ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
CURRICULUM RESOURCE GUIDEBOOK
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
COURSES
(PART 1)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
CURRICULUM RESOURCE GUIDEBOOK
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
COURSES
(PART 1)
table of contentsEditors:
Bullard , Johnson, Alger, Brown, Chew, Gedicks, Gillespie, Gould, Krieg, Lummus, Nigg , Perry
All materials copyright editor(s).
SOC 580
Instructor: Dr. Robert D. Bullard
Time: 4:30 - 7:00 Tuesday
Office Hours: 2:00 - 4:00 Tues. 2018 Science Technology CenterCourse Description
This course examines the impact of institutional racism on
environmental and health policies, industrial practices, government
regulations and rule making, enforcement, and overall quality of
life in people of color communities. The course will also examine
the nexus between environmental protection and civil rights; the
impact of the environmental justice movement on the dominant
environmental paradigm and on national environmental groups.
Other topics explored include (a) the sociology of environmental
racism, (b) societal response to environmental reform, (c)
political and economic dynamics of pollution and environmental
regulations, (d) environmental "blackmail" and tradeoffs, and (e)
environmental justice.
The central questions we will address are summarized as
follows: Who gains what in environmental decision making, when
and to whose cost? What is the nature of conflict surrounding
locally unwanted land uses or LULUs? How are costs and benefits of
environmental reform distributed across class and racial/ethnic
groups? What are the most effective strategies for resolving
locational conflict? How has the NIMBY (not in my backyard)
syndrome affected environmental policy?
The readings are drawn from a wide range of fields
(sociology, political science, public affairs, planning,
economics, and environmental studies) in an attempt to get a
broad interpretation of unresolved debates surrounding policy
development, distributional impact, and the emergent
grassroots environmental justice movement.
Required Texts:
Robert D. Bullard, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and
Environmental Quality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
1994.<DUMPING>
Robert D. Bullard, ed., Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices
from the Grassroots. Boston: South End Press, 1993. <RACISM>
Selected Readings on Environmental Racism on reserve in Woodruff
Library. <RESERVE>
Reading List
Environmental Racism
January 10
COURSE OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION
General Overview and Introductory Lecture
Film - ABC American Agenda "Environmental Racism"
Film - PBS McNeil Lehrer News Hour "Environmental Racism"
January 17
Attend the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)
Meeting at Atlanta Sheraton Airport. NEJAC Meeting is January 17-19. The Interagency Working Group (IWG) on the Environmental
Justice Executive Order #12898 is hosted by Clark Atlanta
University (Science & Technology Building) on January 20th.
January 24
ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Film - WGBH "Environmental Racism"
R.D. Bullard, "Anatomy of Environmental Racism," Chapter 1.
<RACISM>
R.D. Bullard, "Environmental Racism Revisited," Chapter 5.
<DUMPING>
K.C. Colquette and Elizabeth A. H. Robertson, "Environmental
Racism: The Causes, Consequences, and Commendations." Tulane
Environmental Law Journal 5 (1991): 153-207. <RESERVE>
Optional:
Bunyan Bryant and Paul Mohai, "Environmental Racism: Reviewing the
Evidence," pp. 165-176 in Race and the Incidence of Environmental
Hazards. Westview Press, 1992. <RESERVE>
Benjamin A. Goldman, Not Just Prosperity: Achieving Sustainability
with Environmental Justice. Washington, DC: National Wildlife
Federation Corporate Conservation Council, February, 1994.
<RESERVE>
January 31
RACE, CLASS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Film - Greenpeace, "Poisoning of People of Color"
R.D. Bullard, "Environmentalism and Social Justice," Chapter 1.
<DUMPING>
R. D. Bullard, "Race, Class, and the Politics of Place,"
Chapter 2. <DUMPING>
Dorceta A. Taylor, "Environmentalism and the Politics of
Inclusion." Chapter 3. <RACISM>
Optional:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Equity:
Reducing Risks for All Communities. Volumes 1 and 2, Washington,
DC: US EPA, 1992. <RESERVE>
February 7
PEOPLE OF COLOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT
Film - "People of Color Summit Highlights"
Robert D. Bullard, "The Environmental Justice Movement Comes of
Age." The Amicus Journal (Spring, 1994). <RESERVE>
Karl Grossman, "The People of Color Summit," pp. 272-297 in R.D.
Bullard, ed., Unequal Protection. San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books, 1994. <RESERVE>
Ruth Rosen, "Who Gets Polluted: The Movement for Environmental
Justice," Dissent Spring (1994): 223-230. <RESERVE>
Optional:
Charles Lee, ed., Proceedings of the First National People of Color
Environmental Leadership Summit. New York: United Church of
Christ Commission for Racial Justice, 1992. <RESERVE>
February 14
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR UNDER SIEGE
Film - "Poisons in the Valley: Institute, WVA"
Film - "West Dallas"
R.D. Bullard, "Dispute Resolution and Toxics: Case Studies,"
Chapter 3. <DUMPING>
R.D. Bullard, "The Environmental Justice Movement: Survey
Results," Chapter 4. <DUMPING>
Robert W. Collin and William Harris, Sr. "Race and Waste in Two
Virginia Communities," Chapter 6. <RACISM>
Conner Bailey, Charles E. Faupel, and James H. Gundlach,
"Environmental Politics in Alabama's Blackbelt." Chapter 7.
<RACISM>
Optional:
Robert D. Bullard, People of Color Environmental Groups Directory
1994-95. Flint, MI: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, 1994.
<RESERVE>
February 21
WASTE AND FACILITY SITING
U.S. General Accounting Office, Siting of Hazardous Waste
Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic
Status of Surrounding Communities. Washington, DC: GAO, 1983.
<RESERVE>
Commission for Racial Justice, Toxic Wastes and Race in the
United States. New York: Commission for Racial Justice,
1987. <RESERVE>
Charles Lee, "Beyond Toxic Wastes and Race," Chapter 2. <RACISM>
February 28
UNIT OF ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFYING "NEIGHBORHOODS"
Rae Zimmerman, "Issues of Classification in Environmental Equity:
How We Manage is How We Measure," Fordham Urban Law Journal 21
(1994): 633-668. <RESERVE>
Benjamin A. Goldman and Laura Fitton, Toxic Wastes and Race
Revisited. Washington, DC: Center for Policy Alternatives, 1994.
<RESERVE>
Douglas L. Anderton, et al., "Hazardous Waste Facilities:
Environmental Equity Issues in Metropolitan Areas," Evaluation
Review 18 (April, 1994): 123-140. <RESERVE>
R.D. Bullard, "A New 'Chicken-or Egg' Debate: Which Came First,
The Neighborhood or the Dump," The Workbook 19 (Summer, 1994): 60-61. <RESERVE>
March 7
TOXIC RELEASES AND AIR QUALITY
Dee Wernette and Leslie A. Nieves, "Breathing Polluted Air." EPA
Journal 18 (March/April, 1992): 16-17. <RESERVE>
Lauretta M. Burke, "Race and Environmental Equity: A Geographic
Analysis of Los Angeles." Geo Info Systems (October, 1993): 44-50.
<RESERVE>
Victor Brajer and Jane V. Hall, "Recent Evidence on the
Distribution of Air Pollution Effects," Contemporary Policy Issues
10 (April, 1992): 63-71.
U.S. EPA, Toxic Release Inventory and Emission Reduction 1987-1990
in the Lower Mississippi River Corridor. Washington, DC: U.S.
EPA, OPPT, 1993. <RESERVE>
March 14 - Spring Break
March 21
ECONOMIC JUSTICE, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Film - "People of Color Summit"
Cynthia Hamilton, "Coping with Industrial Exploitation,"
Chapter 4. <RACISM>
Laura Pulido, "Sustainable Development at Ganados del Valle,"
Chapter 8. <RACISM>
Devon Pena, "Nature and Chicanos in Southern Colorado,"
Chapter 9. <RACISM>
March 28
LAND USE, ZONING, AND STATE ACTION
Film - "No Time to Waste"
Jon Dubin, "From Junkyard to Gentrification: Explicating a Right
to Protective Zoning in Low-Income Communities of Color."
Minnesota Law Review 77 (April, 1993): 739-801. <RESERVE>
Robert D. Bullard, "Environmental Equity: Examining the Evidence
of Environmental Racism." Land Use Forum 2 (Winter, 1993): 6-11.
<RESERVE>
Diane Takvorian, "Environmental Equity: Toxics and Neighborhoods
Don't Mix." Land Use Forum 2 (Winter, 1993): 28-31.
Michael Greenberg, "Proving Environmental Inequity in Siting
Locally Unwanted Land Uses," RISK - Issues in Health & Safety 235
(Summer, 1993): 235-252 <RESERVE>
April 4
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND CHILDHOOD LEAD POISONING
R. D. Bullard and Beverly H. Wright, "Environmental Justice for
All: Community Perspective on Health and Research Needs,"
Toxicology and Industrial Health 9 (September/October, 1993): 821-842. <RESERVE>
Janet Phoenix, "Getting the Lead Out of the Community,"
Chapter 5. <RACISM>
Joel Schwartz and Ronnie Levin, "Lead: Example of the Job Ahead,"
EPA Journal 18 (March\April, 1992): 42-44. <RESERVE>
Debra J. Brody, James Pirkle, Rachel A. Kramer, Katherine M.
Flegal, Thomas D. Matte, Elaine W. Gunter, and Daniel C. Paschal,
"Blood Lead Levels in the US Population: Phase 1 of the Third
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1999-1991)." Journal of the American Medical Association 272 (July 27,
1994): 277-283. <RESERVE>
Optional:
James L. Pirkle, Debra J. Brody, Elaine W. Gunter, Rachel A.
Kramer, Daniel C. Paschal, Katherine M. Flegal, and Thomas D.
Matte, "The Decline in Blood Lead Levels in the United States: The
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey," Journal of the
American Medical Association 272 (July 27, 1994): 284-314.
<RESERVE>
April 11
UNEQUAL PROTECTION AND CIVIL RIGHTS
R.D. Bullard, "Environmental Justice as a Working Model,"
Chapter 6. <DUMPING>
R.D. Bullard, "Action Strategies for the 1990s," Chapter 7.
<DUMPING>
Marianne Lavelle and Marcia Coyle, "Unequal Protection." The
National Law Journal, Special Issue, September 21, 1992. <RESERVE>
R.D. Bullard, "Conclusion: Environmentalism with Justice,"
Chapter 12. <RACISM>
April 18
Alice Brown, "Environmental Justice: New Civil Rights Frontiers."
Trial (July, 1993): 48-52. <RESERVE>
Regina Austin and Michael Schill, "Black, Brown, Poor and Poisoned"
Minority Grassroots Environmentalism and the Quest for Eco-Justice," The Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 1 (Summer,
1991): 69-82. <RESERVE>
James H. Colopy, "The Road Less Traveled: Pursuing Environmental
Justice Through Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
Stanford Environmental Law Journal 13 (January, 1994): 125-189.
<RESERVE>
Peter L. Reich, "Greening the Ghetto: A Theory of Environmental
Race Discrimination," The University of Kansas Law Review 41
(Winter, 1992): 271-314. <RESEREVE>
Optional:
Leslie Ann Coleman, "It's the Thought That Counts: The Intent
Requirement in Environmental Racism Claims," St. Mary's Law Journal
25 (1993): 447-492. <RESERVE>
Luke Cole, "Empowerment as the Key to Environmental Protection:
The Need for Environmental Poverty Law." Ecology Law Quarterly 19
(1992): 619-683. <RESERVE>
Louisiana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights, The Battle for Environmental Justice in Louisiana:
Government, Industry, and the People. Kansas City: U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights, Region, September, 1993. <RESERVE>
Kevin Lyskowski, "Environmental Justice: A Research Guide." New
York: NAACP Legal Defense Fund, (Spring, 1994). <RESERVE>
April 25
ENDANGERED WORKERS
Film - "Out of Control"
Film - "We Do the Work"
Marion Moses, "Farmworkers and Pesticides," Chapter 10. <RACISM>
Beverly H. Wright and Robert D. Bullard, "The Effects of
Occupational Injury, Illness, and Disease on the Health of Black
Americans: A Review," pp. 153-162 in Richard Hofrichter, ed.,
Toxic Struggles: The Theory and Practice of Environmental Justice.
Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1993. <RESERVE>
James Robinson, "Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Hispanics,
Blacks and Non-Hispanic Whites in California." American Journal of
Public Health 79 (1989): 629-630. <RESERVE>
Optional:
Morris E. Davis and A.S. Rowland, "Problems Faced by Minority
Workers," pp. 417-430 in B.S. Levy and D.H. Wegman (eds.),
Occupational Health: Recognizing and Preventing Work-Related
Disease. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1983. <RESERVE>
Conger Beasley, "Of Pollution and Poverty: Reaping America's
Unseemly Harvest," Buzzworm 2 (May/June, 1990): 40-47. <RESERVE>
May 2
DUMPING ON NATIVE LANDS
Film - "A Strand in the Web"
Film - "James Bay and Hydro Quebec"
Ward Churchill and Winona LaDuke, "Native America: The
Political Economy of Radioactive Colonialism." pp. 241-266 in M.
Annette Jaimes, ed., The State of Native America: Genocide,
Colonization, and Resistance. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
<RESERVE>
Conger Beasley, Jr., "Of Pollution and Poverty: Deadly Threat
on Native Lands," Buzzworm 2 (September/October, 1990): 39-
45. <RESERVE>
Gail Small, "War Stories: Environmental Justice in Indian
Country." The Amicus Journal 16 (Spring, 1994)" 38-40. <RESERVE>
Optional:
Robert Tomsho, "Dumping Grounds: Indian Tribes Contend with
Some of Worst of America's Pollution," The Wall Street Journal
(November 29, 1990). <RESERVE>
Kathy Hall, "Impacts of the Energy Industry on the Navajo and
Hopi." pp.130-154 in R.D. Bullard, ed., Unequal Protection.
