. Often, the externalities are borne by the planet at large, and also by the most vulnerable of people. Some of the vulnerable may drink contaminated water or food that becomes tainted by the run off from factories and CAFOs upstream because they are unaware of the issue. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Tar Sands Oil Extraction – The Dirty Truth
5 Click the picture above to view video from Substainable Guidance discussing the Canadian tar sands. 11;36 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Comparative Advantage
5 Comparative Advantage It assumes that there is a division of labor where there are numerous specialty tasks such as: Assembly line work Mining Transportation Management Law of Comparative Advantage assumes that this highly specialized division of labor is more efficient overall; yet it tends to ignore the significant environmental costs of such practices. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Call Centers and Comparative Advantage
5 Call centers are a great example of Comparative Advantage. United States based businesses move their customer service centers to other countries like India or the Philippines to reduce cost and increase profit. Workers overseas do not require the same benefits or wages as those in the United States so the company’s overhead costs are lowered thus creating a larger profit for its shareholders and officers. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Julian Simon: Overpopulation and the Invisible Hand
5 Julian Simon: Overpopulation and the Invisible Hand He thought that exponential population growth would be sustainable. He counted on human ingenuity to solve problems of overcrowding and competition over scarce resources. He failed to account that the planet’s resources are not finite. Simon believed that the invisible hand would lead people to adapt by finding new resources, but failed to think about limits. He doesn’t account for the fact that some resources are not interchangeable and that alternatives have consequences, in any case, tradeoffs may not meet the need effectively. Despite the significant problems with his theories, Julian Simon’s ideas still tend to motivate much popular thinking such as talk radio, politically-motivated “think tanks”, fossil fuel company lobbyists, and even public policy. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Elinor Ostrom: The Drama of the Commons
5 Elinor Ostrom: The Drama of the Commons She believed “the tragedy of the Commons” could be avoided under certain circumstances. Ostrom promoted communal ownership of common areas, in which stakeholders felt a common bond of stewardship toward the resources. Each stakeholder would then feel either by pressure internally or externally a moral responsibility to take care of the resources, and thus would not take more than their fair share. The oceans could benefit from this. They are already something that is shared by many different groups but there is no organized communal bond among the groups. If such ties were in place, then perhaps each group would only glean from the oceans and seas what is needed for survival and take care of it by keeping it clean from pollutants and protect it from overfishing. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Plasticized 5 Click the picture above to view video from Komik Videoz discussing the pollution of the Pacific Ocean. 4:56 minutes in length. An internet connection is required to view. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Marx’s Legacy in Environmental Sociology
5 Distribution of Wealth Labor Theory of Value and the back drop of nature Metabolic Rift Larger Scales of Production and Consumption Treadmill of Production The First and Second Contradictions of Capitalism Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Can Capital Save the Environment?
5 Can Economic Incentives Help Ameliorate Environmental Problems? Ridley and Low (1994), believe many environmental problems can be addressed economically by giving proper incentives. Many with ready access to wealth can make decisions that make sense to them (whether done selfishly or not) but may lead to devastating consequences for the environment. Economic incentives can, in limited instances, have positive results, but must be watched carefully to make sure they do not make matters worse. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Transformation Of The Way We Think About The Planet
5 Transformation of the way we think about the planet: In the terms of process theologian and green economist, John Cobb Jr. (1991), there is a fundamental divide between thinking of the planet as something to be taken from and used, or to live with cooperatively in a spirit of good will and stewardship. Cobb characterizes this fundamental choice that we all must make as individuals and collectively, as between economism on the one hand, and planetism on the other. For Cobb, it is the most fundamental and important choice we make in our lifetimes, and in the life of the planet. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 5 The economy is an institution that has, particularly in modern societies, brought tremendous prosperity to many people but given the way it has unfolded, this has been with tremendous cost to the planet. The resources on the planet are finite. As Garrett Hardin pointed out in The Tragedy of the Commons, utility maximizing behavior on a self-interested level may benefit certain members of the society and provide profit to them as individuals; yet it increases the overall strain on the resources of the collective whole. This can have local, regional, and even global significance. While inequality waxes and wanes, it has generally increased over the course of the last forty years. Adam Smith and his work, The Wealth of Nations, brought about a new economic outlook, bringing forward the ideas that framed principles of global market economics. Some of the ideas that have been with us ever since include a belief in the “invisible hand” of the market; hyperspecialization and the law of comparative advantage; discounting the future; the efficacy of large-scale production; externalization of the costs of production, particularly those associated with the environment Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

