SOC101
rd
March 23 , 2011
Sociology of the Environment
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20 century divided into 2 periods:
1) Period before Hiroshima known as one of naïve optimism technology could do
no wrong
2) Post-war years, a growing number of citizens came to have doubts about the
benefits of technology many people are beginning to think of technology in terms of
skepticism
• Ulrich Beck: coined term that stuck in the early 90s when he introduced the
idea of a “risk society,” risk doesn’t just come from technological threats but from
environmental ones as well
• Environmental threats are ambiguous, unlike technological ones
Important Terms:
• Technology: is traditionally defined as the application of scientific principles to
the improvement of human life.
• Normal accident: term recognizes that the very complexity of modern
technologies ensures they will inevitably fail, though in unpredictable ways.
• Risk society: is a society in which technology distributes danger and advantage
among all social groups. Some categories are, however, more exposed than others.
There are dangerous risks of technological spin-offs:
• Ever since the Industrial Revolution humans have been burning many fossil fuels
accumulation of heat-trapping gas less heat escapes known as the
“greenhouse effect” that contributes to global warming (heating of the Earth’s
atmosphere)
• Last 3 of the 20 century is when there is a take-off in the amount of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
• There has been dramatic warming of the earth since the Industrial Revolution
(seen most dramatically in the North Pole)
• Consequences of global warming: More water evaporates more water in the
atmosphere increased rainfall & floods crops die, & people suffer
• Rising sea-levels 1m rise means that places such as Bangladesh & Egypt will
be completely flooded leading to displacement
www.notesolution.com Technological Dangers:
• Genetic pollution: refers to the health and ecological dangers that may result
from artificially splicing genes together.
• Recombinant DNA: is a technique that involves artificially joining bits of DNA
from a donor to the DNA of a host.
• Believe we can take evolution from nature’s hands & create more superior human
beings & animals
• Potential economic & health benefits of recombinant DNA
• Genetic pollution problems: potential for the disruption of ecosystems increases
with new species
• Genetically modified crops: pollen & seeds that escape from genetically modified
crops into the environment mean that superbugs & viruses will be born
• Antibiotics increasingly used after WWII meant that viruses started to become
resistant to penicillin, & thus new antibiotics had to be created (use of antibiotics to
control infection cheaper thus used more after WWII rather than having a large staff to
clean hospitals)
Environmental issues become social problems when…
1) Policy-oriented scientists, the environmental movement, the mass media, & respected
organizations must discover & promote issues
2) People must connect real-life events to the information learned from these groups
3) Scientists, industrial interests, & politicians who dispute the existence of
environmental threats must fail to convince the public that the threat is illusory &
human intervention is unnecessary
• For ex. In the 80s the media began publicizing the effects of global warming,
there was a drought and period of really hot summers that made people connect the
theor
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