<RESERVE>
Valerie Taliman, "Stuck Holding the Nation's Nuclear Waste." Race,
Poverty & the Environment (Fall, 1992): 6-9. <RESERVE>
May 9
GLOBAL DUMPING GROUND
Film - "Justice on the Border"
Film - "Third World Dumping"
Film - "How Green is the Valley"
Dana Alston and Nicole Brown, "Global Threat to People of Color,"
Chapter 11. <RACISM>
Alan B. Durning, "Apartheid's Other Injustice," Worldwatch
(May/June, 1991): 11-17. <RESERVE>
Martin Khor Kok Peng, "Economics and Environmental Justice:
Rethinking North-South Relations," pp. 219-225 in Richard
Hofrichter, ed., Toxic Struggles. Philadelphia: New Society
Publishers, 1993. <RESERVE>
Chris Kiefer and Medea Benjamin, "Solidarity with the Third World:
Building an International Environmental-Justice Movement," pp. 226-236 in Richard Hofrichter, ed., Toxic Struggles. Philadelphia:
New Society Publishers, 1993. <RESERVE>
Optional:
Chris Bright, "Shipping Unto Others: Outlawed American
Pesticides Find Markets Elsewhere," E Magazine (July/August,
1990). <RESERVE>
Center for Investigative Reporting, "The Paths of Least
Resistance," Chapter 1 in Global Dumping Grounds.
Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, 1990. <RESERVE>
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
1. Write a 500-word essay (OPED piece) on some aspect of
environmental racism or environmental justice. You will need to
obtain the name, address, and FAX number of the editorial page
editor for submission of the OPED piece to a U.S. newspaper of your
choosing. Most newspaper submissions require you to give an
address, telephone number, and a two-line bio.
(10% - Due )
2. Develop a slide presentation (no more than 10 slides) that
illustrates an environmental justice problem in a community of
color. You need not limit your presentation to local issues. Your
presentation should document the problem and include a
bibliography. Examples of areas you may wish to explore include:
o Toxic waste sites
o Facility siting
o Unequal protection and differential enforcement
o Dumping on Native American reservations
o Military toxics and federal facilities
o Zoning, land use, and planning
o Children of color as vulnerable populations
o Workers at risk
o Community buy outs
o Lead in public housing
o Third World dumping and toxics trading
o Contaminated playground
o Industrial corridor and toxic releases
o Public transportation accessibility
(20% - Due )
3. Write two "success" stories (500 words each) that profile
people of color grassroots groups that were confronted with
environmental justice problems. The profiles will need to include
(a) a brief history of the groups, (b) the problem, (c) strategy,
and (d) results. You may want to call the groups for newspaper
clippings and other written documentation of the struggle.
(20% - Due )
4. Write a 2,500-word article on environmental racism. You will
need to document the sources used in the paper (i.e., use end notes
in the University of Chicago style). Locate a journal or
environmental magazine with style sheet for submission.
(50% - Due )
All materials copyright editor(s)
SOCIOLOGY 450
INSTRUCTOR: DR. GLENN S. JOHNSON OFFICE 107 KNOWLES HALL
PHONE: 880-6911(EJRC) OFFICE HOURS T&R
880-8686 (Sociology) 9:30-10:30 AND BY
CLASS TUES 4:30p.m.-7:00p.m. APPOINTMENT
OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE
The United States is a highly technological society but it carries excessive baggage. This excessive baggage is referred to as the "throwaway society" or better known as purchasing products, use them and throw them away. This result in several million tons of garbage for us to attempt to dispose it. The composition of our garbage include such things as: table food, card board, paint thinner, aluminum cans, glass, metal, metal cans, plastic, car tires, wood, etc. The yearly amount of money to dispose these products cost us billions of dollars.
We focus on two major methods of disposing garbage which are landfilling and incineration. Problems arise about landfills due to the violation of sanitary landfills set by the EPA. Also, problems occur with incinerators because many of them are not constructed properly which result in air pollution. The introduction of massive tons of plastics have produced a problem at landfills. Plastics are difficult to decompose because they resist biological decomposition. Some anthropologists have researched landfills and found plastic materials in its original form. On other hand, if plastics are incinerated, they produce air pollution. These pollutions are considered hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Americans need to confront our inadequate/insufficient solid waste management programs in order to reduce the need for additional landfills and incinerators. Critics of the United States on over consumption suggest that we adopt efficient recycling programs to reduce the amount of paper, plastic and aluminum cans in the waste stream.
Environmentalists, environmental activists and environmental sociologists and many concerned citizens raise the question: Why is garbage disposal a social and environmental problem? It is best summarized by Michael Brown:
Americans are consuming 50 percent of the earth's industrial raw materials although
their country has 7 percent of the planet's population. In an average year, Americas
discard 60 million tons of paper, 38 billion bottles and jars, 76 billion cans and
$5 billion worth of metals (Brown 1980:272).This leads to the need for a more efficient solid waste program or the possibly increase in landfills and incinerators. Improperly designed and managed landfills take up land and space and creates public health problems. Incinerators not only pollute the air we breathe but expose individuals to open fires or combustion.
Paper makes up the largest bulk of garbage. Many products are excessively wrapped in paper. Americans recycled very little paper and there is a paper glut in most cities due to a lack of recycling programs in the market economy. Paper in landfills takes a relatively large time to decompose and burning too much paper contribute to air pollution. Plastics tend to have an immune system to fight off decomposition. The durability of plastics replace other materials such as: paper, cardboard, metal and wood. Plastics create an ecological problem because of its sustainability over the long haul. The incineration of plastics melts and clog up the incinerator while releasing a foul odor and smoke simultaneously. This smoke is supported with a gaseous substance.
Cans in landfills tend to decompose at a very slow rate. That is why aluminum cans replaced many metal cans because they can be recycled. Glass will not decompose. There is technology available to recycle and reuse much of the glass in our solid waste stream. Automobiles provide transportation but when they become junk, they create a junk yard and scrap metal market economy. Many parts of the automobile is sold separately while other parts remain and create unpleasant scenes. Many cars are not housed in junk yards but reside in parking lots of public housing complexes, on dead end streets and on the country side. Keep in mind that old cars leak oil and transmission stains on cement pavements. Also, if car tires are burned, they pollute the air. Technology is available to recycle old car tires but it is not cost efficient at this time.
The United States generate more waste annually in million metric tons than Switzerland, Sweden, West Germany and Japan all together (State of the World 1987). The push toward reusable or "throwaways" recreated a serious ecological problem. Instead of Americans rescuing these recyclable products, they throw them out on the side of the road. For example disposable pampers, razor blades, tampons and disposable needles. Instead of promoting sound ecological principles, "throwaways" have contributed to our present garbage glut.
This class focuses on four aspects of the garbage problem in the United States from the research of Bullard 1990; Bryant and Mohai 1992; Alexander 1993; and Bullard 1993.
Required Textbooks
Bullard, Robert. 1990. Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality. Oxford: Westview Press.
Bunyan Bryant and Paul Mohai (Editors). 1992. Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards: A Time for Discourse. Oxford: Westview Press.
Judd H. Alexander. 1993. In Defense of Garbage. London: Praeger Publishers.
Robert D. Bullard 1993. Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots. Boston: South End Press.
Supplementary Sources
Bullard, Robert. Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Bullard, Robert D. and J. Eugene Grigsby,III and Charles Lee (eds.). Residential Apartheid. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Afro-American Studies Publication.
Bullard, Robert D. and Beverly H. Wright. "The Quest for Environmental Equity: Mobilizing the African-American Community for Social Change", In R.E.Dunlap and A.G. Mertog (eds.) American Environmentalism: The United States Environmental Movement, 1970-1990. (pp.39-49) NY: Taylor and Francis.
Anderton, Douglas L. Andy B. Anderson John Michael Oakes and Michael R. Fraser. "Environmental Equity: The Demographics of Dumping." Demography, Vol.31, No.2, May 1994:229-246.
Braile, Robert. "Is Racism a Factor in Siting Undesirable Facilities?" Garbage Summer 1994: 13-18.
Edwards, Bob. Forthcoming (1995) in Grassroots Ecological Resistance: The Global Emergence for Popular Environmental Movements, edited by Bron Taylor, Albany: Suny Press. "With Liberty and Environmental Justice for All: The Emergence and Challenge of Grassroots Environmentalism"(pp.1-29).
Objectives of the course:
* recognize contemporary environmental problems surrounding garbage disposal
*examine the relationship of environmental problems and social problems as they impact garbage disposal
* discuss the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical aspects of garbage disposal problems
* discuss how local garbage disposal problems are linked to national and international solid waste disposal problems
* reflect on how your values are interconnected with problems of garbage disposal
* discuss the significance of the grassroots environmental justice movement and garbage disposal
* sharpen your ability to express yourself through group discussion and written exercises
* emphasis on critical analysis of the assigned readings
Two Field Trips: The class as a group will visit a local toxic facility (landfill, incinerator, chemical company or waste treatment plant) to observe possible environmental degradation. The student is required to write a reaction paper about what he observed at the various sites.
Tests: The student will be given two tests, a midterm and a final examination. Each test will cover assigned readings, lecture material and class discussions.
Speakers: The student will be responsible for attending class and asking questions on the scheduled days of speakers. These speakers will provide a second and third opinions and perspectives on garbage disposal.
Group Projects: Each student will be responsible for completing a project on an issue that is related to garbage disposal and its impact on the environment. The project is worth 100 points. This project must be approved by the instructor. The group has to present the project in 30 to 40 minutes and 10 minutes will be set aside for questions and comments.
Class Participation: Each student is encouraged to participate in class because sociological problems do not exist in a vacuum.
Attendance: Each student is expected to be present at every class. One point is subtracted from each day missed. Excused absences are only acceptable with an official letter from an university administrator.
Extra Credit: For a total of 10 points, the student must write a two page double spaced paper on a recent sound and durable policy to manage America's solid waste problem.
Grading: Tests (mid term=100 pts and final= 100 pts)
Two reaction papers from field trips 50 pts
Group Project 100 pts
Class participation 100 pts
Attendance 50 pts
Total Points= 500
90%-450 85%-425 80%-400 75%-375 70%-350 60%-300 50%-250
Assigned Readings
August
25 Overview of Course
30 Dixie Ch.1
September
01 Dixie Ch.2
06 Dixie Ch.3
08 Dixie Ch.4
13 Dixie Ch.5
15 Field trip to a local landfill
20 Environmental Hazards Ch.1-2
22 Environmental Hazards Ch.3-4
27 Environmental Hazards Ch.5-6
29 Environmental Hazards Ch.7-8
October
04 Environmental Hazards Ch.9-10
06 Environmental Hazards Ch.11-12
11 Environmental Hazards Ch.13-14
13 Environmental Hazards Ch.15-16 (Midterm, Covers all the chapters in Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality and Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards: A Time for Discourse and Lecture Materials.
18 Field trip to a local chemical company
20 Defense Ch.1-2
25 Defense Ch.3-4
27 Defense Ch. 5-6
November
01 Defense Ch.7-8
03 Defense Ch. 9-10
08 Defense Ch.11,12 & 13
10 Speaker: Representative from a Local Chemical Company
15 Racism Ch.1-2
17 Racism Ch.3-4
22 Racism Ch.5-6
24 Racism Ch.7-8
29 Racism Ch.9-10
December
01 Racism Ch.11-12
06 Speaker: Local Grassroots Environmental Activist
08 Class Evaluation
14 Final Examination 10:15-12:15 (Wednesday) Covers all the chapters in Defense of Garbage and Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots and Lecture Materials.
This course is broken up into four sections which are discussed below. The book assigned for each section provides an overview of the issues that are relevant, and are discussed in various environmental networks.
Dumping in Dixie
This section of the course examines issues of "equity, fairness and struggle for justice by black communities." Traditional mainstream environmental groups (Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Audubon Society, etc.) need to collaborate with minority communities to discuss and plan strategies for dissolving environmental problems. The social justice issues in minority communities incorporate environmental problems which are addressed partially by the mainstream environmental movement. The environmental sociologist (Robert Bullard)- suggests that a mutual bond must be made between traditional environmental organizations and minority communities. The trade-off is that all environmental problems become of interest to both groups while channeling resources between themselves to eliminate environmental degradation.
Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards
This section examines how minority and low income communities deal with environmental risks. These risks include exposure to pesticides, lead poisoning, water polluted by uranium which result in birth defects, mental retardation and organ cancer. Discussion will center around the importance of creating policies to address environmental equity, environmental risks and environmental degradation and their devastating impact on minority communities. Small group discussion will be used to brainstorm the social injustice issues that effect the lack of political involvement of minorities. Community projects are needed to initiate minority community participation on environmental problems while creating communication networks to provide simplicity about environmental risks, environmental equity and environmental degradation.
In Defense of Garbage
This section of the course examines how industries perceive garbage disposal issues. Usually businessmen think that the local citizen is not well informed about solid waste disposal issues. Discussion will center around the misinformation of data on garbage disposal issues between businessmen and women, and local citizens. Businessmen and women argue that garbage is a political problem instead of a physical problem which is related to how garbage is an access to the environment instead of a social problem. The fear of garbage disposal problems force us to search for answers to reduce our over-consumption of material products. Many businessmen and women would think that our garbage problem centers around packaging, recycling, biodegradation, composting, source reduction and the disposal of various kinds of consumer products. If the garbage disposal problems center around political propaganda, then economics is the driving force that determine which issues are important surrounding garbage disposal. It seems that businessmen and women view garbage disposal issues as the lack of factual information on our waste stream whereas local citizens are misinformed about quantity and increasing growth of garbage.