6 Introduction What Is Governance?
Classical Sociological Theories of Governance Contemporary Sociological Theories of Governance Ecological Modernization Theory World System Theory World Polity Theory Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Introduction (continued)
6 Private Property and Market Mechanisms of Environmental Governance Who Should Govern the Commons? Private vs. Public Land Ethic Optimists in the Commons Institutional Mismatch and Adaptive Approaches to Environmental Governance Conclusions: Take-Away Lessons about Environmental Governance Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Globalization and Multi-National Trade
6 Giant container ship loaded with products bound for far-flung ports. Globalization and multi-national trade have changed the governance role of nation-states. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

6 What Is Governance? What Is Governance?
The logic of one institution (such as the economy, for example) does not dovetail with the logic of other institutions (the polity and civil society, for instance). This problem can sometimes be addressed with effective governance. Under conditions of traditional authority, social power is legitimated by a widespread respect for long-held patterns of governance. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Some Different Types of Governance
6 Some of the different types of Governance are: Traditional Authority Charismatic Authority Rational-Legal Authority Yet these are “ideal types” that are rarely if ever achieved in the real world. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Talcott Parsons 6 Parsons argued that the most successful societies created a certain amount of duplication of duties across their institutions, which would ensure the continued functioning of society if one of the institutions failed. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Classical Sociological Theories of Governance
6 Classical Sociological Theories of Governance: Karl Marx and Capitalism Max Weber and Rational Government Emile Durkheim and Moral Authority Talcott Parsons and Rule Formation Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Contemporary Sociological Theories of Governance
6 Contemporary Sociological Theories of Governance: Globalization has made governance much more complex. Ecological Modernization Theory World System Theory World Polity Theory Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Private Property and Market Mechanisms
6 Private Property and Market Mechanisms Who Should Govern? Utility Maximizing Behavior – Personal gain outweighs collective loss. Common-Pool Resources: Can they be governed? Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Aral Sea 6 A comparison of the Aral Sea from space–on the left, in 1989, and on the right, in Formerly, one of the four largest lakes in the world, the Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s when the Soviet Union began diverting its source waters for irrigation. The area’s eco-system has, essentially, been destroyed. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Private versus Public Land Ethic
6 Private versus Public Land Ethic Private Land Subculture Possessive Individualism Public Land Subculture The Conservation Movement Useful Commodities Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Optimist in the Commons
6 Optimist in the Commons Elinor Ostrom Adaptive Co-Management Place-based Participatory Governance System Shared Natural Resource Management Provides Local Communities with Some Flexibility Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

The Commons 6 The commons was originally an area of land that was a shared responsibility with resource of a community of users. It typically entailed the right to graze (such as that of the owner of the pigs in this photo), farm, hunt or gather. Today, the world’s fisheries are considered a common-pool resource. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Institutional Mismatch and Adaptive Approaches
6 Institutional Mismatch and Adaptive Approaches Fragmented Governance Overlap and Redundant Different Types: Jurisdictional Fragmentation Territorial Fragmentation Biophysical Fragmentation Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Macro-Level Environmental Problems and Nation-State
6 Macro-Level Environmental Problems and Nation- State The nation-state arose over time in response to material conditions. Environmental problems to not necessarily match the nation-state level. The logic of Global Capitalism threatens to overwhelm the natural ecology. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chapter 6: Governance, Policies and Institutions
Civil Society and Hybrid Governance Hybrid Governance – indigenous people, industry, citizens, trade unions and others becoming equal partners with government officials. Some examples: Fractal Governance Participant Governance Multi-stakeholder Dialogue Governance High Level Forum on Sustainable Development (HLFSD) Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 6 Regulating environmental harms has historically posed a problem for authorities, because waterways, smog, and other environmental problems often cross or transcend county, state, and national boundaries. Each of the classical theorists had a particular perspective on governance. Marx emphasized the structure of the economy; Weber focused on the role of rules and organizations; Durkheim saw the importance of moral and cultural frameworks. Globalization has made governance more complex than classical sociological theorists conceived, which has led to a considerable need to revise classical governance theories. Globalization has drastically changed the nation-state from a self-contained, relatively homogenous population into a loose network of organizations and social groups marked by diversity of values and beliefs, of ethnic and religious backgrounds. There can, under some circumstances, be a “drama of the commons,” in which environmental stewardship and responsibility become shared cultural values. This tends to be when there is a common normative system that people feel a part of, that is promulgated widely, and that discourages free-riders through some combination of formal and informal sanctions. Ultimately, environmental stewardship works best when it has become a central part of the culture, bolstered by a strong normative base. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chapter 7: Health, Well-Being and the Environment
Public Health and the Environment Why We Get Sick: A Darwinian Approach to Health Sickness as a Function of an Environment Out of Balance Inequality, Scarcity, Marginalization, and Social Breakdown Environmental Justice and Health Close to Home, Far from Safe Poisoning and Premature Deaths from Pollution Conclusions: Takeaway Lessons about Health, Well-Being and the Environment Chapter 7 Summary Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Public Health and The Environment
7 Public Health and The Environment Human health has a direct link to ecological health. Healthy living normally means living in harmony with the natural environment. Illness occurs when there are imbalances and degradation of the natural environment. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Darwinian Approach to Health and the Environment
7 Darwinian Approach to Health and the Environment Our bodies are governed by the evolutionary principle of adaptation by natural selection. It looks to macro processes to explain broader causes of health and illness for why we get sick. Balance Principle Examples Distribution of height Sickle Cell Anemia Allergies Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Hyper-green, weedless lawns and golf courses that are not found in nature, and can only be achieved with the aid of toxic herbicides and fertilizers, now seem “normal” and are preferred over natural environments by many people. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

