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Nature, Sociology, and Social Justice

Environmental Sociology, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum

Michigan State University

Jason Konefal

Michigan State University

Environmental sociology remains on the periphery of the discipline because its traditional moment focuses on the material rather than social world and its synthetic moment looks as much like geography, anthropology, science studies, and cultural studies as it does sociology. This article will review contemporary visions of the history of nature and the environmental movement and their consequences of environmental sociological pedagogy. In doing so, it will suggest using O'Connor's political ecological theory of environmental problems to teach the range of problems and approaches associated with the subdiscipline. Two strategies are stressed. The first combines social and environmental history in coursework, nonclass exercises, and writing. The second pursues undergraduate research into the social and ecological history of "natural" places, such as woods and parks, and "social" places, such as blocks of student rentals and campus buildings.

Key Words: environmental sociology • pedagogy • political ecology • science studies • cultural studies • student research

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