Confronting Environmental Racism
This section of the course examines the relationship between racism and environmental quality. Past studies by United Church of Christ (UCC) and Robert Bullard provide evidence to show that the life chances and quality of life of people of color are affected by institutional racism and discrimination. The urban communities are referred to as the toxic waste disposal "war zones." The classroom discussions in this section will center around not only environmental problems but those problems of social justice which are: inequities in education, public services, housing, police protection and employment for people of color. We will examine the roots of the grassroots environmental justice movement which is understanding environmentalism and social justice. The merging of the two provides a force that has roots for the grassroots environmental justice movement.
All materials copyright editor(s).
SY-09 Environment and Society Spring, 1996
Dr. Janet M. Alger Office: 108HH
Office Hrs. MWF 1:30-2:30
Dept of Sociology TH 10:30-11:30
Siena College F 3:35-4:35
Loudonville, N.Y. 12211Course Outline
The following books are texts for the course and should be purchased in the bookstore. Remember that the bookstore sends books not purchased within the first 3 weeks or so of the semester back to the publisher.
1. Cable, Sherry and Chas. Cable. 1995. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: GRASSROOTS SOLUTIONS. N.Y.: St. Martin's Press.
2. Brown, Phil. NO SAFE PLACE: TOXIC WASTE, LEUKEMIA, & COMMUNITY ACTION. 1992. U of California Press.
The following articles or book chapters are on reserve in the library.
1. Audubon. 1994. "Crisis of a Crowded World." AUDUBON 96,4:50-77.
2. De'Ath, Colin & G. Michalenko. 1980. "High Technology & Original Peoples: The Case of Deforestation in Papua New Guinea & Canada." IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON SOCIETY 30,3:197-209.
3. Derr, Mark. 1993. "Redeeming The Everglades." AUDUBON 95,5:48-56,128-131.
4. Devall, Bill. DEEP ECOLOGY. 1985. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books.
5. Kelly, David and Gary Braasch. 1986. "The Decadent Forest." AUDUBON 88,2:46-77.
6. Ladd, Anthony. 1990. "The Solid Waste Crisis & Support For Recycling: A Research Note." SOCIOLOGICAL SPECTRUM 10:469-84.
7. Laycock, George. 1988. "Cougars in Conflict." AUDUBON 90,2:86-95.
8. Mairson, Alan. 1994. "The Everglades: Dying For Help." NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC 185,4:2-35.
9. McKibben, Bill. 1993. "The Adirondacks." NATURE CONSERVANCY 43,4:24-28.
10. Scarce, Rik. 1990. ECO-WARRIERS: UNDERSTANDING THE RADICAL ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT Chicago: The Noble Press.
11. Stone, Roger D. 1995. "Close But No Cigar." HUDSON VALLEY 23,9:31-36.
12. Wilcove, David. 1990. "Empty Skies." NATURE CONSERVANCY 40,1: 4-13.
13. Williams, Ted. 1994. "Whose Woods Are These?" AUDUBON 96,3:26-33
F 21 CATCH-UP DAY
F 23 EXAM #1
F 26-M 8 THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DECAY.
a. Desertification & Famine
b. Toxic Waste & Human Health
c. Uneven Impact of Environmental Decay on Different Classes, Races, & Ethnic Groups.
d. The Growth of Grass Roots Environmentalism
Read: Cable, Chs. 6-9.
Brown, The Whole Book.
M 18 REPORT BY TOXIC WASTE TEAM
M 20-27 THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT
a. Mainstream Environmentalism before 1970.
b. Mainstream Environmentalism after 1970.
c. Radical Environmentalism Today.
Speaker: Mr. Malcolm Willison.
Read: Cable, Chs. 6,8
Scarce Chapter 5.
M 29 CATCH-UP DAY
A 1 EXAM #2
A 3-19 THE DRIVE TO SAVE PARTICULAR ECOSYSTEMS
a. The Case of the Great Northern Forest.
b. The Case of the Everglades.
c. The Case of Old Growth Forests.
d. Local Cases Adjacent to Towns (such as the Pine Bush in the Capital District).
Read: Williams Article.
Mairson Article
Reread Kelly & Braasch Article
A 26,29 THE GROWTH OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Read: Stone Article
May 1,3 IDEOLOGIES THAT AFFIRM THE CONNECTEDNESS OF
HUMANS & NATURE.
a. Deep Ecology.
b. Ecofeminism.
c. Animal Rights.
Read: Bill Devall, Chapter 5.
May 6 SUM-UP
PAPER ASSIGNMENT FOR 20% OF YOUR GRADE.
Please write a 10-12 page paper (plus bibliography) which will be due on March 22nd in which you make yourself an EXPERT on efforts to save a particular ecosystem from among those listed below. The focus of this paper must be the SOCIAL CAUSES of the problem ad the SOCIAL SOLUTIONs that are posed. This paper must must be done individually though you will, additionally, participate in a group report to the class on your findings which will be graded separately.
SOME OF THE SOCIAL CAUSES YOU MAY CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON:
1. Role of Industry
2. Consumerism & its effect on Habitat Loss
3. Spread of Human Population
4. Human settlements around protected areas
5. Hunting, Fishing, Poaching.
6. Ranching/Farming
7. Impact of Development in all of it's forms on Wildlife & Habitat.
8. Role of government in subsidizing those who threaten Habitat.
9. Human Population Growth.
10. Etc.
SOME SOCIAL SOLUTIONS YOU MAY CHOOSE TO EXPLORE:
1. Role of Government Regulations & Legislation.
2. Strategies to Control Spread of Human Population.
3. Strategies to Control Human Population Growth.
4. Changes in Economic Strategies that reduce stress on Ecosystem.
5. Relocation of Wildlife Populations.
6. Relocation of Human Populations.
7. Fines & Jail Sentences for Poachihng, etc.
8. Ending subsidies to companies causing Habitat Loss
9. Revisions in Consumerist Lifestyle
10. Etc.
This paper must be a RESEARCH paper. Thus, you must provide DATA/EVIDENCE for all points that you make. In the social causes section, you must identify the major causes of environmental degradation for your particular ecosystem. Then, you must select a limited number of those causes to focus on doing a thorough analysis of existing literature on the subject. In the social solutions section, you must identify the solutions that have been posed in the literature and those that have been tried. If your focus is on legislation, you must identify existing legislation and proposed legislation, etc. Then when the evidence is in, YOU MUST CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE CURRENT STATUS OF YOUR ECOSYSTEM. Have solutions that have been tried been effective? How about proposed solutions?
For those of you who VERY STRONGLY feel that you want to participate in a project aimed at changing the community in the direction of environmental soundness, I offer the following assignment.
Examine our College's Recycling Policies to date and come to a conclusion, based on evidence, of where we stand. The evidence can come from documents, interviews with officials and observation. You must deal with BOTH THE SUPPLY & DEMAND OF RECYCLING. That is, does the College recycle its own waste? Does the College buy available recycled products.
Investigate how other Colleges in the area handle recycling in the same way you have used to study Siena.
Study what CAN be done, generally. Which of the materials used by colleges can be recycled, what are the costs involved. What kinds of recycled products are out there for colleges to buy, what are the relative costs, etc. If a College had a perfect plan, what would it be able to do? Evidence here will consist of books and articles, interviews with officials, local business people, etc.
All materials copyright editor(s).
AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE APPROACH
Brown University
Department of Sociology
SO 187-A
Professor Phil Brown Maxcy 404
Telephone: 863-2633 (messages 2367) Spring 1995
Environmental sociology, like many other approaches to the
environment, has undergone a major shift in recent years. The
environmental justice framework has come to involve a tremendous
number of activists, to attract a growing number of scholars, and
to impact on public policy. This course will view environmental
sociology through the environmental justice framework, that is,
it will focus on the centrality of the key social structural
components of race, class, and gender. These will be used to
show race, class, and gender inequalities in environmental
hazards, as well as alternative worldviews based on those
structural differences.
Environmental sociology uses the lens of race, class, and gender
to learn how social problems are defined and constructed in
various arenas: personal ideology, group beliefs, and social and
political institutions. In those arenas, we are concerned with
social problems definitions of issues such as the greenhouse
effect and the global environmental crisis; public, scientific,
and governmental risk perception and risk communication; origins
and effects of government regulatory policy; lay-professional
differences in the nature and role of science; and the rise of
environmental consciousness and environmental movements;
and physical and mental health effects of environmental
contamination. Environmental sociology is also concerned with
the relationship of the environment to demographic phenomena,
scientific/technological development, and social change.
Given the environmental justice focus, we will of necessity be
emphasizing health effects. We will also be examining social
movements. And, since the environmental justice framework often
depends on proving environmental injustice, we will emphasize
research methods.
Fiction and drama will be used to illustrate various topics. Required Reading (all paperback)
-Books to be purchased at Brown Bookstore
Allan Schnaiberg and Kenneth Gould, Environment and Society: The
Enduring Conflict (St. Martin's)
Robert Bullard, ed., Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices
from the Grassroots (South End Press)
Richard Hofrichter, ed., Toxic Struggles: The Theory and
Practice of Environmental Justice (New Society Publishers)
Andrew Szasz, Ecopopulism: Toxic Waste and the Movement for
Environmental Justice (University of Minnesota Press)
Phil Brown and Edwin J. Mikkelsen, No Safe Place: Toxic Waste,
Leukemia,and Community Action (University of California Press)
Kai Erikson, Everything in its Path: The Destruction of
Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood (Simon and Schuster)
-Packet of readings to be purchased at Jo-Art Copy Center- these
readings are denoted by * on syllabus
Course Requirements
-presentations and discussions of readings
-several short reaction papers
-semester-long research paper
Jan. 25 1) Introduction - Scope of the course,
requirements.
read in class:
"Principles of Environmental Justice" Appendix in
Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
American Sociological Association, Section on
Environment and Technology, "Members Guide"
Videotape - "Toxic Racism"
Feb. 1 2) Sociological Perspectives on the Environment
Allan Schnaiberg and Kenneth Gould, Environment and
Society: The Enduring Conflict
Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea (excerpts)*
Feb. 8 3) Structural Inequalities: Capitalism,
Development, and Population
Daniel Faber and James O'Connor, "Capitalism and the
Crisis of Environmentalism," in Hofrichter, Toxic
Struggles
John O'Connor, "The Promise of Environmental Democracy"
in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Cynthia Hamilton, "Coping with Industrial Exploitation"
in Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism
Joni Seager, "Creating a Culture of Destruction:
Gender, Militarism, and the Environment" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Robert Weissman, "Corporate Plundering of Third-World
Resources" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Walden Bello, "Global Economic Counterrevolution: The
Dynamics of Impoverishment and Marginalization" in
Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Mark Ritchie, "Trading Away the Environment: Free-Trade Agreements and Environmental Degradation" in
Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Martin Khor Kok Peng, "Economics and Environmental
Justice": Rethinking North-South Relations" in
Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Dana Alston and Nicole Brown, "Global Threats to People
of Color" in Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism
Barry Commoner, "Population and Poverty" from Making
Peace with The Planet*
Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams (excerpts)*
Feb. 15 4) Environmental Health
William Freudenburg, "Perceived Risk, Real Risk:
Social Science and the Art of Probabilistic Risk
Assessment" Science 1988*
Steve Wing, "Limits of Epidemiology" Medicine and
Global Survival 1994, 1:74-86*
Griffith, Jack, Robert C. Duncan, Wilson B. Riggan and
Alvin C. Pellom. 1989. "Cancer Mortality in U.S.
Counties with Hazardous Waste Sites and Ground Water
Pollution." Archives of Environmental Health 44:69-74.*
Inge Goldstein and Martin Goldstein, "The Broad Street
Pump, " pp. 37-48 in John R. Goldsmith, ed.,
Environmental Epidemiology*
John R. Goldsmith and Herbert L. Needleman, "Lead
Exposures of Urban Children," pp. 171-180 in John R.
Goldsmith, ed., Environmental Epidemiology*
Janet Phoenix, "Getting the Lead out of the Community"
in Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism
Steven Lagakos, Barbara J. Wessen and Marvin Zelen. "An
Analysis of Contaminated Well Water and Health Efforts
in Woburn, MA." Journal of the American Statistical
Association, 1984, 81(395):583-596.*
Arthur Upton, Theodore Kneip, and Paolo Toniolo,
"Public Health Aspects of Toxic Chemical Disposal
Sites" Annual Review of Public Health 1989 10:1-25*.
