Synopses & Reviews
Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology introduces undergraduates to the topic in an innovative way. Instead of compiling articles from professional journals, this reader presents twenty classroom-tested "lessons" from dedicated, experienced teachers and researchers in the field. Building the collection on the model of a successful undergraduate classroom experience, the coeditors asked the contributors to choose a topic, match it with their favorite lecture, and construct a lesson to reflect the way that they teach it in the classroom. The result is an engaging and versatile volume that presents the core ideas of environmental sociology in concise, accessible chapters.
Review
"I built my environmental sociology syllabus around this book. Twenty Lessons provides an excellent introduction to topics studied by environmental sociologists. The critical/political economy perspectives reflect most thinking in environmental sociology today, which is not--unfortunately--reflected by the majority of textbooks in the field. That makes this particular book very important."--Eric Bonds, University of Colorado-Boulder
"Twenty Lessons is an excellent reader for an environmental sociology course. It provides a great group of essays by distinguished scholars in the field. It is one of the top books for an undergraduate environmental sociology course out there."--Stefano B. Longo, University of Illinois, Springfield
About the Author
Kenneth A. Gould is Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and Professor of Sociology and Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Tammy L. Lewis is Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and Professor of Sociology and Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Gould and Lewis are coauthors of Ten Lessons in Introductory Sociology (OUP, 2013) and Thirty Readings in Introductory Sociology (OUP, 2012).
Table of Contents
An Introduction to Environmental Sociology,
Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. LewisPart 1: Theory
Lesson 1: The Social Construction of Nature: Of Computers, Butterflies, Dogs, and Trucks, Stella M. Capek
Lesson 2: Theories in Environmental Sociology, Luiz C. Barbosa
Part 2: Systemic Causes of Environmental Destruction
Lesson 3: The State and Policy: Imperialism, Exclusion, and Ecological Violence as State Policy, David Naguib Pellow
Lesson 4: Labor Productivity and the Environment, Allan Schnaiberg
Lesson 5: Corporate Power: The Role of the Global Media in Shaping What We Know About the Environment, Elizabeth H. Campbell
Lesson 6: The Science of Nature and the Nature of Science, Richard York
Lesson 7: Technological Change and the Environment, Kenneth A. Gould
Lesson 8: Population, Demography, and the Environment, Diane C. Bates
Lesson 9: Energy, Society, and the Environment, Shannon Bell
Part 3: Some Social Consequences of Environmental Disruption
Lesson 10: Environmental Inequality and Environmental Justice, Michael Mascarenhas
Lesson 11: The Sociology of Environmental Health, Sabrina McCormick
Lesson 12: Producing and Consuming Food: Justice and Sustainability in a Globalized World?, Jason Konefal and Maki Hatanaka
Lesson 13: From Farms to Factories: The Environmental Consequences of Swine Industrialization in North Carolina, Adam Driscoll and Bob Edwards
Lesson 14: Understanding Disaster Vulnerability: Floods and Hurricanes, Nicole Youngman
Lesson 15: Normalizing the Unthinkable: Climate Denial and Everyday Life, Kari Norgaard
Part 4: Some Social Responses to Environmental Disruption
Lesson 16: U.S. Environmental Movements, Robert J. Brulle
Lesson 17: Labor and the Environment, Brian K. Obach
Lesson 18: Environmental Movements in the Global South, Tammy L. Lewis
Lesson 19: Indigenous Cultures: Environmental Knowledge, Practice, and Rights, Bahram Tavakolian
Lesson 20: The Paradoxes of Sustainable Development: Focus on Ecotourism, Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis
Conclusion: Unanswered Questions and the Future of Environmental Sociology, Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis