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An Invitation to Environmental Sociology
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An Invitation to Environmental Sociology

Fifth Edition

Exploring the sociology of environmental possibility.



512 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
“This is not only the best environmental sociology text I’ve used, but it is the best text of any type I’ve used in college-level teaching.” –Dr. Cliff Brown, University of New Hampshire

Join author Mike Bell and new co-author Loka Ashwood as they explore “the biggest community of all” and bring out the sociology of environmental possibility. The highly-anticipated Fifth Edition of An Invitation to Environmental Sociology delves into this rapidly changing and growing field in a clear and artful manner. Written in a lively, engaging style, this book explores the broad range of topics in environmental sociology with a personal passion rarely seen in sociology textbooks. The Fifth Edition contains new chapters entitled “Money and Markets,” “Technology and Science,” and “Living in the Ecological Society.” 
 
Part I: The Material
 
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems and Society
 
Chapter 2: Consumption and Materialism
 
Chapter 3: Money and Markets
 
Chapter 4: Technology and Science
 
Chapter 5: Population and Development
 
Chapter 6: Body and Justice
 
Part II: The Ideal
 
Chapter 7: The Ideology of Environmental Domination
 
Chapter 8: The Ideology of Environmental Concern
 
Chapter 9: The Human Nature of Nature
 
Chapter 10: The Rationality of Risk
 
Part III: The Practical
 
Chapter 11: Modernizing the Ecological Society
 
Chapter 12: Governing the Ecological Society
 
Chapter 13: Living in an Ecological Society

Supplements

Instructor site

Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:
 

  • Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Lecture Notes summarize key concepts on a chapter-by-chapter basis to help with preparation for lectures and class discussions.
    Chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer assistance with lecture and review preparation by highlighting essential content, features, and artwork from the book.
  • Chapter exercises for individual or group projects provide lively and stimulating ideas for use in and out of class reinforce active learning. 
  • Final Exam and General Course Projects
  • Video and Multimedia Links, including carefully selected chapter-by-chapter video and multimedia content which enhance classroom-based explorations of key topic.
  • Recommended Readings list useful books and articles for additional study.

An interesting topic which is quite densely written. Whilst it would not be a core text or an area covered in any depth during the social work course on which I teach, it does cover some timely and important issues and I would perhaps recommend to third year or postgraduate students.

Dr Robert J Hagan
Department of Sociology & Applied Social Studies, University of Ulster
October 8, 2015

A bit too geography focussed for my environmental science class. May adapt for a 4th year MSc / MSi module on technology & society.

Professor Iseult Lynch
Schl of Geog, Earth & Env'l Sciences, Birmingham University
June 30, 2016

The content is relevant to the course objectives. This textbook will provide students with an enterprising opportunity to explore newer trends in the field of environmental sociology. As an introductory text it covers a number of critical issues and provide many relevant examples and insights into the emerging challenges that intersect human behavior and its impact on the environment.

Mr Andrew Hicks
Faculty of Social Sciences/Department of Sociology, University of Guyana
October 21, 2015

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 3


Michael Mayerfeld Bell

Michael Mayerfeld Bell is Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For his day job, he is principally an environmental sociologist and a social theorist, focusing on dialogics, the sociology of nature, and social justice. These concerns for the world have led him to studies of agroecology, the body, community, consumption, culture, development, food, democracy, economic sociology, gender, inequality, participation, place, politics, rurality, the sociology of music, and more. He is also a part-time composer of grassroots and classical music, and a mandolinist, guitarist, and singer. More About Author

Loka Louise Ashwood

Loka Ashwood is an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Sociology. She theorizes about democracy, the environment, and social action to pinpoint points of aggravation and openings for change. She analyzes specific corporate and regulatory structures that undergird dispossession of property and community in rural places. She works with people to explore creative pathways forward amid intense distrust and government neglect. Learn more at www.lokaashwood.com. More About Author

Also available as a South Asia Edition.