Henrik Ibsen, "An Enemy of the People" (Act 2)*
Feb. 22 5) Environmental Inequity and Environmental Justice:
Concepts and Data
Richard Hofrichter, "Introduction" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Robert Bullard, "Anatomy of Environmental Racism and
the Environmental Justice Movement" in Bullard,
Confronting Environmental Racism
Dorcetta Taylor, "Environmentalism and the Politics of
Inclusion" in Bullard, Confronting Environmental
Racism
Winona LaDuke, "A Society Based on Conquest Cannot be
Sustained: Native Peoples and the Environmental
Crisis." in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Devon Pena and Joseph Gallegos, " Nature and Chicanos
in Southern Colorado," in Bullard, Confronting
Environmental Racism
Richard Moore and Louis Head, "Acknowledging the Past,
Confronting the Present: Environmental Justice in the
1990s" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Vernice Miller, "Building on Our Past, Planning for Our
Future: Communities of Color and the Quest for
Environmental Justice" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Mar. 1 6) Environmental Inequity and Environmental
Justice: Methods and Measurement
Phil Brown, "Race, Class and Environmental Health,"
#94-3, Working Papers Series of the Working Group in
Society and Health*
Wernet, D. R. and L. A. Nieves. 1992. "Breathing
Polluted Air." EPA Journal. 18 (March-April):16-17.*
Charles Lee, "Beyond Toxic Waste and Race" in Bullard,
Confronting Environmental Racism
West, Patrick C., J. Mark Fly, Frances Larkin, and
Robert W. Marans. 1992. "Minority Anglers and Toxic
Fish Consumption: Evidence from a Statewide Survey of
Michigan." *
Robert Collin and William Harris, "Race and Waste in
Two Virginia Communities" in Bullard, Confronting
Environmental Racism
Conner Bailey et al., "Environmental Politics in
Alabama's Blackbelt" in Bullard, Confronting
Environmental Racism
Benjamin Goldman and Laura Fitton, Toxic Wastes and
Race Revisited: An Update of the 1987 Report on the
Racial and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Communities
with Hazardous Waste Sites*
Anderton, Douglas. 1994. "Environmental Equity: The
Demographics of Dumping." Demography. *
Mar. 8 7) Environmental Inequity and Environmental
Justice: Methods and Measurement (continued)
Greenberg, Michael. 1993. "Proving Environmental
Inequity in Siting Locally Unwanted Land Uses." Risk:
Issues in Health and Society 235:235-252.*
Marianne Lavelle and Marcia Coyle, "Unequal Protection:
The Racial Divide in Environmental Law" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Zimmerman, Rae. 1993. "Social Equity and
Environmental Risk." Risk Analysis 13:649-66.*
White, Harvey L. 1992. "Hazardous Waste Incineration
in Minority Communities.*
Robert Bullard, "Conclusion: Environmentalism with
Justice" in Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism
Mar. 15 8) Gender Issues in the Environmental and Toxic Waste
Movements
Phil Brown and Faith Ferguson, "Making A Big Stink":
Women's Work, Women's Relationships, And Toxic Waste
Activism" Gender & Society, forthcoming*
Ynestra King, "Feminism and Ecology" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Celene Krauss, "Blue Collar Women and Toxic Waste
Protests: The Process of Politicization" in
Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Barbara Epstein, "Ecofeminism and Grass-roots
Environmentalism in the United States" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Mar. 22 9) Occupational Health and the Environment
Ruth Heifetz, "Women, Lead, and Reproductive Hazards,"
pp. 160-173 in David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, eds.,
Dying for Work: Workers' Safety and Health in
Twentieth-Century America*
Richard Kazis and Richard L. Grossman, Fear at Work:
Job Blackmail, Labor, and the Environment Ch. 1-3, pp.
3-51*
Dorothy Nelkin and Michael Brown, Workers at Risk:
Voices from the Workplace Ch. 2,3,6, pp. 23-49, 83-99*
Beverly Wright and Robert Bullard, "The Effects of
Occupational Injury, Illness, and Disease on the Health
Status of Black Americans: A Review" in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Cesar Chavez, "Farm Workers at Risk," in Hofrichter,
Toxic Struggles
Charles Noble, "Work: The Most Dangerous Environment"
in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Marion Moses, "Farmworkers and PEsticides," in Bullard,
Confronting Environmental Racism
Videotape - "Chemical Valley"(Institute, West Virginia)
Apr. 5 10) Community Context and Community Destruction
Kai Erikson, Everything in its Path: The Destruction
of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood
Videotape - "The Buffalo Creek Flood"
Apr. 12 11) Community Response to Toxic Contamination
Phil Brown and Edwin J. Mikkelsen, No Safe Place: Toxic
Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action
Apr. 19 2) The Environmental and Toxic Waste Movements
Andrew Szasz, Ecopopulism
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (excerpts)*
Videotape - "Convention 93"
Apr. 26 13) The Future of the Environment
Chris Kiefer and Medea Benjamin, "Solidarity with the
Third World: Building an International Environmental
Justice Movement" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Richard Hofrichter, "Cultural Activism and
Environmental Justice" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Mary Mellor, "Building a New Vision: Feminist, Green
Socialism" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Eric Mann, "Labor's Environmental Agenda in the New
Corporate Climate" in Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles
Laura Pulido, "Sustainable Development at Ganados Del
Valle" in Bullard, Confronting Environmental Racism
Barry Commoner, "Environmental Action" in Making Peace
with the Planet*
Lester R. Brown, Christopher Flavin. and Sandra Postel,
" Visions of a Sustainable World." Pp. 299-315 in
Lester R. Brown, ed., The World Watch Reader*
Jean Giono, "The Man Who Planted Trees"*
All materials copyright editor(s)
Fall 1994
Al Gedicks 212 North Hall
437 N North Hall 2:15-3:40 Tu, Th
Phone: 785-6782
Office Hours:
8:45-9:15am, MWF
1:45-2:15pm, Tu, Th
or by appointment
Required Texts
Allan Schnaiberg and Kenneth A. Gould, Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994; hereafter referred to as "S/G")
Al Gedicks, The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations (Boston: South End Press, 1993; hereafter referred to as "G")
Barbara Rose Johnston (ed.), Who Pays the Price? The Sociocultural Context of Environmental Crisis (Covelo, CA: Island Press, 1994; hereafter referred to as "J").
General Course Description
All industrial societies are built on a central belief that they can progress by conquering nature and expanding production. Environmental sociology provides a framework for understanding the dangers and threats posed by growth to the existence of human and biological life and the quality of that life. Prior to the first "Earth Day" in 1970, there was a widespread belief that the physical environment could (or even should) be ignored. Thanks to the environmental sociology writings of the l970s and 1980s, there was much greater attention to the linkages between social activities (including economic ones) and environmental realities.
This course will focus on the conflicts between the logic of this political-economic system and the realities of both the global environment and social justice within and between societies. Special attention will be devoted to the situation of native peoples, both in the United States and elsewhere, where the issues of environmental degradation and human rights are inseparable. Students will have the opportunity to study the ongoing conflict in northern Wisconsin between Exxon/Rio Algom and the Sokaogon Chippewa over the development of a controversial zinc/copper mine near Crandon, Wisconsin.
General Course Requirements
If there is any student in this class who has need for test-taking or note-taking accommodations, please feel free to come and discuss this with me.
This course is designed so that you can actively participate in creating your own knowledge of environmental sociology rather than passively listening to mine. In order to accomplish this you will need to work with your fellow classmates so that you can help clarify ideas, reinforce each others' understanding of difficult and complex issues, and provide useful feedback on each others' written assignments. At the beginning of the semester each of you will be randomly assigned to a four-person work group; different work groups will be created every 3 or 4 weeks. Your success in establishing cooperative relationships in your group will make it easier to actively participate in creating your knowledge of environmental sociology.
All students enrolled in this course will be expected to attend lectures, do the required readings and participate in group discussions. As a courtesy to the instructor and to your fellow students, every effort should be made to arrive before the class begins. Persistent lateness is extremely disruptive to the entire class. Examinations will cover all material presented in lectures, including films, guest speakers, and the required readings. In addition there will be nine writing exercises that will involve groups efforts.
Revisions of the syllabus, exam dates or exam format may occur during the course of the semester and will be announced in class. You will be responsible for all changes announced in class, so if you miss a class be sure to check with another student to find out what was announced.
Examinations, Writing Exercises, Grading
Three in-class examinations will be given. Each exam will be made up of three questions designed to be answered with a short essay. All questions appearing on an exam are taken from a list of questions distributed to you 7 days prior to the exam. From this list, four questions will be selected randomly; you will choose any three of those to answer on the exam. Each exam will count for 100 points. The nine writing exercises will each count for 11 points (6 for group, 5 for individual summary), for a total of 100 points. The final grade will be determined by the number of points the student earns during the semester.
The grade scale for each exam is as follows: 92-100 = A 86-91 = AB 80-85 = B 74-79 = BC 68-73 = C 62-67 = D 61 or below = F.
Each final letter grade requires the following number of points: A: 368-400; AB: 344-367; B: 320-343; BC: 296-319; C: 272-295; D: 248-271; F: 247 or below.
The dates of the exams are as follows:
First Exam: Tuesday, October 4
Second Exam: Thursday, November 10
Final Exam: Friday, December 16, 12:15 - 2:15pm
Exams must be taken during the scheduled time. Make-up exams will be given only under the following circumstances:
(i) for extraordinary and legitimate reasons, a make-up exam may be scheduled in advance if permission of the instructor is secured at least one week before the scheduled exam date;
or,
(ii) serious personal illness verified in a written note from a physician or hospital if instructor is notified within one week after the scheduled exam date.
The instructor reserves the right to refuse permission for make-up exams. No make-ups will be available for the final exam.
Writing Exercises
Each writing exercise has three components. The first is a summary of the article or chapter, anywhere from two to four paragraphs, depending on the length and complexity of the article, explaining what the article or chapter is about. The second is a question about the article that would generate class discussion. The question should raise some larger issue about the specific article or chapter which is capable of being answered with the information in that article. Questions on the order of "Why aren't we more concerned about the impact of "x" on our environment?" do not lend themselves to group discussion because they do not usually refer back to specific issues raised in the reading. The point is to generate discussion and debate about issues people are familiar with, based upon a common reading experience.
On those days when writing exercises are due, you will be expected to come to class with your summary and your discussion question. I will look over the range of discussion questions and assign one for your work group to discuss at the beginning of the class. After 20-25 minutes, each group will turn in a final summary statement, signed by the entire group, of your consensus about the discussion question. Each member of the group will receive the same grade. Each written assignment is worth 11 points: 6 for the group summary; 5 for the individual summary. In-Class Panel Discussions
There will be one or two in-class panel discussions, based upon issues raised in the course, and related to assigned readings. On those days set aside for the in-class panel discussions, each student will bring to class a summary of the assigned reading. Each group will then prepare to present what it considers to be the key points about the particular question or issue. One member of each work group will join the panel and present its comments to the class. Panel members can respond to each other and students from the class may join the discussion as well. The entire class will receive the same grade, depending on the quality of the discussion. Each in-class panel discussion is worth 11 points (5 for individual summary, 6 for class discussion).
COURSE OUTLINE
September 6 Introduction and overview of the course: ecological crisis, what is environmental sociology?
September 8 Social roots of environmental crisis; human rights and environmental degradation. Writing exercise #1.
September 13 Resource wars; the Yanomami holocaust. Panel Discussion #1.
Required Reading
S/G, chps. 1 and 2, "Social and Environmental Health,"; "Society as the Enemy of the Environment;" J, "Introduction," chps. 2,3,5, "Environmental Degradation and Human Rights Abuse," "Resource Wars: Nation and State Conflicts of the Twentieth Century," "The Yanomami Holocaust Continues;" G, Foreword by Winona La Duke, "A Society Based on Conquest Cannot be Sustained."
September 15 The Penan vs. the loggers in the rainforests of Sarawak, Borneo. Video: Blowpipes and Bulldozers. This film was made by a clandestine Australian crew in the hope of getting the story of the Penan and Bruno Manser (now wanted by the Malaysian government) known to the outside world before it is too late. (60 mins.)
September 20 Discussion of film; the "treadmill of production." Writing exercise # 2.
September 22 Big oil vs. the Ecuadorian Indians. Video: Flames in the Forest: Indians and Oil in the Amazon. Since the 1950s, the Amazon Indians of eastern Ecuador have bitterly resisted the invasion of international oil companies into their territory. (52 mins.) Required Reading
G, chp. 1, "Resource Colonialism and International Native Resistance." S/G, chp. 3, "Economic Organizations in the Treadmill of Production."
September 27 How Can the Rain Forests Be Saved? Panel Discussion #2
Required Reading
J, chp. 17, "Democracy and Human Rights: Conditions for Sustainable Resource Utilization." (on reserve in Murphy Library):
"Changing Farmers' Lifestyles Can Save Rain Forests;" "Eliminating Government Support for Deforestation Can Save Rain Forests;" "Indigenous People Can Save Rain Forests"
September 29 Social institutions and the treadmill of production. Writing Exercise # 3.
Required Reading
S/G, chp.5, "Lubricating the treadmill."
October 4 First exam
October 6 Exams returned and discussed.
October 11 Mining wars in Wisconsin: Kennecott/RTZ vs. the Chippewa; video: Anishinaabe Niijii (Friends of the Chippewa). This film traces the development of an Indian-environmental alliance to stop an open pit copper mine on the banks of the Flambeau River in Ladysmith, WI. (47 mins.)
October 13 Mining wars in Wisconsin: Exxon vs. the Sokaogon Chippewa; video: The New Resource Wars (15 min. excerpt on Exxon); This excerpt provides the background to the first Exxon battle from 1976-86. The Mine Next Door, produced by WHA-TV, provides the background to the current Exxon mine proposal at Mole Lake, WI. (15 mins.)
October 18 Environmental movements: The W.A.T.E.R. (Watershed Alliance to End Environmental Racism) campaign to stop Exxon/Rio Algom at Mole Lake. Panel Discussion # 3: How effective are native-environmental coalitions? Required Reading
G, Introduction, "Inside the Native-environmental alliance;" chps. 2,3,4,5,6. "The Special Case of Mining;" "The Sokaogon Chippewa Take on Exxon;" "Kennecott's Best Laid Plans;" "A Native- Environmentalist Insurgency;" and "Endangered Species and Treaty Rights."
October 20 No class today
October 25 National Security and Radioactive Colonization of Native Lands. film: In Our Own Backyards: Uranium Mining in the United States. This film exposes the radioactive hazards that Navajo and Pueblo uranium miners were exposed to without their knowledge or consent. (28 mins.)
October 27 No class today
November 1 National Security and Radioactive Colonization cont. video: Uranium. This film shows the impact of uranium mining on native lands in Canada, which has some of the world's richest veins of uranium and a recent history of violent confrontation over native rights. One of the principal uranium producers, Rio Algom, is now Exxon's partner at Mole Lake, WI. (48 mins.) Writing exercise # 4.
November 3 Radioactive dumping on Native Nations: NSP at Prarie Island, MN. Guest Speaker: Guy Wolf from the Downriver Alliance.
