Sociology and Nature: Social Action in Context

Description

Sociology as if nature did not matter has been the sociological expression of modern societies negligent of the processes of nature. In response to this ?ecological blindness,? Raymond Murphy examines the limitations of sociology that have resulted from this neglect.Humanity's success in manipulating nature destabilizes the natural support system of society on a planetary scale and, in turn, destabilizes all of society's institutions. Because the manipulation of nature has become so central to modern society, society, Murphy argues, can now be understood only in terms of the interaction between social action and the processes of nature. The growing awareness that social constructions unleash dynamic processes of nature?processes beyond human control that bear on social action?has the potential of radically transforming sociology. Sociology and Nature proposes the reconstruction of sociology in which nature does matters, developing a novel sociological approach that situates social action in its natural context. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface PART ONE SOCIAL ACTION ABSTRACTED FROM ITS CONTEXT 1 Sociology as if Nature Did Not Matter: An Ecological Critique Pre-Ecological Sociology: Sociology as if Nature Did Not Matter An Ecological Critique of Sociology as if Nature Did Not Matter Why Was Sociology Constructed as if Nature Did Not Matter? Toward Sociology in Which Nature Matters Notes 2 The Sociological Construction of Science Without Nature Nothing in Nature Gives Rise to Accounts of Nature? The Relativism of the Sociology of Science The Sociological Construction of the Social-Construction-of-Reality Premise The Focus on Local Contingencies The Double Standard of Constructivist Sociology The Constructivist Strategy of Ambiguity The Embeddedness of Scientific Constructions in Nature Notes 3 Sociological Misunderstandings Concerning Nature The Blind Spot of Sociology The Human Body The Relativism of Science? Methodological Relativism The Weaknesses of Social Constructivism Social Scares or Material Scares Agency and Structured Systems Notes PART TWO THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL ACTION 4 Weaknesses of Sociological Analyses of the Context of Social Action The Abolition of Nature and of Wilderness Nature Hidden in the Closet by Sociological Theory The 'Polluter-Pays' Principle The Burden of Proof Beyond Class? Marxist Environmentalism Notes 5 Toward the Analysis of Social Action in Its Context Language and Experience Conceptions of Nature Sociology Beyond the Social Construction of Reality Technology as Human Constructions That Redeploy Nature A Structural Dynamic Advancing Human Agency The Delusions of Advanced Modernity Postmodernity or Hypermodernity? Notes PART THREE THE RISK SPECIES 6 Material Risks The Molecule That Scared Europe The Post-Antibiotic Era The Estrogenization of the Biosphere Genetic Manipulations Is Nature Developing a Resistance to Modernity? The Risk Species Types of Societal Relationships with Nature Notes 7 Social Risks Resulting from the Manipulation of Nature The Risk of Economic Growth The Risk of Capitalism The Risk of Globalization The Risk of Technology-Driven Unemployment The Risk of Class Conflict The Risk of Conflict Between Generations The Human Population Explosion The Risk of Shallow Science Notes PART FOUR TRANSFORMING RISK INTO OPPORTUNITY 8 Political Economy The Opportunity to Stop the Social Construction of Pollution The Opportunity to Make Price Reflect Cost The Opportunity to Diminish Unemployment Notes 9 Society and Culture The Opportunity for a More Accurate Conception of Science The Opportunity to Develop the Uniquely Human Capacity of Family Planning The Opportunity to Renew Democratic Institutions The Opportunity for a Cultural Renaissance The Opportunity to Diminish Inequality The Opportunity to Recouple Specialized Fields The Opportunity for Truly Interdisciplinary Research Risk or Opportunity? Notes PART FIVE FURTHER ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL ACTION IN ITS CONTEXT 10 Victims of the Monopolization of the Natural Environment Discourse Ethics and Animals Animal Rights Social Relations, Not Just Relations with Animals Monopolization by the Present Generation of Humans Usurping Monopolization and Replacing Closure with Openness Notes 11 Parallels with Other Theories The Extent of the Hierarchical Relationship Between Humans and Nonhuman Species Undifferentiated Dominant Groups The Problematic Character of Theoretical Categories Relationships Among the Relations of Domination Misanthropes, Man-Haters, and Reverse Racists The Specificity of Each Critical Theory Notes 12 Posthumanism Modern Humanism The Limitations of Modern Humanism A Preface to Posthumanism Posthumanism as Pro-Nature Humanism Notes Bibliography Index About the Book and Author