(Socio) Environmental Problems Flashcards
Lois Gibbs and Love Canal explores…
What it means to be radical.
Who developed the precautionary principle?
Lois Gibbs.
Precautionary Principle
When we make decisions around the environment, it is based around the knowledge that we have.
Is radical always a bad thing?
No, can lead to positive social change.
What did Severn Culls-Suzuki talk about?
Wealth, equity, greed, poverty, etc.
What are the social causes of environmental problems?
- Population growth.
- Industrial and economic development.
- Cultural values and attitudes.
Greenwashing
A business practices as a result of industrial and economic development.
What are the cultural values and attitudes that lead to environmental problems?
Individualism, materialism, militarism.
What is the first wave of growing awareness for environmental problems?
- Environmentalism (1960/70’s).
- Activism.
- Protests.
What was explored in the Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi?
- Relationship between economic development and the environment.
- Apples with spots.
Climate Change
Attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere.
Energy Use
Fossil fuels, non-conventional sources.
Air Pollution
Combustion engine, wood-burning, chemical use, greenhouse gases, ozone layer.
Natural Resource Depletion
Deforestation, desertification, ecological debt.
Land Pollution
Solid waste, nuclear waste, pesticides.
Water Pollution
Sewage, industrial development, spills, overconsumption, contamination of groundwater.
Human Health
Over-use of chemicals, disposal of pharmaceuticals, carcinogenic products, environmental illness.
Ecology
Study of how living organisms interact with the natural environment.
Natural (Biophysical) Environment
Earth’s surface and atmosphere — air, water, soil, and resources needed to sustain living organisms.
Technology
Knowledge that people apply to the task of living in a physical environment.
Planned Obsolescence
Deliberate design of products to have shortened life span.
Give examples of planned obsolescence:
- Phones.
- Laptops.
- Cars.
- Light bulbs.
- Video games.
- Batteries.
- University textbooks.
I=PAT
- Environmental impact (I).
- reflects a society’s population (P),
- it’s level of affluence/poverty (A),
- and it’s level of technology (T).
What matters most in environmental sociology?
What matters most is getting production and consumption under control.
What do we have to do in the world according to I=PAT?
- Lessons:
- Increasing P.
- Rising level of A.
- Use more powerful T.
Environmental Deficit
Serious, long-term harm to the environment caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material affluence (consumption).
___ ___ agree that human society is the root cause of environmental problems.
Natural sciences.
Environmental problems are ___ constructions.
Social.
The decisions about solutions and their costs are ___.
Social.
Who said that environmental problems are not about bad leaders or individuals, but about how we are collectively moving.
Laszewski.
What did Sarah Harmer talk about in her song Escarpment Blues?
- SF argument.
- Political argument.
- Things get watered down in the arguments.
Environmental Sociology
Sociological study of societal-environmental interactions.
What does environmental sociology examine?
- Cause.
- Impacts.
- Address.
- Socially defined.
What is the second wave of growing awareness for environmental problems?
1980’s human consumption and economic development.
Characteristics of second wave of environmental problems?
Climate change, environmental refugees, fracking, technological disasters.
Normal Accidents
The very complexity of modern technologies ensures they will inevitably fail, although in unpredictable ways.
Who came up with the term normal accidents?
Charles Perrow.
Risk Society
Successful industrialization often means the end of scarcity, but it has caused a multitude of problems (risks) and stress.
Who came up with the risk society?
Ulrich Beck.
The risk society says that society is organized around the constant response to ___.
Stress.
Biotechnology
Technique that uses living organisms (or parts of them) to make or modify a product for specific uses (such as GMO, GIO, GE foods).
Divide over GM crops discusses:
- Benefits.
- Risks.
- Ethics.
Double Bind
Distressing dilema in communication in which people receive tow or more conflicting messages; messages often negate each other.
Two areas in Canada known as Chemical (cancer) Alley.
Fort Sask and Sarnia.
Environmental problems from the SF perspective:
- Interdependency of human beings and the environment.
- Socio-ecological problems as latent dysfunctions — unintended consequences.
- Ecological Modernization.
Ecological Modernization
Using technology to address environmental issues. Environmental protection is not necessarily in conflict with economic growth.
Sustainable Development
Meet the needs of current generations without threatening the future of subsequent generations.
How does Marx view environmental problems?
Alienation from nature: “social metabolic rift.” Town-Country: soil fertility exhaustion from use of chemical fertilizers and failure to replenish nutrients.
Treadmill of Production
Environmental problems are irrationalities of capitalism, caused by arrangements that maximize economic growth and profit.
Environmental Injustice
The tendency for socially and politically marginalized groups to bear the brunt of environmental problems.
Environmental Racism
Pattern by which environmental hazards are greatest for pool people/those without influence, especially minorities.
E-Waste
Toxic materials and waste from electronic equipment.
Ecofeminist Perspective
Connection between the domination of women, people of colour, children, the poor, and the domination of nature — environmental problems.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on environmental problems:
- Meanings, labels, and definitions.
- Greenwashing.
- Framing.
Greenwashing
Companies portray their corporate image and products as being “environmentally friendly.”
Framing
Collection of stereotypes that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events.
Greenwashing manipulates ___ ___.
Public perception.
Andrew Szasz
Consumption of bottled water.
Maude Barlow
Water as a human right.
Peter Brabeck-Lemathe
Water is a commodity.
Inverted Quarantine
Environment is ill, so remove ourselves from it by buying filtered water.
Inverted quarantine only works if…
You have money.
Social Constructionism
Process by which knowledge claims and environmental problems are framed.
Give an example of popularizers.
David Suzuki Foundation.
Strategies for action for environmental activism.
- Environmental activism.
- Green industry, energy.
- Environmental education.
- Sustainable agreements.
- International agreements.