Required Reading
J, chps. 13, 14, "Experimenting on Human Subjects: Nuclear Weapons Testing and Human Rights Abuse;" "Resource Use and Abuse on Native American Land: Uranium Mining in the American Southwest." (To be handed out in class): "Keeping a Deadly Secret" Newsweek (June 18, 1990); Valerie Taliman, "The untold story: Native American nuclear guinea pigs." News from Indian Country (Late January 1994); Fact sheets on Prarie Island nuclear waste storage.
November 8 Treaty rights, racism and resource colonization. Video: Spearfishing for Gold? An examination of the connections between the anti-treaty rights movement and the attempt to gain access to northern Wisconsin's mineral resources. (28 mins.)
Required Reading
G, chp. 7, "The Corporate/Government Appeal to Racism."
November 10 Second exam
November 15 Exams returned and discussed. Environmentalism as a mass movement.
November 17 The emergence of the environmental justice movement. Video: Toxic Racism. This film shows the origin of the environmental justice movement in the experiences of minority communities where hazardous waste facilities are located. (60 mins.)
November 22 No class today. Special class day (Friday classes).
November 24 Thanksgiving break
November 29 The environmental justice movement: blue collar women and toxic waste protests. Writing exercise # 5.
Required Reading
S/G, chp. 7, "Resisting the Treadmill of Production: Environmental Movements;"
(on reserve in Murphy Library): Celene Krauss, "Blue-Collar women and toxic waste protests" pp.107-117 from Richard Hofrichter, Toxic Struggles: The Theory and Practice of Environmental Justice (Philadelphia, PA: New Society, 1993).
December 1 No class today
December 6 The Third World. Case study: Papua New Guinea
December 8 Ecological sustainability. Panel discussion # 4.
December 13 Ecological sustainability, democracy and human rights
Required Reading
J. chp. 9, "Mineral Development, Environmental Degradation and Human Rights: The Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea." S/G, chps 9, 10, "Ecological Sustainability;" "The Road to and from Rio;" (on reserve in Murphy Library): Heidi Hadsell, "Profits, Parrots, Peons: Ethical Perplexities in the Amazon."
December 15 Last day of class
FINAL EXAM (not cumulative)
Friday, December 16, 1994, 12:15-2:15pm Soc. 399 Environmental Sociology Fall 1994
Prof. Gedicks
Essay Questions - First Exam
Four questions will be chosen from the following list for the in-class examination on Tuesday, October 4. From the four questions, you will be asked to choose three.
1. According to public opinion surveys the U.S. population is overwhelmingly in favor of environmental protection. Yet there is no letup in the pace of economic growth and expansion. Is there some inconsistency or contradiction in these two observations? If so, how would you explain this? If not, why not?
2. What is the relationship between environmental degradation and human rights abuse? Illustrate your answer with evidence from the Penan in Sarawak and the Indians of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
3. In May 1992 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) bought SO2 pollution allowances for $14 million from Wisconsin Power and Light. How is this an example of the logic of the treadmill of production in terms of corporate and state behavior? How do environmental groups view this behavior?
4. What are some of the problems that arise from the way science is used in environmental policy making?
5. What are some of the similarities and differences in the ways preindustrial and industrial societies overshoot their ecological limits?
6. What are the main reasons for nation and state conflicts in the twentieth century? Are these conflicts likely to increase or decrease in the future? Why?
7. What are the most important factors necessary for people living in fragile environments (like rainforests) to promote sustainable development? Soc. 399 Environmental Sociology Fall 1994
Prof. Gedicks
First Exam
Choose three from the following questions to answer in your blue book. Use a pen.
1. According to public opinion surveys the U.S. population is overwhelmingly in favor of environmental protection. Yet there is no letup in the pace of economic growth and expansion. Is there some inconsistency or contradiction in these two observations? If so, how would you explain this? If not, why not?
2. What is the relationship between environmental degradation and human rights abuse? Illustrate your answer with evidence from the Penan in Sarawak and the Indians of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
3. What are some of the problems that arise from the way science is used in environmental policy making?
4. What are the main reasons for nation and state conflicts in the twentieth century? Are these conflicts likely to increase or decrease in the future? Why?
All materials copyright editor(s).
INFORMATION SKILLS ASSIGNMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
RSOC 324, 3-WEEK SUMMER SESSION, 1995 GILLESPIE GETTING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET AT CORNELL
My purpose for this assignment is to get you connected to the internet so that you will be able to access up-to-date environmental information and be ready for a future assignment. Also, I also use e-mail regularly so e-mail will be a way through which we can communicate easily. If you experience problems with this assignment, please let me know right away. If you are already using Bear Access at Cornell, please skip to section 2.
1. If you are not connected to the internet through Bear Access, take your Cornell ID if you have one, or your Cornell Summer ID (which you get when you pay your fees) and a photo ID (such as your driver's license) to the CIT Help desk an ask for a "netid" (pronounced "net eye DEE"). The Helpdesk is in Computing and Communications Center on the Ag Quad (surrounded by Roberts, Bailey, Caldwell, and Martha Van Rensselaer Halls). The Helpdesk staff will issue you a netid and you should be connected the same day. While you are there, ask for information about where you can use Bear Access and how to use e-mail at Cornell. To use e-mail in a Cornell public access facility, you will also need a diskette that is appropriate for the type of computer that you use.
2. Connect to Bear Access and the e-mail program (probably Eudora) on the kind of computer that you prefer to use (IBM-compatible or Macintosh).
3. Please subscribe to two of the many e-mail discussion lists that are valuable sources of current information about the environment. If your subscription request is successful, you will receive, in your e-mail mailbox, a variety of postings covering the latest environmental news on legislative actions, environmental activist successes, environmental disasters, sources of information, and calls for action. Many of these postings will be on stories that will not appear in the mainstream press. The first list is "EnviroNews Service," a moderated e-mail discussion from The Envirolink Network. This list provides current information on environmental issues from an environmentalist perspective. The second list is PANUPS (Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service) which focuses, not surprisingly, on environmental issues relating to pesticide production, pesticide use, pesticide regulatory issues, and pesticide contamination of food, water, people, etc.
a. Subscribe to EnviroNews Service by sending a message that contains only:{1}
subscribe environews your-first-name your-last-name
To:
listproc@envirolink.org
b. Subscribe to PANUPS by sending a message that contains only:{2}
subscribe panups
To:
majordomo@igc.apc.org
4. Send me an e-mail message says "Hi, Gil!" so that I know that you are using e-mail and I will then have your e-mail address, also. My address is:
gwg2@cornel.edu
Within a day or so you should receive a confirmation from each list that your subscription was accepted and you should receive postings (PANUPS only posts a couple of messages a week). You should also find a reply from me. Otherwise you can expect a message to the effect that your e-mail message could not be delivered from some reason or that your subscription request was not honored. If you have a problem and cannot readily see what it is, print the message you received and show it to me. I hope that you will appreciate the environmental information form the internet as much as I do.
Information Skills Assignment for Environment and Society
RSoc 324, 3-Week Summer Session, 1995, Gillespie
Internet Information Search{3}
In this assignment I ask you to locate useful information on the Internet, using both e-mail discussion lists and the World Wide Web (WWW, or Web). The assignment has 4 parts: (1) get information from an e-mail discussion list, (2) perform a Lycos search, (3) perform a Web Crawler search, and (4) write a brief report of your experience with getting information from the Internet. The assignment is intended to take two to three hours. If you experience technical problems or if you have spent more than two hours and do not have the "end in sight," please let me know right away. This assignment counts a maximum of 20 points toward your final grade.
Purpose
I make this assignment to introduce you to obtaining information on enviromental topics from the internet.
About the Internet and Obtaining Information from It
As you probably know by now, the Internet is a worldwide network of computers which allows information to be shared in ways never before possible. The problem is knowing what you are looking for and how to find it, since so much information is available that sorting through it can be very difficult and even overwhelming.
You should have subscribed to the e-mail discussion lists already and be receiving postings. Discussion lists can provide much information, but most have few filters and items of information come when subscribers or listowners post them. In a way, joining a list is much like subscribing to a news magazine. In contrast, the WWW is more like an electronic literature search because you actively choose which information you receive.
The Web is much more "interactive" than other parts of the Internet. Usually you move the mouse pointer to an icon or a word and then click the mouse button (left button on IBM compatible computers), but sometimes you can enter requested information into fields, such as your name or e-mail address, or the key-terms that you want to use to conduct a search. Once you have entered the information into a field, you usually click on a button to send this information. Overall, the Web is a fairly user-friendly, graphically-based interface with the Internet which is quickly mastered with a little experimentation and practice.
The World Wide Web consists of "Sites" which you can "visit." A site generally begins with a "Home Page" which may possibly include links to other documents or other sites. The Web relies on HyperText which allows you to jump from one document to another--a "HyperLink"--by clicking on highlighted or underlined text, and sometimes by clicking on pictures or icons. This is known as "following a link." Once you are connected, notice that the arrow that you control with your mouse changes to a pointing hand as it passes over a hyperlink work or graphic image. This indicates that you can follow a link to another address on the Web. You can also move to a site by typing its address in the "Location" field at the top of the screen and then pressing the [Enter] key, but you may never have to do this. A Web address is similar to your e-mail address, each word represents a more specific location within the network of domains and computers which make up the internet. A Web address is also known as a URL, an acronym for Universal Resource Locator. While URLs are generally expressed as words, the computer network actually "looks up" in a database and the word address you enter and matches it to the series of numbers that the network uses to reach the site. The URL also includes a key for the type of language used for the specific site. For example for the CUInfo Home Page the full address is "http://www.cornell.edu/", the "http" indicates it is a World Wide Web site. Sometimes you will reach a gopher server through the Web, in which case instead of "http" the URL will begin the "gopher." Likewise, an FTP site begins with "ftp."{4} Slashes indicate sub-directories within a site. If you are looking at a specific document other than the home page it will usually be referenced by a series of sub-directories divided by slashes, and ending in the name of the document with its extension, usually either .htm or .html for a text file, or .jpg or .gif for a graphic image. For example, the list of courses related to the environment which you can access at the Web site of the Cornell Center of the Environment is "http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/courses.html" and the gopher menu where you can find official documents relating to the 1995 Farm Bill, through the USDA Web Site, is
"gopher://gopher.nalusda.gov:70/11/ag_pubs/frmbl95".
The Web must be accessed using a special kind of software known as a "Browser." At Cornell software called "Netscape Navigator" is used to access the Web through Bear Access from both PC (Windows) and Macintosh computers. When you select Word Wide Web on Bear Access th CUInfo Home Page will appear first on your screen. It takes a minute or two to load the information from the source site onto your computer. If you look at the bottom of your screen you will see a progress bar in the lower righ-hand corner and a textual/numerical indication of progress in the lower left-hand corner. When the document is fully loaded this will then read "Document: Done." While the document is loading you can usually scroll down it to see what is already there, or follow any links that appear interesting to you, but it's usually best to wait until it finishes. Once the document is loaded, you are set to read the information there and see where to find, and how to get to, specific Web sites. In Netscape Navigator there are menus at the top of the screen, just like with any Window's or Macintosh program. At the extreme right is the "Directory" menu which includes two entries which lead you to "search engines" to find specific information on the Web.
One such entry is called "Internet Directory" and leads to three options:
1. Yahoo. This includes a field to enter search words and has two buttons: one to submit the search for execution, and one to clear the [Alt-Left Arrow]) to return to your previous position. If a document doesn't seem to be loading properly or is taking too long (large graphic images--pictures--often take a very long time to load) you may want to try it later when there is less traffic at that site or on the Web in general and information will move faster. Press [Esc] or click on the "Stop" buttom on the menu bar, and then click on "Back."
Beyond following the links already visible or manually entering an address, there are other ways to find and get to specific Web sites. In Netscape Navigator there are menus atthe top of the screen, just like with any Window's or Macintosh program. At the extreme right is the "Directory" menu which includes two entries which lead you to "search engines" to find specific information on the Web.
One such entry is called "Internet Directory" and leads to three options:
1. Yahoo. This includes a field to enter search words and has two buttons: one to submit the search for execution, and one to clear the words to enter new one(s).
2. World-Wide Web Servers. This is a link to the list of servers maintained by the CERN in Switzerland. This is not as useful because it is a list of servers, with links to reach them, and you must begin with an idea of what you are looking for and where.
3. Virtual Tourist. This is a graphical tool similar to the list of servers at CERN. You can click on the area of the map where the server that interests you is located. Again, this is really only useful if you know what you are looking for and where it is located.
The second menu entry for search programs is called "Internet Search" and leads tothe following options:
1. InfoSeek Search which finds articles and links based on their extensive catalog.
2. Lycos. Choosing this option takes you to the Lycos Home Page which gives you several search options. Lycos is one of your best bets for getting information.
3. Web Crawler. This is similar to Lycos except that in addition to searching through currently indexed sources it can also send out its "robot" to search for new sources which match your search request.
Many other indexes and search services are available on the Web and you can find them by following some of the links available on the "pages" mentioned above. In some instances it may be more useful to use an index organized by topic, but for this assignment you will conduct searches on both Lycos and Web Crawler, follow the links that result, and print out one of the articles or pages that you find from each search which contains useful information for your project. Experiment with different search terms. Try to be specific as possible because certain topics have so much information available that you will never be able to sort through all the items or visit all the sites. This will likely happen if you just use "ecology" or "rainforest destruction" or "pollution" or "environment and sociology" as your search terms. Also, since the search programs will limit the number of "hits" or matching entries it returns, if you search on a term that is too general you may miss the most interesting documents simply because, due to the order in which sites were found in the search, they were excluded from this list because the limit was already reached. These search engines work by compiling a catalog of documents available on the Web and searching through the catalog to match your request. They search for your terms in the title and contents of Web pages, and rank the apparent relevance of the hits based on the location and number of occurrences of your search term. In the end, however, only you can judge the relevance of an item for your work. You may want to read some of the information on a search program you are using to see how it works and understand how to interpret its results. You can also try reading the "FAQ" files (Frequently Asked Questions).
