Environmental Sociology

Despite being a relatively young sub-discipline, European environmental sociology has changed considerably in the last decades towards more interdisciplinary collaborations and problem solving. Current trends such as global environmental modernization and processes of economic, political and socio-cultural globalization, fuelled by developments of transport, environmental flows, scientific uncertainty, and information technologies, have fostered new conceptual approaches that move beyond classical sociological mind-sets toward broader attempts to connect to other disciplines.

Covers a broad spectrum of sociological and environmental social science concepts ranging from rational choice, practice theory to earth system governance Focuses on the inter- and transdisciplinary potential of environmental sociology Discusses modern societies' reform needs, limits and new possibilities to adapt to and shape its natural environments Highlights the potential to social sustainability transformation at large Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Dr. Harald Heinrichs ist Juniorprofessor für Sustainable Development and Participation am Institut für Umweltkommunikation der Universität Lüneburg. Dr. rer. soc. Matthias Groß arbeitet am Department für Stadt- und Umweltsoziologie im Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ) in Leipzig. Zu seinen aktuellen Forschungsschwerpunkten gehören neben der Umweltsoziologie experimentelle Landschaftsgestaltungen sowie Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung.

Inhalt
Natural Flows and Global Environmental Discourse.- Introduction: New Trends and Interdisciplinary Challenges in Environmental Sociology.- Social Theories of Environmental Reform: Towards a Third Generation.- The New Climate Change Discourse: A Challenge for Environmental Sociology.- Earth System Governance and the Social Sciences.- Ecological Regimes: Towards a Conceptual Integration of Biophysical Environment into Social Theory.- Exploring Limits and New Possibilities for Understanding Environmental Rationalities.- Understanding Responses to the Environmental and Ethical Aspects of Innovative Technologies: The Case of Synthetic Biology in Europe.- Social Simulation: A Method to Investigate Environmental Change from a Social Science Perspective.- Trust and Cooperation as Requirements for Maintaining Environmental Governance Capacity.- Rational Choice Theory and the Environment: Variants, Applications, and New Trends.- Environmental Knowledge and Deliberative Democracy.- Transdisciplinarity and Sustainable Development.- Knowledge and Social Learning for Sustainable Development.- Beyond Neocorporatism? Transdisciplinary Case Studies as a Means for Collaborative Learning in Sustainable Development.- Social Practices and Sustainable Consumption: Benefits and Limitations of a New Theoretical Approach.- (Im)mobility and EnvironmentSociety Relations: Arguments for and Against the 'Mobilisation' of Environmental Sociology.- Ecological Adaptation Policies and Social Experimentation.- Environmental Sustainability as Challenge for Media and Journalism.- The Experimental Turn in Environmental Sociology: Pragmatism and New Forms of Governance.- Risk, Society and Environmental Policy: Risk Governance in a Complex World.- Climate Change and Society CommunicatingAdaptation.- Coda Chapter.- Moving Ahead: Environmental Sociology's Contribution to Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research.