NationalResearchUniversity - Higher School of Economics, Moscow
Sociological Faculty
Master Programme“Complex Social Analysis”,Course “Environmental Sociology (Social Ecology)” 2012/2013, Elective Course, 8 Credits
Title of the course:Environmental sociology - human use of natural resources and environmental consequences
Teacher: Prof. Karl Bruckmeier
Language: English
Time: 3. Module (January 2013– February2013)
Course plan and syllabus
I. Syllabus: Schedule, lectures and seminars
The course is given in 11 lectures and 3workshops of 2 hours each:
Part 1: Introduction – development of social ecology and environmental sociology, overview Lectures 1-6, January – February 2013
Part 2: Deepening – Problems and themes of environmental research Lectures 7-11 + 3workshops, February 2013
Part 1:
Date / Lecture/seminar – texts for reading, theme / Time, roomMonday
January 21, 2013 / Lecture 1:Environmental sociology, origins/history of a new subdiscipline:the development of the sub-discipline - themes: nature and society, environmental problems, environmental awareness, natural resource use, environmental movements (texts 5, 7) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Wednesday
January 23,
2013 / Lecture 2: Environmental sociology, approaches and methods:the knowledge generation processes - basic concepts, theories, methods for environmental research; non-sociological approaches in sociology (texts 4, 9) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Monday
January 28, 2013 / Lecture 3:Main perspectives and authors:classical contributions; from Catton & Dunlap – the HEP/NEP-paradigms; Mol & Spaargaren – ecological modernization and environmental movements; Beck & Giddens – risk society and reflexive modernity (texts 2, 6, 10) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Wednesday
January 30,
2013 / Lecture 4:Main perspectives and authors:constructivism and beyond - recent contributions from Yanitzky – environmental movements in Russia; Wallerstein & Rice: World System Theory and ecologically unequal exchange (texts 11, 15, 16) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Monday
February 4, 2013 / Lecture 5: Neighbouring disciplines and overlapping discourses:interaction society/nature - human, cultural and social ecology; common pool resources, natural resource management (text 3, 12) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Wednesday
February 6,
2013 / Lecture 6: Neighbouring disciplines and overlapping discourses:cultural, social, economic and environmental changes - environmental and ecological economics; environmental history (texts 1, 13) / 15.00h-16.20h
a. …
Part 2:
Monday February 11,
2013 / Lecture 7:Environmental sociology – thematic perspectives:fields of research - environmental awareness, value changes and changes of life-styles, environmental movements (Northern and Southern countries); technological change and system change (ecological modernization, ”greening of the economy”, “dematerialization”, “degrowth”); (text 18, 20) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Wednesday
February 13,
2013 / Lecture 8:Environmental sociology – thematic perspectives:interdisciplinary themes - poverty, population growth and development (Malthusian questions); quantifying and measuring natural resource use and its impacts (social and environmental impact analysis; indicators for human resource use; risk, vulnerability and resilience); (texts 19, 20) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. ….
Monday
February 18,
2013 / Lecture 9:Environmental sociology - problems and risks:historical and modern societies - problems of natural resource use in the history of human societies (scarcity, overuse, distribution); environmental problems/risks in industrial/ modern societies (industrial pollution of the environment, agricultural pollution of the environment, life-styles and private consumption/households); (texts 21, 24) / 15.10h-16.30h
a. …
Wednesday
February 20,
2013 / Lecture 10:Environmental sociology - problems and risks:the 21st century – economic globalization and global environmental change: biodiversity reduction, climate change, land use change; ecological distribu-tion conflicts and unequal exchange – industrialized countries and “the global South” (texts 26, 27, 28) / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Monday
February 25, 2013 / Lecture 11: Global change – problems and solutions:towards solutions - social-ecological Systems/ SES – integration of world system and earth system; sustainable development and the future global society – scenarios (text 17, 23, 29) / 15.10h-16.30h
a. …
Monday
February 25, 2013 / Workshop 1: Presentation and discussion of litera-ture (selected texts) by working groups of students: texts 4, 8 / 16.40h-18.00h
a.…
Wednesday
February 27,
2013 / Workshop 2 – Presentation and discussion of litera-ture (selected texts) by working groups of students: texts 15, 16 / 15.10h-16.30h
a. …313
Wednesday,
February 27,
2013 / Workshop 3 – Presentation and discussion of litera-ture (selected texts) by working groups of students: texts 22, 25 / 16.40h-18.00h
a. …
Course literature (texts)
The literature will be copied in a course compendium (electronic and paper copies) for the participants before the course starts.
