Suchergebnisse

How are human societies changing the global environment? Is sustainable development really possible? Can environmental risks be avoided? Is our experience of nature changing?This book shows how questions about the environment cannot be properly answered without taking a sociological approach. It provides a comprehensive guide to the ways in which sociologists have responded to the challenge of environmental issues as diverse as global warming, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss and marine pollution. It also covers sociological ideas such as risk, interpretations of nature, environmental realism, ecological modernization and globalization. Environmentalism and green politics are also introduced. Unlike many other texts in the field, the book takes a long-term view, locating environmental dilemmas within the context of social development and globalization. The Environment: A Sociological Introduction is unique in presenting environmental issues at an introductory level that assumes no specialist knowledge on the part of readers. The book is written in a remarkably clear and accessible style, and uses a rich range of empirical examples from across the globe to illustrate key debates. A carefully assembled glossary and annotated further reading suggestions also help to bring ideas to life. The book will be a valuable resource for students in a range of disciplines, including sociology, geography and the environmental sciences, but also for anyone who wants to get to grips with contemporary environmental debates.

European new social movement (NSM) theory was developed to describe & explain the apparently unique character of the wave of collective action that began in the 1960s & continues to this day. Key characteristics of NSM theory are a post-industrial orientation, middle-class activist core, loose organizational form, use of symbolic direct actions, creation of new identities, & a "self-limiting radicalism." The theory's claims to movement innovation were later criticized by many as' exaggerated & ahistorical. However, the filtering down of key NSM elements into social movement studies has led to changing definitions of what social movements actually are & opened up new opportunities for the integration of religious movements into the social movements mainstream. Using the case of radical Islam, & with particular reference to the terrorist social movement organization al-Qa'ida, this article argues that drawing on key features of NSM theory should lead to a better understanding of radical Islam as' well as a more realistic explanation of its continuing development & transformation. References. Adapted from the source document.

The secularization paradigm has dominated explanatory accounts of the Islamic resurgence. It sees Islamic "fundamentalism" as the reaction of bazaaris, peasants, & rural dwellers to secular social, political, & economic change, but is less successful in explaining why social groups that are succeeding in secular societies are turning to Islam. This paper examines the relationship between "established" & "outsider" groups in Turkey to focus more closely on the process of secular "establishment," which helps to explain why Islam is again becoming a force for radical change. The article argues that secularism was only ever partially established, thus Islamists were able to maintain their own "group charisma" that, combined with the unintended consequences of certain state policies, produced a gradually shifting balance of power between the established & outsiders. Adapted from the source document.

The al-Qaida phenomenon and beyond : myths and realities -- Militant Islam in local, national and transnational networks -- Re-interpreting the Umma : islamic nationalism and transnationalism -- Social closure and takfir : the interrelationship between secular and militant switchmen -- Challenging the risk society : contextualising the impact of Islamic terrorism -- Reacting to the militant risk : de-civilising in the name of civilisation -- Conclusion