Assignement no: 1

Q: Emergence of environmental Sociology?

Solution:
Emergence:
The process of becoming visible after being concealed.
Introduction to sociology:
Sociology is a Social Science. There is a difference
between Science and Social Science. We live in a society with full of social and
natural calamities. It is not in the hands of common man to control the situation.
The study of social problems should be without personal bias. The proper
applications of scientific principles are necessary. So Sociology is a Science which
tackles problems by using Scientific methods. Science asks us to find out the actual
sequence of the incidents and their interrelation. Sociology Studies the incidents in
a systematic way. In a society we interact with human beings. So it is the duty of
Sociology to understand human interactions. Society is united on the basis of
Social relationships. Individuals learn the culture and aspects of social life by
social processes. This process of socialization changes the raw human being into a
social being. A teacher should build a noble person for future society through
sociology. He teaches to behave like responsible persons with humanity. Education
put for the various experiences for the students. These experiences set the students
to understand society and to adopt social conditions in a desirable manner .Applied
sociology includes various practical uses of Sociology in planning, adjustment with
the changing time, preparing welfare program, removal of illiteracy, corruption,
communalization, exploitation etc.

Environmental sociology:
The association between societal well-being and environmental
quality is an important topic of Sociological inquiry. Environmental Sociology as a
sub discipline within Sociology explores the various forms of interaction between

human society and the environment. Environmental Sociologists seek to

understand a variety of topics, including agrifood systems, environmentalism as a
social movement, the ways in which societal members perceive environmental
problems, the origins of human-induced environmental decline, the relationship
between population dynamics, health, and the environment, and the role that elites
play in harming the environment. The inequitable social distribution of
environmental hazards is another central area of Environmental Sociological
research, with scholars examining the processes by which socially disadvantaged
populations come to experience greater exposures to myriad environmental hazards
including natural disasters. Environmental Sociology represents one of several
focal areas of research and teaching in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. Incoming students may explore any topical area
within Environmental Sociology, but our facultys specific expertise includes
population-environment dynamics, agrifood systems, environmental inequality and
justice, environmental hazards and disasters, environmental regulatory agency
dynamics, the sources of variation in power plants carbon dioxide emissions, and
the role that elite-controlled institutions play in harming the environment.
Complementing these strengths, faculty in the Sociology Departments other
concentrations conduct research in areas that strongly inform environmental
sociology, including gender and race relations, population-health dynamics,
political economy, criminology, and the governance of commodity chains.

Emergence of Environmental Sociology:

In 1944, what we now know as the Department of Sociology
was part of a multidisciplinary Social Sciences Department, "Economics,
Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology," located in the Arts Building (now
Hellems). Hellems remained the home of Sociology until we moved into Ketchum
Hall in 1983. Ketchum, named after long-time Dean of Engineering Milo
Ketchum, was built in the early 1930s.Economics, Sociology, Political Science,
and Anthropology was headed from by an economist, Morris E. Garnsey, from
1944 to 1947. Another economist, Earl C. Crockett, was Department Chair from
1947 to 1949. Then in 1950, the department was renamed "Social Science," and
was headed by a sociologist, Gorrdon Barker. In 1951-52, Earl Crockett again
served as chair. In 1952-53, sociologist Gordon Barker again became Chair of
Social Science, and Omer C. Stewart was the head of the Sociology division. As
far as we can tell, the multidisciplinary Social Sciences Department disappeared in
1956-57, and Sociology became an independent department in that year.

