economic and social organization in modern industrial societies. Global political economy research underscores
the relationship among national economies, political organizations, resource extraction regimes, and population
demographics and their CO 2 (carbon dioxide) emissions. Political economy quantitative approaches examine
cross-national data on national CO 2 emissions. They highlight differences among agrarian, lesser developed,
and highly developed countries’ metabolic profiles based on per capita consumption of materials and energy
output. They also examine the implications of urbanization, industrialization, and the spread of consumer culture
around the world. Environmental sociologists have examined the patterns and drivers of economic growth as
they affect the environment, including cross-national research on the resource use, social metabolic levels, and
environmental impacts of industrial and industrializing economies. They have evaluated hypotheses arising out
of ecological modernization and world system models. The role of multi-national corporations in producing and
responding to climate change (sometimes simply by “greenwashing” their products) has been well documented
by environmental sociologists. Recent trends and areas for new global political economic research reflect a
qualitative shift toward understanding the assumptions about progress, notions of individual rights, the ethos of
consumption, and definitions of quality of life in modern industrialized societies.^12
Human Ecology and Environmental Impact Models: Sociologists have applied theories from ecology to
study the complex relationship between humans and their natural environment. The human ecology perspective
underscores the socio-spatial dynamics of climate change and varied interactions humans have with their physical
environments across spatial and temporal scales. Drawing on work in geography and urban studies, sociologists
have applied this “place-based approach” to research on migration, resource competition, and disaster relief. This
perspective provides evidence that while climate change is a global threat, its effects are experienced locally,
and can better be understood when sociologists include data from humans’ biophysical environments.^13 A major
contribution by environmental sociology is modeling the social causes and consequences of environmental
change. These modeling techniques are directly applicable to the study of global climate change. For example,
data collected by researchers in the STIRPAT^14 research program link CO 2 emissions to “...the scale of
population, levels of consumption, the pace of material flows, [and] the position of nations in the world system...
.”^15 Environmental impact researchers have documented many of the pathways and obstacles to transitioning to
a low carbon economy on both micro and macro levels. Areas for future research include assessments of carbon
trading schemes and the impact of economic development on environmental change in the twenty-first century
global system.^16
Stratification and Status-Attainment Effects on Production and Consumption: Sociologists have examined the
social factors that drive excessive production and consumption leading to high-throughput, high-waste economies.
These studies investigate the social dynamics of conspicuous consumption and status display coupled with
the power of advertising to drive consumers to expand their consumption habits often without regard to either
environmental consequences or personal financial cost. Less well-studied is the role of advertising and public
relations firms in shaping and framing public perceptions of global climate change as a scientifically credible or
pressing social, economic, and political concern.^17
(^12) See Broadbent, Dietz, Fischer-Kowalski, Hanley, Pulver, Rosa, and York papers in Appendix 3.
(^13) See Harlan and Zahran papers in Appendix 3.
(^14) STochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology; http://www.stirpat.org/
(^15) See Rosa paper in Appendix 3.
(^16) See Betsill, Brechin, Entwisle, Fischer-Kowalski, Hanley, Maldonado, Rosa, York, and Zahran papers in Appendix 3.
(^17) See Brechin, Dunlap, Fisher, McCright, Norgaard, and Roberts papers in Appendix 3.
Part I: Sociological Analyses of the Causes of
Global Climate Change