SOC103H1 Lecture : Sociology and the Environment
Document Summary
Topic 7 j sociology & the environment (week 7 lecture + ns chp 16 + siq chp 26) - how to overcome some of these problems. The risk is socially distributed: global economys impact on the environment. - two distinct periods: era of na ve optimism (period before hiroshima): People believe that technology can improve human life; Three weeks before hiroshima the first bomb was tested in new mexico by j. robert oppenheimer, who expresses worry and anxiety about the technology; Growing pessimism; people start to question technology; - 1984 gas leak in a pesticide plant in india; 4000 deaths & 30,000 injuries. - 1986 ukraine radioactivity explosion (30,40times of hiroshima); human and animal mutation; - 1989 quebec cure oil spill in alaska; - charles perow (mid-80s sociology) coined the term normal accident: Due to the complexity of these conditional statements, we cant test the consequences of billions of these conditional statements;