Part 1: Literature/texts used in the lectures and workshops
(a) Book (selected chapters):
1. Robert B. Marks, The Origins of the Modern World(Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham et al.), 2002) – chapters4,5, conclusion
(b) Texts from scientific journals/papers and anthologies:
2. Beck, Ulrich, 2000. Risk Society Revisited: Theory, Politics and Research Programmes (in: Barbara Adam et al., eds., The risk society and beyond: critical issues for social theory, Sage: London et al., pp. 211-229)
3. Becker, Egon; Jahn, Thomas, Societal Relationsto Nature. Outline of a Critical Theory in the Ecological Crisis (http: // )
4. Walker, Gavin, 2005. Sociological theory and the natural environment. History of the Human Sciences, 18, 1, pp. 77-106.
5.Buttel, Fredrick H., et al.,2002. Sociological Theory and the Environment: An Overview and Introduction (in: R. E, Dunlap et al., eds., Sociological Theory and the Environment. Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights. Rowman and Littlefield: Lanham, Boulder, New York and Oxford, pp. 3-32)
6. Catton, William R; Dunlap, Riley, A, 2002. Comparison of Environmental and Natural Resource Sociology (in: Society and Natural Resources, 15, pp. 239-249)
7. Cerulo, Karen A., 2009. Nonhumans in Social Interaction (in:Annual Review of Sociology, 35, pp. 531–552)
8. Demeritt, David, 2002. What is the `social construction of nature´? A typology and sympathetic critique (in:Progress in Human Geography, 26, 6, pp. 767-790).
9. Dunlap, Riley, et al., 2000. “Measuring the Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale” (in: Journal of Social Issues, 56, no, 3, pp. 425-442)
10.Mol, Arthur; Spaargaren, Gert, 2005.From Additions and Withdrawals to Environmental Flows: Reframing Debates in the Environmental Social Sciences (in: Organization Environment, 18,1, pp. 91-107)
11. Mol Arthur, 2009. Environmental Deinstitutionalization in Russia (in: Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 11, 3, pp. 223-242)
12. Ostrom, Elinor, 2007. A diagnostic approach to go beyond panaceas (in: PNAS, 104, 39, pp. 15181-15187)
13. Perelman, Michael, 2003. Myths of the Market: Economics and the Environment. Organization & Environment, 16, pp. 168-226
14. Yanitsky, Oleg, 2005. The Value Shift of the Russian Greens (in: International Review of Sociology -/Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 15, 2, pp. 363-380)
15. Yanitsky, Oleg, 2009. The Shift of Environmental Debates in Russia (Current Sociology, 57, 6, pp.747-766)
16. Yanitsky, Oleg, 2011. Modernization: the burden of the past (The Sociological Review, 59, 4, pp. 741-757)
Part 2: Literature/texts used in the lectures and workshops
(a) Book (selected chapters):
17. Electris, C., et al., 2009. The Century Ahead: Four Global Scenarios. Tellus Institute, Boston, chapters 1, 8, 9, 10
(b) Articles from scientific journals and anthologies:
18. Goldman, Michael; Schurman, Rachel, 2000. Closing the “Great Divide”: New Social Theory on Society and Nature. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, pp. 563-584.
19. Bogatyrev, L. G. Some Trends in Research on the Biosphere (Russian Journal of Ecology, 2004, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 1–9; Translated from Ekologiya, no. 1, 2004, pp. 3–12; in Russian and English)
20. Burke, Bryan E., Hardin Revisited: A Critical Look at Perception and the Logic of the Commonsin: (Human Ecology, 2001, vol. 29, no. 4, pp.449-476)
21.Fischer-Kowalski, Marina, On the History of Industrial Metabolism (in: Perspectives on Industrial Ecology, ed. Dominique Bourg & Suren Erkman, 2003, Greenleaf Publishing, pp. 35-45)
22.Haberl, Helmut, et al., 2011. A Socio-metabolic Transition towards
Sustainability? Challenges forAnother Great Transformation (in:Sustainable Development, 19, pp. 1–14)
23. Martens, Pim; Raza, Mohsin, 2010.Is Globalisation Sustainable? (in: Sustainability, 2, pp. 280-293)
24.Martinez-Alier, Joan, 2008. Social Metabolism, Ecological Distribution Conflicts, and Languages of Valuation (Conference presentation, EHEES, Paris, 11-13 Sept. 2008).
25. Newell, Peter, 2008. The political economy of global environmental governance. Review of International Studies, 34, pp. 507-529.
26. Rice, James, 2007. Ecological Unequal Exchange: Consumption, Equity, and Unsustainable Structural Relationships within the Global Economy (in: International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 48, 1, pp. 43-72).
27. Saloranta, Tuomo M., 2001. Post-Normal Science and the Global Climate Change Issue (in: Climatic Change, 50, pp. 395-404).