Information from an E-Mail Discussion List
Choose one of the postings that you received from EnviroNews or PANUPS. Print the message by clicking on "File" in the left side of the menu bar at the top of the screen and then clicking on "print." Summarize in a short paragraph the content of the message (2 or 3 sentences).
Searching for Information Using Lycos
To access Lycos, click on "Directory" in the menu bar at the top of the screen, then click on "Internet search." Scroll down until you see "Lycos Home Page: Hunting WWW Information." Position your pointer in this text and click the mouse button to get the Lycos Home Page. Scroll down the Lycos page until you come to the entries for "Search the big Lycos catalog" and right below it, "Search the small Lycos catalog", click on Lycos Search Form for either the big or small database and then enter your search terms. Lycos has the advantage of giving some indication of the content before you follow the link so you might save a little time. If you do not find anything in the search results that seems useful, try increasing the maximum number of hits. You might also try narrowing or broadening your search terms, as appropriate.
Once you have found useful some information you can print it, download the item to your own disk, or e-mail it to yourself (be cautious, however, about capturing files that take a long time to load because these may be very large). All three functions are accessed by clicking on the "File" menu in the upper left corner of the screen. To print the active document choose "Print" from the file menu. To save on disk the document you are viewing choose "Save as..." and specify a name for the file and the disk drive on which you want to save it. Note that the file will be saved as an ASCII file with special programming characters included in the document.{5} Finally, to e-mail the document to yourself choose "Mail document...", enter your e-mail address and be sure to click on the "Include document text" button at the bottom of the window to paste the text into the message window.
To complete this part of the assignment, please print out a copy of one Home Page from which you assessed (or found) useful information. Since this printout will not include th URL (address) of the site, please copy it from the "Location" field at the top of the window and write it on the printout. Also, please not on the printout that it resulted from your Lycos search.
Searching for Information Using the Web Crawler
The Web Crawler Search link appears right below the Lycos on the Internet search page. When you click on "Web Crawler Searching" you are taken right to the search form and only need to enter your terms and, if desired, change the maximum number of hits. After submitting the search you will be return with a list of hits, ranked according to their presumed relevance. You may want to try to use search terms as exact as possible and keep the number of hits down so that you don't have to sort through too many possibilities.
As with the Lycos part of the assignment, please print out a copy of one Home Page from which you accessed (or found) useful information. Since this printout will not include th URL (address) of the site, please copy it from the "Location" field at the top of the window and write it on the printout. Also, please note on the printout that it resulted from your Web Crawler search.
The Report
Write a very brief report that includes an introductory paragraph, a short (2-3 sentences) paragraph on the information that you found from each of three sources (e-mail discussion list, Lycos, and Web Crawler). End with a paragraph or two discussing your experience with getting information from the Internet (positive experiences, difficulties, which information search seemed most useful for your tentative project topic, possibilities for the future, etc.). Assemble your written report with the information that you printed from each of the three sources. Fasten with a staple or paper clip.
FOOTNOTES********************************
{1} Leave the subject line blank. Also, if you are an experienced user who uses a "signature," turn that feature off before you send these requests to subscribe to the e-mail discussion lists. If you are a new user, don't worry about this.
In upper case the lines are:
SUBSCRIBE ENVIRONEWS YOUR-FIRST-NAME YOUR LAST NAME
LISTPROC@ENVIROLINK.ORG
{2} In upper case these two lines are:
SUBSCRIBE PANUPS
MAJORDOMO@IGC.APC.ORG
{3} Bruce Tyler researched and wrote most of this assignment. References used included on-line information and "Electronic Publishing on the World-Wide" by Ray Duncan (PC Magazine, April 11, 1995, pp. 257-261).
{4} Http stands for hyper text transfer protocol; ftp stands for file transfer protocol.
{5} HTML, HyperText Markup Language, is the language which, when interpreted by a Web Browser such as Netscape Navigator, allows the links to be made between sites and documents. When it is viewed through an ordinary word processor such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect you will see all of the special programming codes which, in the Browser, are interpreted according to their special function but are not seen as text. If the document you save has a lot of links, it may be hard to read, but try it and see.
All materials copyright editor(s)
St. Lawrence University Prof. Ken Gould
Department of Sociology Piskor Hall, Rm. #206
Spring 1994-95 Phone # 379-5395
Office Hours: T, Th 10:00- 11:00am, Th 4:00- 5:00pm
Sociology 248 B: SPTP: Race, Class, and Environmental Justice
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:20-3:50 Piskor Hall #10
Course Description: This course focuses on the distributional dimensions of environmental degradation and environmental protection, both domestically and globally. The social processes which generate synergistic racism and class stratification, impacting the distribution of ecological costs and benefits, will be explored. Substantive areas of focus will include the siting of hazardous facilities in urban and rural minority communities, the socioecological conditions of migrant farm workers, the extraction of resources from Native lands, the employment structure of hazardous industrial workplaces, population control initiatives directed at people-of-color, the siting of thermonuclear weapons testing, and the national and transnational export of toxic waste to the "South"s. The course will also examine the origins and impacts of a distinct Environmental Justice movement which has emerged within minority and working-class communities, and its relationships to Civil Rights, Labor, and mainstream Environmental movements. Written and oral course assignments will involve individual and collaborative quests for socially equitable solutions to environmental problems, and ecologically sustainable solutions to racial and economic injustice.
All reading assignments are in the following texts or will be made available as photocopied readings. Photocopied readings are indicated in the syllabus with an (X). You are expected to have completed the weekly reading assignments prior to our Tuesday class meetings.
Books:
Bryant, Bunyan and Paul Mohai ..........Race and the Incidence of Environmental
Hazards: A Time for Discourse. 1992.
Bullard, Robert. .............................Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and
Environmental Quality. 1990.
Bullard, Robert. Ed. ........................Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices From the Grassroots. 1993.
Bullard, Robert. Ed. ........................Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color. 1994.
Gedicks, Al. .................................The New Resource Wars: Native and
Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations. 1993.
Schnaiberg, Allan. Ed. .................... Qualitative Sociology. Special Issue, "Social
Equity and Environmental Activism". 1993.
Szasz, Andrew. .............................EcoPopulism: Toxic Waste and the Movement for Environmental Justice. 1994.
Photocopied Readings:
Bureau of Land Management............ Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine E.I.S. 1988.
C. I. R. and Bill Moyers .................Global Dumping Grounds: The International Trade in Hazardous Waste. 1990.
Fisher, Julie................................The Road From Rio: Sustainable Development and the Nongovernmental Movement in the Third
World. 1993.
Leonard, H. Jeffrey........................Environment and the Poor: Development Strategies for a Common Agenda. 1989.
Rodda, Annabel............................Women and the Environment. 1993.
Shiva, Vandana............................Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development. 1989.
Evaluation:
Evaluations will be based on two 6-7 page research papers, a final exam, two small group presentations, and attendance and participation.
Each research paper will be worth 20% of your final grade. Late papers will be down-graded by .5 for each day after the due date. Paper assignments will be distributed two weeks prior to the date the papers are due. You are encouraged to revise your graded papers. You must see me during office hours to discuss your plans for revision. Revised papers are due no later than two weeks after your papers are returned to you.
The small group presentations will each account for 15% of your final grade. The presentations will focus on various aspects of specific environmental justice problems, the social responses to those problems, and possible solutions. Each presentation will be 20-30 minutes in length. Group presentation assignments will be distributed in class four weeks prior to presentation dates. Some class time will be allotted for work on the presentations, but additional group meetings will also be necessary.
The in-class final exam will be worth 15% of your grade. The exam will be cumulative and will draw on points from the course readings, lectures, films, and class discussions. It will consist of both multiple choice and essay questions.
The remaining 15% of your final grade will be based on your attendance and participation in class. Attendance and participation grades will be determined as follows: -.2 for each absence after 3 excused absences. Those who participate regularly in class will be given extra credit up to 1.5.
WEEK # DAY TOPICS and READINGS .
Unit # 1: Introduction: Ecological Change and Distributive Justice.
Week 1) Race and Class in an Ecological Context.
Tues. 1/24) Major Issues in Environmental Justice.
Thur. 1/26) Distributing the Costs and Benefits of Environmental Change.
Readings: Bullard, Ch.#1, "Environmentalism and Social Justice." (In Dumping in Dixie).
Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#1, "Introduction."
Schnaiberg, "Introduction: Inequality Once More, with (Some)
Feeling".
Unit # 2 : Race, Class and the North American Environment.
Week 2) Minority & Poor Communities and Urban Environments.
Tues. 1/31) The Siting of Hazardous Waste.
Thur. 2/2) The Siting of Hazardous Industries.
Readings: Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#2, "Toxic Waste and Race in the U.S.", Ch.# 7, "Invitation to Poison? Detroit Minorities and Toxic Fish Consumption from the Detroit River"., Ch.#9, "The Effects of Occupational Injury,
Illness, and Disease on the Health Status of Black Americans: A Review."
Bullard, Ch.#2, "Beyond Toxic Wastes and Race.", Ch.#4, "Coping
with Industrial Exploitation.", Ch.#5, "Getting the Lead out of the
Community." (In Confronting Environmental Racism).
Bullard, Ch.#6, "West Dallas versus the Lead Smelter", Ch.#9,
"California's Endangered Communities of Color." (In Unequal
Protection).
Week 3) Farmers, Farm Workers, and Agricultural Environments.
Tues. 2/7) Social and Environmental Exposure of Migrant Farm Workers.
Environmental Justice Speaker: Margarita Alario, 8:00pm Sykes Common.
Thur. 2/9) Agribusiness, Small & Minority Farmers, and the Environment.
Readings: Bullard, Ch.#8, "Sustainable Development at Ganados del Valle.",
Ch.#10, "Farm workers and Pesticides." (In Confronting
Environmental Racism).
Bullard, Ch.#4, "Black, Brown, Red and Poisoned." (In Unequal
Protection).
Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#14, "Pesticide Exposure of Farm Workers and
the International Connection".
Assignment: Research paper (6-7 pages) on the interaction of racial and class factors in a specific domestic environmental conflict (Due at the start of class on Thursday, February 23rd).
Week 4) Minority & Poor Communities in Rural Environments.
Tues. 2/14) The Siting of Hazardous Waste and Industries.
Thur. 2/16) Social and Ecological Impacts of Extraction Economies.
Readings: Bullard, Ch.#2, "Race, Class, and the Politics of Place." (In Dumping
in Dixie).
Bullard, Ch.#6, "Race and Waste in Two Virginia Communities.", Ch.# 7, Environmental Politics in Alabama's Blackbelt.", Ch.#9, "Nature and Chicanos in Southern Colorado." (In Confronting Environmental Racism).
Bullard, Ch.# 2, "Crisis at Indian Creek." and Ch.# 8, "Impacts of the
Energy Industry on the Navajo and Hopi." (In Unequal Protection).
Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#11, "Environmentalism and Civil Rights in
Sumter County, Alabama".
Week 5) Native American Resources and American Development.
Tues. 2/21) Killing the Buffalo: Environmental Change and Conquest.
Thur. 2/23) Native Sovereignty and Energy Resources.
Readings: Gedicks, pp. 1-83.
Schnaiberg, "Power, Policy and Paperwork: The Bureaucratic
Representation of Interests".
Note: First research paper due in class on 2/23.
Unit # 3 : The American Environmental Justice Movement.
Week 6) A Brief History of Environmentalism and Civil Rights.
Tues. 2/28) Labor Movements and Environmental Hazards.
Thur. 3/2) The Civil Rights Movement and Modern Environmentalism.
Readings: Bullard, Ch.#1, "Anatomy of Environmental Racism and the
Environmental Justice Movement.", Ch.#3, "Environmentalism and
the Politics of Inclusion." (In Confronting Environmental Racism).
Bullard, "Introduction." to Unequal Protection.
Szasz, pp. 1-68.
Note: First small group presentations on the U.S. environmental
justice movement will begin on 3/14.
Week 7) New Voices in Environmental Conflicts.
Tues. 3/7) The Rise of New Issues and New Movements.
Environmental Justice Speaker: Matthew Chachere, 8:00pm in Sykes Common.
Thur. 3/9) The Movement for Environmental Justice In the U.S.
Readings: Szasz, pp. 69-133.
Schnaiberg, "Women and Toxic Waste Protests: Race, Class, and
Gender as Resources of Resistance".
Bullard, Ch.# 11, "Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles." and Ch.# 13, "PUEBLO Fights Lead Poisoning." (In Unequal Protection).
Week 8) First Student Presentations.
Tues. 3/14) Small group presentations.
Thur. 3/16) More small group presentations.
Readings: Bullard, Dumping in Dixie, pp. 75-139.
Szasz, pp. 137-166
Week 9) Spring Study and Research Opportunity: 3/21 & 3/23
Unit # 4 : The Global Distribution of Environmental Costs and
Development Gains.
Week 10) The Environmental and Unequal Development.
Tues. 3/28) Rio-Colonialism?: The Political Ecology of North and South.
Thur. 3/30) Population, Food and the Demographics of Power.
Readings: Bullard, Ch.#11, "Global Threats to People of Color." (In Confronting Environmental Racism).
Fisher, Ch.#1, "The Politics of Development". (X)
Leonard, Ch.#5, "Urban Development in the Third World:
Environmental Dilemmas and the Urban Poor". (X)
Shiva, "Women in the Food Chain" pp.96-135. (X)
Assignment: Research paper (6-7 pages) on the interaction of racial and unequal development
factors in a specific transnational environmental conflict (Due at the start of class on
Thursday, April 13th).
