Suchergebnisse

Investigates Bookchin's (eg, 1990) theory of social & ecological evolution. According to Bookchin, natural evolution is grounded in processes of mutualism & symbiosis. These processes were disrupted when hierarchy & domination were institutionalized in preliterate societies. It is suggested that Bookchin's approach is internally contradictory. In particular, his argument that the domination of human by human preceded the growth of hierarchical ideologies is refuted. Instead, Bookchin is charged with constructing straw men of preliterate societies, which he than batters for grounding social domination & exploitation in struggles against nature. In place of Bookchin's analysis, a dialectical theory of the enablements & constraints generated by ecological & social conditions is recommended. D. Ryfe

Environmental sociology remains on the periphery of the discipline because its traditional moment focuses on the material rather than social world and its synthetic moment looks as much like geography, anthropology, science studies, and cultural studies as it does sociology. This article will review contemporary visions of the history of nature and the environmental movement and their consequences of environmental sociological pedagogy. In doing so, it will suggest using O'Connor's political ecological theory of environmental problems to teach the range of problems and approaches associated with the subdiscipline. Two strategies are stressed. The first combines social and environmental history in coursework, nonclass exercises, and writing. The second pursues undergraduate research into the social and ecological history of "natural" places, such as woods and parks, and "social" places, such as blocks of student rentals and campus buildings.