7 Supernormal Stimulus Supernormal Stimulus
A study of nature and humankinds natural drive for the illusion of perfection while ignoring what is real or perhaps better for us because it does not match what we believe to be better. Examples Fake Egg Experiment Silicone Breast Implants Artificial Lawns Artificial colors, flavors and sweetening in food Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Diseases of Civilization
7 A few example are cigarettes and high fructose corn syrup. Smoking cigarettes tends to be a social activity that the smoker feels is a personal right to be able to partake in even though sometimes it puts others health at stake with secondhand smoke. High fructose corn syrup make food, such as carbonated beverages and juice, taste sweeter than anything found in nature. Meanwhile, “diseases of civilization” like type II diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers are at an all time high. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Sickness as a Function of an Environment Out of Balance
7 Sickness as a Function of an Environment Out of Balance The air we breath today is not the same air that was available a 100 years ago. Cities have become “Microbe Heavens”. An immunity can be built up against repeated exposures to toxins and diseases. This becomes a problem for people outside of the area in which the immunity has built, because they have no defenses against the disease upon contact. Zoonosis – transferring of diseases from animal species to humans. Examples: Rabies, Anthrax, Influenza, HIV and Lyme Disease Increased use of chemicals in modern society area cause for concern on multiple levels; many pesticides (e.g. DDT, atrazine, etc.) can bypass the immune system and so enter the body without the body defending itself. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Inequality, Scarcity, Marginalization, and Societal Breakdown
7 Inequality, Scarcity, Marginalization, and Societal Breakdown Some scholars believe there is a link between environmental degradation and social unrest, but the link is sometimes complex involving interactions with other factors (e.g. social inequality and scarcity). Resource Capture is when there is a large population growth and simultaneously not enough of a renewable resource needed to sustain it. Elites then hoarding scarce resources, which exacerbates the problem and causes another cycle, often of greater severity. Ecological Marginalization occurs when population growth combined with inequality in access to land forces, the poor to migrate into environmentally fragile areas. This can set off catastrophic collapse in an area with an already fragile ecosystem. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

7 Freshwater Depletion Declining Fish Stocks Biodiversity Loss
Nine Physical Trends of Global Change That Affect Social Stability and Well-Being (Homer-Dixon – Environment, Scarcity and Violence) 7 Human Population Growth Rising Energy Consumption Global Warming Ozone Depletion Cropland Scarcity Freshwater Depletion Declining Fish Stocks Biodiversity Loss Tropical Deforestation Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Environmental Justice and Health
7 Environmental Justice and Health A number of researchers have shown that environmental risk tends to excessively affect disenfranchised populations—the poor, people of color, and indigenous peoples. Examples: Hazardous waste sites located in poor rural or under represented areas Blacks, Latinos, and poor rural whites are more likely than affluent suburban whites to live in close proximity to environmental hazards. Native peoples in rural areas on and off reservations are also at elevated levels of risk Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