Environmental sociology, as scientific and academic production, emerged along

with the social protest movements that arose in the early 1960s and the evidence
of the emergency situation caused by the degradation of natural resources and
industrial development. The birth of the environmental movement in the 1960s
surprised sociologists, who, at that time, did not have a theoretical model or
tradition of empirical research to guide their understanding of the relation between
society and nature (VIOLA & LEIS, 1992).
The pioneers of classical sociology, Durkheim, Marx and Weber had tangentially
touched upon the question; beyond this, only isolated works appeared occasionally
in the area of rural sociology, without promoting a substantial accumulation of
knowledge that would have permitted the creation of a theoretical field. Hannigan
(1997) believes there are two explanations for the fact that sociologists
marginalized the environmental question in their theoretical work. One of these
refers to the weaknesses inherent in geographical and biological determinism and
its conservative vision in understanding change and social conflict; the other
alludes to the prevalent thinking that, in the middle of the XXth. century,
emphasized the literature of the sociology of modernization. The belief in progress
and in human ability to discover the causes and solutions for all problems would be
responsible for
the entrance of countries to modernity. What is now identified as environmental
concern was seen as backward and an obstacle to development, to progress.
Certainly, there were critics of the development paradigm, the Marxist sociologists;
but, even so, they tended to see the environmental problem as a detour from the
more crucial questions of humanism. Giuliani (1998) points out that sociology was
born marked by the thinking that makes society independent from nature, a concept
seen as a conquest of modernity. Buttel (1992) points out the ambiguous
relationship of sociology, in its developmental stage, with the natural sciences. If,
on one side, sociological thinking was influenced by concepts coming from the
natural sciences, on the other, the real need to legitimate the social sciences
demanded a reaction against the simplicity of explanations surrounding biological
and geographic determinism, as was seen earlier .In this context, although in a
differentiated form and principally since the 1960s, groups of sociologists began
to give importance to the environmental problem and perceive its relevance and
range, which contributed to its inclusion in the agenda of governments,
international organizations, social movements and business sectors around the
world. It became evident that the environmental question was not just

one more passing fad, nor a dramatization by militants or radical scientists, such as
the so-called radical ecologists or political ecologists who initiated work in the area
in the 1960s (FERREIRA, 1992). Environmental sociology assumes a significant
position in studying the divergence and conflict about nature (understood here, in
its broadest sense, as both the natural and constructed) and the causes and extent of
environmental problems among the diverse actors involved (BUTTEL, 1987;
REDCLIFT & WOODGATE, 1996; HANNINGAN, 1997; CATTON & DUNLAP,
1998). This type of orientation developed especially in the mid 1980s
contributing to theoretical revitalization and to a greater projection within the
discipline process motivated, in part, by the growth of environmental movements
and the increasing concern for the global effects of environmental risks (MOL,
1993; VIOLA, 1997). The previous period, between the 1970s and the beginning
of the 1980s, was characterized by scattered works, but of no less importance

What Exactly Is Environmental Sociology?

The technical definition of environmental sociology is the sociological study of
how humans interact with the various aspects of the environment. In other words;
how people treat the various aspects of the environment such as pollution,
conservation and recycling. This type of study is one that is vital when it comes to
helping find better ways for both nature and mankind to interact, propagate and
thrive.There are two schools of thought when it comes to environmental sociology;
constructivism and realism. The constructivists tend to be those individuals who
develop ways that will help to improve the environment, however, they do tend to
be on the more extremist side in their methods. The realists are those who want to
help find the solutions needed to improve the environment, however, these
individuals also understand that there are some concessions that need to be made
out of necessity for the benefit of humans.

Importance of Environmental Sociology:

While there may be many individuals who dont see any validity in the study of
environmental sociology, aside from the academic interest, there is, in fact, several
reasons why this course of study is such a vital one. Consider the aspect that,
without knowing how the environment and society interact, it becomes all too easy
to put a strain on one that later has devastating effects on the other. However, by
understanding the correlation between these two aspects of life it makes finding a
happy balance that benefits both Mother Nature and mankind a much easier
proposal than what it could be when lacking the necessary information

Benefits of Environmental Sociology:

There are several benefits to be found when it comes to environmental sociological
studies. Of course the first and most obvious benefit that can be derived from this
course of study is a much more enlightened sense of the give and take that
transpires between humans and their environmental surroundings. However, there
are more, subtle, benefits that can be derived from this type of study. One such
benefit would be the ability to conduct analytical research that can help when it
comes to finding a careful balance that helps benefit mankind, as well as
preserving as much of the environment as possible.