Week 11) The Transnational Trade in Toxic Chemicals.
Tues. 4/4) How Toxics Trickle-Down the Globe.
Thur. 4/6) Targeting "Underpolluted" Africa.
Readings: Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#15, "The Dumping of Toxic Waste in African
Countries: A Case of Poverty and Racism."
Center for Investigative Reporting & Moyers, Global Dumping Grounds (excerpts). (X)
Week 12) Race, Class and the Nuclear Age.
Tues. 4/11) Nuclear Weapons Development: From Zaire to Nevada.
Environmental Justice Speaker: Charles Lee, 8:00pm in Sykes Common.
Thur. 4/13) War and Nuclear Weapons: From Japan to Tennessee.
Readings: Bryant & Mohai, Ch.#12, "Uranium Production and its Effects on
Navajo Communities Along the Rio Puerco in Western New Mexico".
Bureau of Land Management, Jackpile- Paguate Uranium Mine
E.I.S. (excerpts). (X)
Note: Second research paper due in class on 4/13.
Unit # 5 : The Global Movement for Environmental Justice.
Week 13) Women & Indigenous People's in Environmental Struggles.
Tues. 4/18) Rainforests, Mining, and Hydro Development Conflicts.
Thur. 4/20) The Status of Women and the Future of South.
Readings: Rodda, Ch's.# 4 & 5 (X)
Gedicks, pp. 83-185.
Note: Final small group presentations on the transnational environmental justice movement will begin on 5/2.
Week 14) The Transnational Environmental Justice Movement.
Tues. 4/25) Power, Social Equity and Environmental Justice.
Thur. 4/27) A Broad-Based Movement for Global Social Change?
Readings: Bryant & Mohai, Ch.# 13, "Environmental Racism: Reviewing the
Evidence"., Ch.# 16, "Summary", and Ch.#3, "Can the Environmental
Movement Attract and Maintain the Support of Minorities?".
Bullard, Ch.# 12, "Conclusion: Environmentalism with Justice". (In
Confronting Environmental Racism).
Gedicks, pp. 189-205.
Week 15) Final Student Presentations.
Tues. 5/2) Small group presentations.
Thur. 5/4) More small group presentations.
Readings: Schnaiberg, "Legitimating Impotence: Pyrrhic Victories of the
Environmental Movement".
Bullard, Ch.# 15, "The People of Color Environmental Summit." and
Ch.# 16, "A Call for Justice and Equal Environmental Protection." (In
Unequal Protection).
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, May 11th in Piskor # 10 from 1:30-4:30pm.
All materials copyright editor(s)
Environment and Society (Soc. 196/296)
Eric J. Krieg
Texts
* The following can be purchased as the UVM Bookstore
1. Martin O'Connor. 1994. Is Capitalism Sustainable?: Political Economy and the Politics of Ecology. New York: The Guilford Press.
2. John Bellamy Foster. 1994. The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment. New York: Monthly Review Press.
3. Daniel Faber. 1993. Environment Under Fire: Imperialism and Ecological Crisis in Central America. New York: Monthly Review Press.
4. Richard Hofrichter. 1993. Toxic Struggles: The Theory and Practice of Environmental Justice. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.
5. A reading packet for the course is located at University Graphics. Articles in the packet are pending publishers approvals and are listed on the back page of the syllabus.
Texts are required for the course. Successful completion of the course is dependent upon keeping up with the readings; so if you have trouble finding any of these, talk to me as soon as possible.
Purpose of the Course. The purpose of this course is to analyze the crisis of the environment (at the global, national, and local levels). Topical areas will include the "toxics crisis", Central America, work, environmental racism, and others; but rather than focus on specific aspects of the environment, the course is designed to theoretically and empirically interpret societal processes that lead to ecological crises. In this sense, students should not feel limited to specific subject matter in the course and are encouraged to incorporate their interests into the theoretical framework.
In an attempt to present a more broad view of the environment, the course will focus on the political economy of the crisis of nature as it is rooted in a class society. This approach is intended to: 1) highlight the different manners in which society and nature are linked, 2) emphasize the need for more encompassing and sophisticated theories to interpret the relationship(s) between economic and environmental crises, and 3) enhance the possibility of offering effective solutions to these problems.
Required Assignments. There will be two papers, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Both papers are take-home and the mid- term is an in-class exam. The papers will be four to five pages each and you will have at least a week to complete each one. Final grades are determined in the following manner:
Paper #1 - 30%
Mid-term exam - 20%
Paper # 2 - 30%
Final exam - 20%
-------------------------
Final Grade 100%
As I mentioned earlier, this is a reading intensive course. Those students who keep up with the reading should have no problem with the mid-term. Class discussions will not directly affect your grade, but you are encouraged to contribute.
Course Outline and Readings
* If dates are missing it means there is no assigned reading. We will still meet for class. Dates are subject to change.
I. Ecological Crises and Environmental History
Jan. 18 Foster - Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
Jan. 23 Packet - Feshbach and Friendly - Chapters 1 + 2
- Jones, Connor, and Powell - Chapter 1, by Marshall Goldman
Jan. 25 Faber - Introduction
- Chapter 1
II. Capitalism and Nature
Jan. 30 Foster - Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
Feb. 1 O'Connor - Chapter 1
III. Capital Accumulation and Ecological Crises
A. Micro-Quantitative Analysis (Capital Logic)
Feb. 6 Packet - Kapp (all 3 chapters)
Feb. 8 O'Connor - Chapter 5
Feb. 13 Hofrichter - Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
B. Macro-Quantitative Analysis
Feb. 15 O'Connor - Chapter 2
C. Qualitative Analysis (Technology)
Packet - Michael Goldman and James O'Connor, with John Ely, Daniel Faber, and David Peerla
D. Combined and Uneven Development
Feb. 22 Foster - Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
Feb. 27 Faber - Chapter 2
Feb. 29 Hofrichter - Chapter 6
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
Mar. 7 Mid-Term Exam
Mar. 14 Faber - Chapter 3
Spring Break Assignment - Finish Faber (Chapters 4 - End)
IV. Capital Accumulation and Economic Crises (Barriers to Accumulation)
Mar. 26 O'Connor - Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
Mar. 28 Packet - Humphries and Buttel
V. The Role of State in Addressing Ecological Crises
April 2 O'Connor - Chapter 9, 10
- Chapter 11, 12
April 4 Packet - Hays
VI. Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism
A. Environmental Justice
April 9 Hofrichter - Chapter 1
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 6
B. Environmental Racism
April 11 Hofrichter - Chapter 2
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 13
April 16 Hofrichter - Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
C. Gender Issues
April 18 Hofrichter - Chapter 10
Packet - Brown and Masterson-Allen
- Brown and Ferguson
VII. The Future of Labor and Environmental Movements
April 23 Foster - Chapter 7
Hofrichter - Chapter 17
- Chapter 23
April 25 Last day of class
List of Articles Pending Approval for Class Packet
Craig Humphrey and Frederick Buttel. 1982. Chapter 5 "The Environmental Movement: Historical Roots and Current Trends" from Environment, Energy, and Society, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Murray Feshback and Alfred Friendly. 1992. Chapter 2 "Birth of the Future" for Ecocide in the USSR, Basic Books.
Anthony Jones, Walter Connor, and David Powell. 1991. Chapter 3 "Pollution in the Soviet Union: The Growth of Environmentalism and its Consequences" from Soviet Social Problems, Boulder: Westview Press.
Michael Goldman and James O'Connor, with John Ely, Daniel Faber, and David Peerla, "Ideologies of Environmental Crisis: Technology and its Discontents," Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, No. 1, 1988.
K. William Kapp. 1950. "Nature and the Significance of Social Costs"; "The Social Costs of Air Pollution"; "The Social Costs of Water Pollution", from The Social Costs of Private Enterprise, New York.
Samuel Hays. 1987. Chapter 15 "The Reagan Antienvironmental Revolution" from Beauty, Health, and Permanence, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Phil Brown and Susan Masterson-Allen. 1994. "The Toxic Waste Movement: A New Type of Activism," Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 7, pp.269-287.
Phil Brown and Faith T. Ferguson. 1995. "Making a Big Stink: Women's Work, Women's Relationships, and Toxic Waste Activism," Gender and Society, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 309-332.
All materials copyright editor(s)
Cultural Motifs 300.2
Class time: 12:40-1:40 Location: 100 Clough
Allan Lummus
Office: 107 Clough
Office Hours: Office Hours: U 9-10, W 3-4, or by appointment e-mail: alummus Phone: 3932
In the past decade several environmental social movements have developed outside the mainstream environmental organizations. Many of these organizations link issues of the environment and social justice on ways that are different from the national environmental organizations. Indigenous, African Americans, Latino, and working class/poor Anglo communities see a higher level of pollution then the surrounding communities. This class will examine these stories of injustice both in the U.S. and in other countries. Environmental justice intertwines issues of race, class, and gender in the fight to create more livable, safe, and sustainable communities.
3 Essays 15% each
Project 20%
(Proposal 5%)
(Bibliography 5%)
(Written proposal 10%)
Journal 15%
Participation 20%
Class
Project
Evaluation Essay
Computer lab exercises
Extra Credit: Email Discussion list
Required Texts
Maria Mies and Vandana Shiv. Ecofeminism.
Richard Kazis & Richard L. Grossman Fear at Work: Job Blackmail, Labor and the Environment.
Al Gedicks The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations
Robert D. Bullard (Ed.) Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots
Richard Hofrichter (Ed.) Toxic Struggles: The Theory and Practice of Environmental Justice
Robert Gottlieb Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement
The essays will be 5 typed pages in length. The themes will be drawn from the assigned readings. The
project is a group assignment. The theme will be chosen by the group and be applicable to the class. Examples include applying ideas in the class to Memphis (Toxic Waste in Memphis or Environmental Racism and Memphis); Or it could do a case study of one group (Mid South Peace and Justice/Gulf Coast Tenants Associations) or one community (Orange Mound or North Hollywood/ Mothers of East Los Angelas); Or a topic that is not covered in the class like Environmental Law and environmental justice; The role of science in environmental justice; Or go more in depth with one topic that the class covers.
The journal is a collection of your notes from class and readings. Attendance is mandatory and will effect your grade after 3 absences. The e-mail discussion group is a way to extend discussion and gain extra credit.
Readings and Assignments
January 9
Introduction to the course
January 11
Toxic Struggles 1-45
Jan. 13
Toxic Struggles. p.46-96
Jan 16
Martin Luther King Day
Jan 18
Lab day
Forcing the Spring chapter 1
Jan 20
Lab day
Forcing the Spring Chapter 2 Project proposal due
Jan 23
Forcing the Spring chapter 3
Jan 25
Forcing the Spring Chapter 4
Jan 27
Forcing the Spring Chapter 5
Jan 30 Gender
Forcing the Spring chapter 6; TOXIC STRUGGLES 107-117; TOXIC STRUGGLES 144-152
Feb 1 Race
Forcing the Spring Chapter 7;
Feb 3 Race Bibliography Due
TOXIC STRUGGLES 98-106;118-143
Feb 6 Class
Forcing the Spring Chapter 8
Feb 8 Class
TOXIC STRUGGLES 153-185;
Feb 10
Forcing the Spring 307-320; Fear at Work Introduction
Feb 13 Essay I Due
Fear at Work Chapter 1-3
Feb 15
Fear at Work Ch. 4-6
Feb 17
Fear at Work 7-10
Feb 20
Fear at Work Part 3 Intro, ch 11
Feb 22
Fear at Work Ch. 12
Feb 24
Fear at Work Chap 13
Feb 27
Fear at work Chapter 14 Project Abstract due
Mar 1
Confronting Racism Intro- Ch. 2
Mar 3
Confronting Racism Ch 3-4
Mar 13
Confronting Racism Ch 5-6
Mar 15
Confronting Racism Ch 7-8
Mar 17
Confronting Racism Ch 9-10
Mar 20
Confronting Racism Ch11-12
Mar 22 Native Struggles
The New Resource Wars Intro-Ch2
Mar 24
The New Resource Wars Ch 3-4 Essay II Due
Mar 27
The New Resource Wars Ch 5-6
Mar 29
The New Resource Wars Ch 7-8
Mar 31 International Struggles
TOXIC STRUGGLES 186-225
April 3
Toxic struggles 226-239; Ecofeminism ch 1
April 5
Ecofeminism ch 2-3
April 7
Ecofeminism Ch 4-6
April 10
Ecofeminism ch 7-9
April 12
Ecofeminism ch 10-11
April 14-17 Easter Recess
April 19
Ecofeminism skim ch 12-13; Read 14-16
April 21 Projects Due
Ecofeminism ch 17-p. 285
April 24
Ecofeminism p. 285-ch 20
April 26
Project presentations
April 28 Essay III
Project presentations
Date of final Journal, and Evaluation
essay due
All materials copyright editor(s).
Office DRC (77 E. Main)
Hours: M 3:00-5:00 pm and by appointment
Phone: 831-6618
SOC 470-010
Environmental Sociology
Fall, 1995
Smith 219
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND APPROACHES
This course is organized to produce a substantive and theoretical
introduction to the major issues in the area of Environmental
Sociology. The course focuses on natural and technological
issues, how those issues are related to social structural as well
as contextual factors. The course will also look at the
influences of the environmental movement and collective responses
to environmental issues in society. You will also be introduced
to the new emerging ecofeminism and environmental justice
movements.
The general theoretical orientations of the course derive from
symbolic interaction and conflict theory. Other areas in
sociology that are drawn on during the course include:
collective behavior; mass media; interpersonal communication;
social problems; and risk and hazard perception.
One major perspective being taken in this course is that
environmental issues have "careers." The development of those
careers is related to the manner in which environmental problems
arise, the types of solutions that are considered, and the
relationships that exist between the social groups that are
affected by these problems and their solutions.