28. York, Richard; Rosa, Eugene; Dietz, Thomas, Footprints on the Earth: The Environmental Consequences of Modernity (in: American Sociological Review, 2003, 68, pp. 279-300)
29. Young, Oran R., et al., 2006. The globalization of socio-ecological systems: An agenda for scientific research (in: Global Environmental Change, 16, pp. 304-316).
Literature discussed in the workshops:
Workshop 1: presentation and discussion of texts 4, 8
Workshop 2: presentation and discussion of texts 15, 16
Workshop 3: presentation and discussion of texts 22, 25
II. The course plan (aims and themes of the course)
- Aims of the course
The course provides basic knowledge (part 1) and in-depth knowledge (part 2) about environmental problems in modern societies and the human use of natural resources (renewable and non-renewable resources). The perspective is interdisciplinary with environmental sociology as basic subject area. Knowledge from different disciplines is used to understand present environmental and resource use problems (potential exhaustion of fossil resources, degradation of the global environment, availability of certain natural resources). The analysis of exemplary problems of human resource use helps to demonstrate the challenges of resource management, the relevance of natural resources for the further development of economy and society, and potential solutions to complex environmental problems.
After having finished the course students shall be able
(a)to assess critically the environmental problems in modern societies in the contexts of social, political and economic action,
(b)to understand the main problems that are linked with availability, access to, use, management, recycling of material and other natural resources,
(c)to analyze empirically and practically the problems of natural resource use in concrete local, regional or national contexts of economy and relevant policies,
(d)to understand the consequences and long-term effects of specific forms of resource use for the economic system, the society, and the environment,
(e)to argue individually and critically (as well orally as in written form) about main problems of natural resource use in present society.
- The course program (content)
The course includes lectures and seminars and requires from the students individual reading of the course literature, group work for the seminar sessions, and an individual examination essay.
Part 1: Introduction – development of environmental sociology
Theme 1. Environmental sociology – overview: history/development, themes and methods
1.1 Origins/history - a new subdiscipline of sociology (since the 1970s in USA, UK, France, Germany): themes – environmental problems, environmental awareness, natural resources and resource use practices, environmental justice
1.2Basic concepts, approaches and methods – knowledge generation
Theme 2. Main perspectives and authors
2.1 William Catton & Riley Dunlap – the HEP/NEP-paradigms
2.2 A. Mol & G. Spaargaren – ecological modernization and environmental movements
2.3 Ulrich Beck – risk society
2.4 Oleg Yanitzky – environmental movements in Russia
2.5 Social construction of nature (social constructivism)
2.6 Immanuel Wallerstein & James Rice: World System Theory and ecologically unequal exchange
Theme 3. Neighbouring fields and overlapping discourses
Environmental sociology as part of a broader field of interdisciplinary environmental social sciences:
3.1Human, cultural and social ecology
3.2 Natural resource management
3.3 Environmental and Ecological Economics
3.4 Environmental history
Part 2: Deepening – Problems and themes of environmental research
Theme 4. Environmental sociology – thematic perspectives
4.1 Environmental awareness, value changes (“postmaterial values”) and changes of lifestyles, environmental movements (industrial countries, Southern countries – ecofeminism, environmentalism of the poor)
4.2 Technological change and system change (ecological modernization, ”greening of the economy”, “dematerialization”)
4.3 Poverty, population growth and development (Malthusian questions)
4.4 Quantifying and measuring natural resource use and its impacts (social and environmental impact analysis;indicators for human resource use; risk, vulnerability and resilience)
Theme 5: Environmental sociology - problems and risks
5.1 Problems of natural resource use in the history of human societies (scarcity, overuse, distribution)
5.2 The emergence of environmental problems/risks in industrial/modern societies (industrial pollution of the environment, agricultural pollution of the environment, lifestyles and private consumption/households)
5.3 Economic globalization and global environmental change: biodiversity reduction, climate change, land use change
5.4 Ecological distribution conflicts and unequal exchange – industrialized countries and “the global South”
Theme 6. Global change – problems and solutions
6.1 Social-ecological Systems/SES – Integration of World System, and Earth System
6.2Sustainable development and the future global society – scenarios
The course program is to be specified in a detailed course syllabus every time the course is read. The course syllabus can change over time through updating of literature and themes.
- The course literature
The course literature includes English texts from social ecology, environmental sociology and neighboring disciplines. An updated list with the course literature is given in the syllabus for every term. Course literature will be handed out to the participants in form of a course compendium (electronic or paper copies).
- Examination
The examination includes three parts, all required to pass the course. The first part is obligatory participation in all lectures and seminars of the course, including active participation in the seminars. The second part is a group work (presentation and discussion of a text from the course literature in a seminar session, done in small working groups). The third part is an individual homework in form of a short individual essay.
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