7 NIMBY Phenomenon Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) Phenomenon
People with power and means transfer environmental risks away from themselves. On the most macro level, well-connected and politically powerful nations enjoy a high ecological footprint at the expense of the poorer, less-connected, and dependent nations. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Close to Home, Far from Safe
7 Close to Home, Far from Safe The air we breathe can be contaminated by people who smoke, paint fumes carrying volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or estrogen-mimicking chemicals. Commercial meat and poultry, especially CAFO raised, available at the supermarket is often pumped full of hormones and additives that can disrupt the body’s natural processes. GMOs, which may include corn, soy, canola, cottonseed oil, and sugar beets, among others, accumulate pesticides, and then are consumed directly, or the pesticides are washed downstream into the watershed. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

From The Tap: Drinking Water Pollution
7 Drinking Water Pollution In many areas there are significant problems with the drinking water. Worldwide, over a billion people do not a have access to safe and clean drinking water. In the United States, a number of areas, particularly those with high concentration of poverty and/or minority populations, are at increased risk for contaminated drinking water. The recent discovery of toxic levels of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan is but one tragic example. In areas around fracking, mining and other extraction, dumping, refining and transport of toxic substances, people are at high levels of risk. In many cases, those at higher risk may not even be aware of the pollution. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chemicals Close to Home
7 Beware of Chemicals You Might Even Find at Home: Phthalates found in plastics and other products are some of the most pervasive of endocrine disruptors, leading to problems in the reproductive cycle, including incomplete testicular descent, reduced sperm count, and testicular atrophy in males, and estrogen cycle disruption in females. Bisphenol A (or BPA) is a common ingredient in many plastics and mimics estrogen, and so it can lead to a number of issues such as early puberty, infertility, elevated rates of certain kinds of cancers, diabetes, and heart disease. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Chemicals Close to Home (continued)
7 Parabens are a class of chemicals commonly used in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, also found in hair dye and shampoo. Fluoride exposure can lead to many health-related problems such as immune disorders, lowered fertility rates, and hormonal imbalances. Perfluorooctanoic acid (or PFOA) has been linked to certain kinds of cancers including breast cancer. In addition, it has been linked to thyroid disease, immune system problems, and increased LDL cholesterol levels. Over time, even “safe” levels of these chemicals and others become toxic, because of bioaccumulation. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

7 Air Pollution Air Pollution
According to the best estimates, from 5 1/2 to 7 million deaths per year are attributable to air pollution (World Health Organization 2014). Most of these are in developing countries, particularly India and China, which have tremendous pollution problems. Other countries included Mexico, Ghana, Russia, Brazil, and other countries which tend to have large concentrations of population, rapid social change and lax emissions standards. Much of pollution is a byproduct or “externality” of industrialization. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Human Exemptionalism Paradigm vs New Environmental Paradigm
7 The Human Exemptionalism Paradigm as apposed to the (New Environmental Paradigm) Is manifested in a number of ways: People do not steward the planet. Using it for “resources” without regard to this imbalances this causes. Politically, there is an unwillingness on the part of those in power, to protect the earth’s vital resources. All this in turn, places the health and well-being of the planet and the people in it in jeopardy. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

Summary 7 There is a direct correlation between health and the environment. Environmental degradation has been linked to a decline in the health of humans and other species with which we share the planet. While negative outcomes are experienced most dramatically in developing countries with runaway pollution, it is a problem worldwide. Darwinian medicine and similar approaches suggest that disease is often the result of mismatches between the human adaptive mechanisms evolved over millennia, and the toxins posed by the environment. When there are pollutants or irritants in the environment that cause an imbalance that the adaptive response cannot handle, there is a decline in overall health. Humanly created imbalances—those associated with GMOs, phthalates and BPA, for example—often come about as a result of actions that differently benefits some (typically advantaged) sectors of society. The negative effects for the overall environment, on balance, far outweigh any benefits they may provide. From cancer to infertility and other alarming byproducts, the burden typically falls most heavily on those living “downstream,” or in the wake of the processes that benefit the privileged few. As society continues to industrialize, and as the world continues to globalize, we see greater concentrations of pollution, and pollution centers, around the globe. Copyright © 2016 Mercury Academic / Line-in Publishing. All rights reserved.

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