The course is intended to provide you with an analytical strategy
that can be applied to understand the initiation, development,
and resolution of any environmental issue.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Five required books have been ordered for this class:
Goldfarb. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial
Environmental Issues. (Guilford, CN: Dushkin Publishing) 1995
Edelstein. Contaminated Communities. (Boulder: Westview Press)
1988
Goldsteen and Schoor. Demanding Democracy after Three Mile
Islad. (Gainsville: University of Florida Press) 1991
Mertig and Dunlap. American Environmentalism. (Philadelphia:
Taylor and Francis) 1992
Bender. Environmental Justice (San Diego: Greenhaven Press)
1995
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Class Participation
The first class on each of the major course topics (see syllabus)
will be conducted as a standard lecture in order to introduce
major concepts and theoretical issues. However, to the extent
that size of the class permits, the format of the course will be
a seminar . As such, class members will be expected to have read
and thought about the assigned reading materials in order to take
part in an informed discussion of the major issues presented.
This type of participation will require you to come to class
prepared to discuss how the readings are related to the topic
being discussed or to the issue you are following.
Also, some class assignments will be done as part of a group.
The participation part of your final grade is dependent on your
active involvement in your group's presenations to the class. To
determine this part of your final grade, you will be given points
on the products produced by your group as well as on peer
evaluations from the other members of your group. In total, your
participation is worth 15% of your final course grade.
Environmental Journal:
One requirement of the course will be to identify some
environmental issue that interests you and keep a daily log of
the media's coverage of that issue. This will require you to
read a newspaper and/or watch or listen to one newscast per day.
Throughout the semester, you will be called upon to use your
journal entries for class discussions. Near the end of the
semester, you will be asked to write a short analysis of your
journal entries. The purpose of this activity is to see how the
media treat environmental topics. The journal and your analysis
will then be submitted for grading. This project is worth 15% of
your final grade.
Analysis Paper:
You will be required to produce a term paper on the sociological
aspects of some environmental problem or issue. To do so,
library research will be required. You may also decide to do
some original research (e.g., interviewing people; analyzing
documents; collecting data; etc.). Your term paper is worth 20%
of your total grade.
Exams:
Two mid-term exams will be given. The mid-term exams will be
taken in class on October 9 and November 20. Each mid-term will
cover all readings and discussions to the date of the exam. Both
mid-term exams will be closed-book essays consisting of 3-5
questions. Each exam is worth 25% of your grade.
Final grades for the course will be based on:
Mid-term exams (2) 50%
Environmental journal 15%
Term paper 20%
Class participation 15%
Total 100%
All materials copyright editor(s).
Environment and Culture: Struggle for the Environment
Spring Semester 1994
Instructor: Sing C. Chew
Office: Library 53
Phone: 826-4554
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 12.30-2.00pm or by
appointment
Course Description:
This course examines the relationship between culture and nature
through an analysis of social/cultural movements (their
conceptions of nature) and their struggles for the environment.
It will review current social theories of new social movements,
the philosophy of environmentalism, and various theoretical
perspectives on the environment such as social ecology,
ecofeminism, deep ecology, bioregionalism, etc. It will also
examine and discuss the ethics of ecotactics and strategies to
thwart environmental destruction taken by Greenpeace, Earth
First! and other radical environmental groups. The course will
conclude by discussing the possibility of living richly in a
system of increasing scarcity in terms of resources and
compassion for human and other living beings.
Required Readings:
1) Peter List, Radical Environmentalism (Philosophy and Tactics),
Wadsworth 1993
2)Allen Schnaiberg and Kenneth Gould, Environment and Society
(The Enduring Conflict), St. Martin's Press, 1994
3)Klaus Eder, The New Politics of Class (Social Movements and
Cultural Dynamics in Advanced Societies, Sage 1993
4) Dunlap, Riley E and Angela Mertig, American Environmentalism
The US Environmental Movement 1970-1990, Taylor and Francis, 1992
5) Rush, James, The Last Tree (Reclaiming the Environment in
Tropical Asia), Westview Press, 1991
6)Bill Devall, Living Richly in an Age of Limits (Using Deep
Ecology for an Abundant Life), Gibbs Smith 1993.
7) Scott, Alan, Ideology and the New Social Movement, Unwin and
Hyman, 1990.
In addition, selected articles will be placed on library reserve.
Course grading:
Seminar Participation 30%
Paper 70%
Seminar attendance and participation are compulsory as 20% of the
final grade has been allocated. This grade is dependent on
active participation during seminars including a presentation of
the assigned discussion materials. By active, it means that the
student participates in the discussion, regular attendance does
not reflect active participation. The paper requirement entails
a paper of at least 20 papers (double-spaced typed) and no longer
than 30 pages (double-spaced typed). Readings assigned for this
course are to be included in the paper in addition to other
research that yo might want to do.
Topics:
a) ON THE NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
-Class and Social Movements
-The theory of new social movements
-Problems of Organization and Mobilization
Readings:
1) Alan Scott, Ideology and the New Social Movements, Chaps 1-3,5.
2) Klaus Eder, The New Politics of Class, Chaps 1-3,6
b) CULTURE AND CLASS
-Reconnecting Culture and Class
-Nature as a New Field of Class Struggle
-Ideology within the Environmental Movements.
-Radical Environmentalism
1) Klaus Eder, The New Politics of Class, Chaps 4-5,7-10
2) Alan Scott, Ideology and the New Social Movements, Chap 4
3) Peter List, Radical Environmentalism, Chaps 1-3
4) Sing Chew, Sociology and Nature: Anthropocentrism,
Ecocentrism, and Beyond, CASAE Working Paper 93-01 (reserved)
c) ENVIRONMENTAL MOBILIZATION
-Mobilization in the North and South
-Ecotactics and activism
Readings
1)Peter List, Radical Environmentalism, Chaps 4-10
2) Riley Dunlap, American Environmentalism, Chaps 1-8
3) James Rush, The Last Tree, Chap 4
4) Earth First! in Northern California: an Interview with Judi
Bari. (reserved)
5)Alan Schnaiberg, Environment and Society, Chap 7
d) THE STRUGGLE FOR NATURE
- What are we Struggling For
- Environmental Threats: North and South
Readings:
1) James Rush, The Last Tree, Chaps 1-3
2) Allan Schnaiberg, Environment and Society, Chaps 1-4
e) Toward a Green Tomorrow
-What has been done and what can be done: the standard view and
the deep ecology view of North and South.
Readings:
1) Allan Schnaiberg, Environment and Society, Chaps 6, 8-10
2) Bill Devall, Living Richly in an Age of Limits.
3) Alan Schnaiberg, Environment and Society, Chaps
All materials copyright editor(s).
Department of Sociology
76.308 Sociology of the Environment
Autumn Semester- 1995
Course Outline and Timetable
Instructors:
Paul Perry and Paul Green
Required Readings:
There is no required text. A collection of reproduced articles and extracts should
be purchased from the Sociology Office window (9:15am to 12:15pm). The readings
are organised into two volumes: (1) Topics One to Ten, and (2) Topics Eleven to
Twenty-two.
Class Format:Under the semester system we will meet twice a week from 2pm to 3:50pm on Tuesdays
and Thursdays in SST 8.32. This is a reading' and seminar' style course. Each
session will involve a discussion on the readings for a particular topic. Students
are expected to: (1) be prepared and regularly participate in class discussions,
and (2) as individuals occasionally take responsibility to present (in a succinct
fashion) the major points of a particular reading, and lead class discussion on the
topic (note the 20 percent of your grade tied to this). We also will make regular
and substantial use of videos to illustrate environmental issues.
Methods of Assessment:
The final grade for this paper is determined by three components:
1. An essay type exercise of around 1500 words, worth 30 percent of the final
grade. It is due by April 13, 1995. You are to choose one of the two alternatives
available. Details are at the end of this handout.
2. A major review of an environmental group or issue of between 2500 and 3500
words, worth 50 percent of the final grade. It is due by June 8, 1995. Details
can be found at the end of this handout.
3. Class participation and seminar presentation, worth 20 percent of the final
grade.
OUTLINE AND TIMETABLE OF CLASS TOPICS
Feb. 28 Topic 1 - Introduction
I. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT, ORGANISATION OF SOCIETY, SOCIAL THEORY
March 2 Topic 2 - Overview
March 7 Topic 3 - Social Theory and the Environment: I, Catton and Dunlap, The
Human Exceptionalist and New Environmental Paradigms.
March 9 Topic 4 - Social Theory and the Environment: II, Schaiberg and the Treadmill of Production.
March 14 Topic 5 - Social Thinkers Tied to Environmental Sociology
March 16 Topic 6 - Consumerism and Capitalism
II. MANIFESTATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
March 21 Topics 7 & 8 - a. Populations: The General Situation
March 23 Topics 7 & 8 - b. Population: The Ehrlich-Commoner Debate
March 28 Topic 9 - Resource Limits
March 30 Topic 10 - Energy
April 4 Topics 11 & 12 - Development, The Third World, and the Environment
April 6 Topics 11 & 12 - Development, etc. (continued)
April 11 Topic 12 - Food, Agriculture and the Environment
III. GREEN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT POLICY
April 13 Topics 14 - Green Politics, The New Class
April 13 FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE
April 17-28 Easter and ANZAC Holidays and Semester break
May 2 Topic 15 - Political Systems and Environmental Conflict
May 4 Topic 16 - Environmental Groups and Movements
May 9 Topic 17 - Brown' Groups, Backlash and Greenwash
IV. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND VALUES
May 11 Topic 18 - Public Opinion and Environmental Issues
May11 SUBMIT BRIEF STATEMENT ON FINAL PROJECT TOPIC BY NOW
May 16 Topic 19 - Environmental Values and Ideology
May 18 Graduation? No Class Today
May 23 Topic 20 - Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism
May 25 Topic 21 - Case Study
May 30 Topic 22 - Future Prospects
June 1
Time for Final Review Project
June 8
JUNE 8 MAJOR REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENAL GROUP/ISSUE DUE
MASSEY UNIVERSITY
Department of Sociology
76.308 SOCIOLOGY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
FIRST ASSIGNMENT - ALTERNATIVE ONE
A CRITIQUE OF THE HUMAN EXCEPTIONALIST
(OR EXEMPTIONALIST) PARADIGM -HEP
DUE: April 13, 1995
VALUE: 30 % of Final Grade
LENGTH: 1500 Word Maximum
It can be argued that the environmental crisis that we are facing has its origins
in a particular world view. This is a world view where humans are perceived as
being distinct from nature, rather than part of it.
Because of this view nature is seen as something to challenge, conquer, exploit,
and control. As part of your critique you might consider:
a. How the paradigm has been defined. What does it really mean?
b. How has it contributed to our present environmental problems?
Use illustrations if possible.
c. How ingrained in our society is this paradigm? Can it be changed or altered?
Do not spend excessive amounts of time on part (a). Your emphasis should be on
parts (b) and above. Draw on materials from Catton and Dunlap etc., and then use
your own thinking. Speculate on how ingrained the paradigm is in our society, and
how it could be changed. This is, perhaps the most interesting issue.
Also, be careful about whether you focus on HEP and sociology, or HEP and the wider
society. The latter emphasis is probably preferable.
As an alternative, you may instead critique the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP)
that Catton and Dunlap propose as an alternative to HEP.
76.308
PUBLICATIONS THAT MAY BE USEFUL
FOR THE HEP' CRITIQUE
-Buttel, Frederick H., 1978, "Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm?"
AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST, 13(Nov.), 252-56. -SR 301 AME.
-Buttel, Frederick H., 1987, "New Directions in Environmental Sociology"
ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY, 13, 465-488. -P 301 ANN
-Catton, William R., 1978, "Carrying Capacity, Overshoot, and the Quality of Life"
in J.M. Yinger and S.J. Cutler (eds.), MAJOR SOCIAL ISSUES: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY VIEW, New York, Free Press. -Photocopy on Reserve.
-Catton, William R., 1980, OVERSHOOT, Urbana, University of Illinois Press.
-303.4 CAT.
-Catton, William R., 1983, "Need for a New Paradigm" SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, 26,
1 (Jan.), 3-15. -Photocopy on Reserve.
-Catton, William R., 1983, "Social and Behavioral Aspects of the Carrying Capacity of Natural Environment" in I. Altman and J. Wohlwil (eds.), BEHAVIOR AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, New York, Plenum Press. -155.9 BEH.
-Catton, William R. and Riley Dunlap, 1980, "A New Ecological Paradigm for Post- Exuberant Sociology" AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST, 24, 1 (Sept./Oct.), 15-47. -Photocopy on Reserve.
-Dunlap, Riley and William R. Catton, 1979, "Environmental Sociology" ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY, 5, 243-273. -P 301 ANN.
-Dunlap, Riley and William R. Catton, 1979, Environmental Sociology: A Framework for Analysis" in T. O'Riodan and R. D'Arge (eds.), PROGRESS IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING, VOL. I, New York, John Wiley and Sons.
-Photocopy on Reserve.
-Dunlap, Riley and William R. Catton, 1994, "Struggling With Human Exceptionalism:
The Rise, Decline and Revitalization of Environmental Sociology" THE AMERICAN
SOCIOLOGIST, 25, 1 (Spring), 5-3. -301 AME.
-Dunlap, Riley and William R. Catton, 1983, "What Environmental Sociologists Have In Common (Whether Concerned with Built' or Natural' Environments)" SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY, 53, 2/3 (Spring), 113-135. -Photocopy on Reserve.
-Freundenburg, William and Robert Gramling, 1989, "The Emergence of Environmental Sociology: Contributions of Riley E. Dunlap and William R. Catton Jr." SOCIOLOGICAL INQUIRY, 59, 4 (Fall), 439-452. -Photocopy on Reserve.
All matreials copyright editor(s).