Cultures of Environmentalism Empirical Studies in Environmental Sociology [Paperback]

As environmental issues increasingly impinge on society, sociologists have turned their attention to nature and the environment. However, unlike the majority of sociological work on environmental issues, which has too often been dominated by abstract theoretical disputes, this book concentrates on empirical studies in environmental sociology. It shows what sociologists can bring to current debates over environmental topics (including genetic modification) and - using the author's first-hand research - demonstrates how sociologists can best pursue practical work on environmental topics.Introduction: Studying Environmental Issues Sociologically PART I: CULTURES OF MOVEMENT: THE SOCIOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENTS AND PROBLEMS Social Movement Theory and the Character of Environmental Social Movements Shell, a Sure Target for Global Environmental Campaigning? [with John Forrester] How Environmental Problems Come to be 'Global': Sociological Perspectives on the Globalisation of the Environment PART II: STUDIES OF THE ENVIRONMENT, LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY Bog Standards: Contesting Conservation Value at a Public Inquiry Independence and Impartiality in Legal Defences of the Environment Modelling the Environment: Participation, Trust and Legitimacy in Urban Air-Quality Models PART III: CULTURES OF KNOWING AND PROVING: SCIENCE, EVIDENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT Green Ambivalence about Science Mad about the Buoy: Trust and Method in the Brent Spar Controversy Genetically Modified Organisms and the Unbearable Irresolution of Testing The Value of Environmental Sociology: Towards a Sociology of the Sustainable Society Bibliographic References

'In combining insights from contemporary science studies and environmental sociology, Steve Yearley masterfully picks out the organizational structures most relevant to fostering different types and outcomes of environmentalist ideas in today's cultures of environmental campaigning and activism...The book's lack of sociological jargon and l£-