Health and Environment: Social Science Perspectives

Description

In this book the authors examine the contribution of social scientists to the topics of health and environment. They present diverse perspectives on classical and contemporary debates by focusing on social scientific framing of environment and health, as well as on the potential contribution of social science to problem solving strategies in these fields. They trace environment and health debates to the classical scholars and examine the evolution of contemporary academic disciplines concerned with health and environment. Finally, they address current complex relationships between human health and environmental problems, and between human and non-human interests. Social scientific engagement with health and environment debates: classical roots and contemporary sub disciplines / Helen Kopnina and Hans Keune -- Why is scientific information on serious environment and health problems not easily recognized in our society? / Hans Keune and Nik Van Larebeke -- Definitional struggles, environmental risk assessments and the level of trust: The Sudbury Soils Study, 2001-2008 / François Dépelteau -- The environment and the perceptions of the global health crisis / Steven Ney -- From environmental to ecological sociology: implications for health / Gary Bowden -- Biomedical and environmental health perspectives: the example of confronting breast cancer / Lori Baralt -- The ADHD regime and neuro-chemical selves in whole systems: a science studies perspective / Alexander Stingl -- The Orientalist lens and traditional medicine: circumventing Western biases in studying traditional medicines / Barbara Potrata and Anzurat Akobirshoeva -- Social scientific navigation in environment and health complexity / Hans Keune, Bert Morrens, and Ilse Loots -- Health and environment policies in the European Union / Helen Kopnina -- Environmental health organizing in a globalizing world: the emergence of a global anti-toxics movement and its political, legal and economic challenges / Stephen Zavestoski -- Conclusions on social scientific perspectives on health and environment / Hans Keune and Helen Kopnina.