Environment and Society : A Critical Introduction (Paperback, 3 ed)

List of Figures x

List of Tables xv

List of Boxes xvi

Acknowledgments xvii

About the Companion Website xviii

1 Introduction: The View from a Human-Made Wild 1

What is This Book? 6

The Authors’ Points of View 9

Part I Approaches and Perspectives 13

2 Population and Scarcity 15

A Booming China or a Busting One? 16

The Problem of Exponential Growth 17

Population, Development, and Environment Impact 19

The Other Side of the Coin: Population and Innovation 23

Limits to Population: An Effect Rather than a Cause? 24

Thinking with Population 29

3 Markets and Commodities 33

The Bet 34

Managing Environmental Bads: The Coase Theorem 37

Market Failure 39

Market-Based Solutions to Environmental Problems 40

Beyond Market Failure: Gaps between Nature and Economy 45

Thinking with Markets 48

4 Institutions and “The Commons” 51

Controlling Carbon? 52

The Prisoner’s Dilemma 52

The Tragedy of the Commons 54

The Evidence and Logic of Collective Action 56

Crafting Sustainable Environmental Institutions 58

Are All Commoners Equal? Does Scale Matter? 62

Thinking with Institutions 64

5 Environmental Ethics 67

The Price of Cheap Meat 68

Improving Nature: From Biblical Tradition to John Locke 70

Gifford Pinchot vs. John Muir in Yosemite, California 72

Aldo Leopold and “The Land Ethic” 74

Liberation for Animals! 76

CAFOs and Climate Change: Now that You Know, What Should You Do? 78

Holism and Other Pitfalls 78

Thinking with Ethics 80

6 Risks and Technology 83

The Bt Cotton Revolution 84

Environments as Hazard 85

The Problem of Risk Perception 87

Risk as Culture 90

Beyond Risk: The Political Economy of Hazards 92

Thinking with Risk and Technology 95

7 Political Economy 99

The Contradictions of COVID-19 100

Labor, Accumulation, and Crisis 101

Production of Nature 108

Global Capitalism and the Ecology of Uneven Development 110

Social Reproduction and Nature 112

Environments and Economism 114

Thinking with Political Economy 114

8 Social Construction of Nature 118

The Blank Spot on the Map 119

So You Say It’s “Natural?” 120

Environmental Discourse 124

The Limits of Constructivism: Science, Relativism, and the Very Material World 129

Thinking with Construction 132

9 Feminism and the Environment 136

Gender and Environment 138

From Earth as Woman to Ecofeminism 140

Feminist Approaches to Economies and Nature 142

Feminist Approaches to Knowledge and the Environment 146

Thinking with Feminism and the Environment 152

10 Racialized Environments 156

Structural Environmental Racism 158

Environmental Justice 159

Settler Colonialism 163

Whiteness and Nature 169

Thinking with Racialized Environments 170

Part II Objects of Concern 175

11 Carbon Dioxide 177

Stuck in Pittsburgh Traffic 178

A Short History of CO2 178

Institutions: Climate Free-Riders and Carbon Cooperation 184

Markets: Trading More Gases, Buying Less Carbon 190

Political Economy: Who Killed the Atmosphere? 193

The Carbon Puzzle 196

12 Trees 200

Chained to a Tree in Berkeley, California 201

A Short History of Trees 201

Population and Markets: The Forest Transition Theory 209

Political Economy: Accumulation and Deforestation 212

Gender, Trees, and Power: Feminist Insights into Forests 214

Ethics, Justice, and Equity: Should Trees Have Standing? 216

The Tree Puzzle 218

13 Wolves 222

Wolves, Be Wary Where You Tread 223

A Short History of Wolves 224

Ethics: Rewilding and Wolves 229

Institutions: Stakeholder Management 232

Feminism: Of Wolves and Masculinity 235

The Wolf Puzzle 238

14 Uranium 242

Promise and Peril in Post-Nuclear Worlds 243

A Short History of Uranium 244

Risk and Hazards: Debating the Fate of High-Level Radioactive Waste 250

Race: Environmental Justice and the Navajo Nation 253

Social Construction: Discourses at Work in Australia 256

The Uranium Puzzle 260

15 Tuna 264

Big Trouble for Big Tuna 265

A Short History of Tuna 265

Markets and Commodities: Eco-Labels to the Rescue? 270

Political Economy: Re-regulating Fishery Economies 273

Ethics: Saving Animals, Conserving Species 276

The Tuna Puzzle 279

16 Lawns 283

How Much Do People Love Lawns? 284

A Short History of Lawns 284

Risk and Chemical Decision-Making 288

Social Construction: Good Lawns Mean Good People 291

Political Economy: The Chemical Tail Wags the Turfgrass Dog 292

The Lawn Puzzle 295

17 Bottled Water 298

A Tale of Two Bottles 299

A Short History of Bottled Water 300

Population: Bottling for Scarcity? 305

Risk and Technology: Health and Safety in a Bottle? 307

Political Economy: Manufacturing Demand on an Enclosed Commons 309

Racialized Environments: The Burden of Bottled Water in the United States 312

The Bottled Water Puzzle 314

18 French Fries 318

Getting Your French Fry Fix 319

A Short History of the Fry 319

Feminist Approaches: The Body Politics of French Fries 325

Political Economy and Racialized Environments: Have it Your Way? 328

Ethics: Protecting or Engineering Potato Heritage? 333

The French Fry Puzzle 337

19 E-Waste 341

Digital Divides 342

A Short History of E-Waste 343

E-Waste and Markets: From Externality to Commodity 348

The Political Economy of E-Waste 351

E-Waste and Racialized Environments 355

The E-Waste Puzzle 359

Glossary 362

Index 372