SECTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY

Reshaping the Study of Sociology
 
SECTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY

Winter 2021 Section Newsletter

The Winter 2021 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from the section chair, Rachel Shwom; Call for Paper guidelines for the 2021 American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting (including the topics of our section sessions); Call for Award Nominations for the Marvin E. Olsen Student Paper Award and the Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award (more information on these and other awards on Section Awards; and many excellent recent publications (both books and articles).

Fall 2020 Section Newsletter

The Fall 2020 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from the section chair, Rachel Shwom, on the social, environmental, and health problems we are personally and collectively facing and how our section is progressing on addressing some of these problems; feature essays including a very timely one on zoonotic spillover, normal accidents, and treadmill theory by Michael Ryan Lengefeld, Greg Hooks, and Chad L. Smith and one on how environmental case studies can help our environmental sociology courses by Amanda McMillan Lequieu; section events and news; section awards and calls for papers; and recent publications.

Summer 2020 Section Newsletter

The Summer 2020 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from the section chair, Jill Lindsey Harrison, on what we can do as environmental sociologists to challenge white supremacy in our section and beyond; a statement in solidary with and support of Black lives from the council members; feature essays including one on abolition and environmental sociology by Lindsey Dillon, one on how the Natural Hazards Center and CONVERGE Facility at the University of Colorado Boulder supports research on COVID-19 by Lori Peek, Candace Evans, and Jessica Austin, and one on job market advice by Janet Lorenzen; section events and news; section awards and calls; and recent publications.

Statement in Solidarity and Support of Black Lives

Founded in 2013 following the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, the Black Lives Matter movement challenges the pervasive, institutionalized violence against Black communities in and beyond the United States. Evidence about and protests against the persistence of anti-Black racism in the United States reinforce the relevance and urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement and the broader movement against white supremacy and other forms of oppression with which it intersects. Evidence of the urgency is punctuated by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery by police and white vigilantes, and by the racial disparities in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths.

– “ASA Section on Environmental Sociology Stands in Solidarity with and Support of Black Lives”

Read the rest of the ASA Section on Environmental Sociology Statement in Solidarity with and Support of Black Lives online here (link) or it is available for download (PDF).

 

Spring 2020 Section Newsletter

The Spring 2020 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from the section chair, Jill Lindsey Harrison; information on bylaws changes that will be on this year’s section ballot; an interview of section members plying their trade outside academia; feature articles on The Ties that Bind and Building Partnerships to Inform Policy; an announcement concerning the CONVERGE Cultural Competence training in disaster and hazard research; and recent publications. Two new career changes are also reported under the Transitions Section.

Diversifying the Canon Project

As part of efforts to advance diversity and inclusion in the Section on Environmental Sociology there is an organized reorientation of how we present our subdiscipline to the public and each other. In this new resource, available both online (link) and as a downloadable file (PDF), you will find bodies of literature that help to broaden the “canon” of environmental sociology by elevating questions of race, gender, sexuality, indigeneity, ability, and other underrepresented bodies of literature. This is a work in progress, and we encourage people to contact the Webmaster with additions.

Winter 2020 Section Newsletter

The Winter 2020 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from the chair concerning section business and activities; an insightful feature article remembering the late Dr. Denton Morrison, authored by Dr. Riley Dunlap; and calls for nominations for section awards. You will also find other important announcements and information on recent environmental sociology-related publications.

Fall 2019 Section Newsletter

The Fall 2019 issue of the Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter is now available for download (PDF). In this issue: A message from our new Section Chair, Jill Lindsey Harrison; several thoughtful feature articles from section members; calls for syllabi, abstracts, and literature on underrepresented areas in environmental sociology; a climate change module for introduction to sociology courses; recent publications; and other section and member news, including photos from the 2019 ASA meeting in New York. Lazarus Adua, the current newsletter editor, has said that this is about the richest issue (in terms of content) he has edited since taking on the position. You do not want to miss what is in it!

Racial Exclusion and Equity in Environmental Sociology

The Section on Environmental Sociology (SES) is a comparatively new section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The section was officially formed in 1976 as an outgrowth of the U.S. environmental movement and the need to strengthen sociologists’ ability to contribute to environmental impact assessments, which had recently been mandated by national legislation (Caldwell 1988). Over the past four decades, membership in the SES has steadily grown. However, while there have been some gains in diversity in the discipline of sociology as a whole, these gains have not been achieved in the SES (Mascarenhas et al. 2017).

– “Confronting White Space and White Ignorance: A Summary of the Committee on Racial Equity’s Mission and Work (2016-2019)” (Mascarenhas et al. 2019)

Read this and other reports from the Section on Environmental Sociology’s (SES) Committee on Racial Equity (CRE) here (link).

Environmental Sociology Section Election Results

The Environmental Sociology Section is proud to announce the results of our recent election. Our newly elected officers will assume office following the business meeting of the Section at the ASA Annual Meeting.

Chair-Elect: Rachael Shwom, Rutgers State University of New Jersey
Teaching, Training and Practice Committee Chair: Janet Lorenzen, Willamette University
Membership Committee Chair: Raoul Liévanos, University of Oregon