Mikael Klintman
Professor
Nature and the Social Sciences : Examples from the Electricity and Waste Sectors
Författare
Summary, in Swedish
Popular Abstract
When society first perceived the environmental condition as problematic, focus was on local emissions with local consequences. Subsequently, the center of attention partly moved beyond local effect research to a broader interest in, for instance, ecocycle processes of energy, and the whole lifecycle of materials. However, technological and natural scientific analyses of these phenomena were not exhaustive. They left out more essential issues of how modern society works, of human lifestyles, and values. In the early 1970s, the social sciences and humanities began to be allocated more research hours to deal with environmental problems. Ever since, there have been debates as to the role the social sciences ought to play in acquirement of knowledge about environmental issues. The book has two interrelated objectives. One objective is meta-theoretical and concerns the exploration of theoretical debates connected to issues of understanding environmental problems. Mikael Klintman has found it vital to go down to the basic questions that constitute the titles of the first chapters, for instance: "What is an environmental problem," and "Who can learn what about nature"? He claims that the holistic research interest in the actual environmental condition, as well as environmental problems, presupposes the ontological belief in a material world which exists regardless of our perception of it-a material world that it is possible to attain practically adequate knowledge about. Nevertheless, environmental problems are highly value-ridden, something that needs to be admitted if we are to come to terms with environmental conflicts. The other objective is empirical/analytical, referring to the analysis of "green" public participation in the electricity and waste sectors in Sweden and partly in the Netherlands and the UK. Being utility sectors raises interesting questions of household awareness of green adaptation, since the practices are closely associated with routines which are difficult to change. Furthermore, Nature and the Social Sciences develops green identity concepts in these utility sectors which traditionally have not been held to be tied to conscious processes of identity building. An additional reason for choosing electricity and waste pertains to their involving local public practices as well as local and global consequences. On the other hand, electricity and waste reveal important differences regarding supporting social structures. Nevertheless, the study shows how these differences are rarely materially determined in any irrevocable way. Instead, structural reform may strengthen the social support substantially.
When society first perceived the environmental condition as problematic, focus was on local emissions with local consequences. Subsequently, the center of attention partly moved beyond local effect research to a broader interest in, for instance, ecocycle processes of energy, and the whole lifecycle of materials. However, technological and natural scientific analyses of these phenomena were not exhaustive. They left out more essential issues of how modern society works, of human lifestyles, and values. In the early 1970s, the social sciences and humanities began to be allocated more research hours to deal with environmental problems. Ever since, there have been debates as to the role the social sciences ought to play in acquirement of knowledge about environmental issues. The book has two interrelated objectives. One objective is meta-theoretical and concerns the exploration of theoretical debates connected to issues of understanding environmental problems. Mikael Klintman has found it vital to go down to the basic questions that constitute the titles of the first chapters, for instance: "What is an environmental problem," and "Who can learn what about nature"? He claims that the holistic research interest in the actual environmental condition, as well as environmental problems, presupposes the ontological belief in a material world which exists regardless of our perception of it-a material world that it is possible to attain practically adequate knowledge about. Nevertheless, environmental problems are highly value-ridden, something that needs to be admitted if we are to come to terms with environmental conflicts. The other objective is empirical/analytical, referring to the analysis of "green" public participation in the electricity and waste sectors in Sweden and partly in the Netherlands and the UK. Being utility sectors raises interesting questions of household awareness of green adaptation, since the practices are closely associated with routines which are difficult to change. Furthermore, Nature and the Social Sciences develops green identity concepts in these utility sectors which traditionally have not been held to be tied to conscious processes of identity building. An additional reason for choosing electricity and waste pertains to their involving local public practices as well as local and global consequences. On the other hand, electricity and waste reveal important differences regarding supporting social structures. Nevertheless, the study shows how these differences are rarely materially determined in any irrevocable way. Instead, structural reform may strengthen the social support substantially.
Avdelning/ar
- Sociologi
Publiceringsår
2000
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Lund Dissertations in Sociology
Issue
32
Fulltext
Dokumenttyp
Doktorsavhandling
Förlag
Department of Sociology, Lund University
Ämne
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Nyckelord
- ecology
- critical realism
- electricity
- environment
- epistemology
- green identity
- greening
- meta-theory
- nature
- ontology
- social science
- public participation
- waste
- windpower
- sociology
- Sociologi
Aktiv
Published
Handledare
- [unknown] [unknown]
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1102-4712
- ISBN: 91-7267-009-6
- ISRN: LUSADG/SASO--00/1129--SE
Försvarsdatum
25 maj 2000
Försvarstid
13:15
Försvarsplats
Carolinasalen, Lund
Opponent
- Rolf Lidskog (Associate professor)