Volatile Places
A Sociology of Communities and Environmental Controversies
- Valerie Gunter - University of New Orleans, USA
- Steve Kroll-Smith - University of NC Greensboro, USA
November 2006 | 256 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Volatile Places was written to provide both students and faculty with a case study approach to the investigation of community and environmental controversies. Key Features:Case Studies in every chapter: creates a dramatic and telling story around certain features of the controversy. The case studies are written to capture studentsÆ attention. Making Connections with previous chapters: students and instructors are encouraged to read and discuss how the current discussion links to previous discussions creating a strong sense for the integrated approach to the study of community and environmental controversies. Adding to the Portfolio: a portfolio was created for each chapter that both summarizes material and provides questions that lead students into thoughtful encounters with key concepts. Concept and Theory Boxes: Ideas and theories introduced, but not elaborated on, in the text are given a more thorough and concise treatment in the boxes.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. When Environments and Communities Collide
2. The Presence of the Past
3. Trust and Betrayal
4. The Problem of Uncertain Knowledge
5. Perceptions of Fairness
6. Oppositional Activity and Social Capital
7. Social Facts and Brute Facts: Confounding the Social and the Physical
Postscript
References
Index
About the Authors
It gives an engaging and student-friendly account of environmental justice, which is a main focus of my Environmental Soc course this semester.
Sociology Soc Work Anthro Dept, Utah State University
February 7, 2010