Workshop on Sociological Perspectives on Global Climate Change

sociology have been slow to publish environmental sociology research,^35 although several recent publications in

the American Sociological Review may mark a change in this trend.^36

Workshop participants observed that early career sociologists may face disciplinary resistance and institutional

challenges to specializing in environmental and climate change research. Research on these topics may be viewed

by colleagues as marginal to the core concerns of the discipline, especially since opportunities for publication

and funding have been limited. Despite the historical and contemporary obstacles facing sociologists who wish

to study environmental change, and because of the pressing challenges posed by global warming, workshop

participants made a number of recommendations intended to catalyze climate change research within the

discipline of sociology.

• Build capacity by increasing the number of researchers engaged in the sociological study of the
  environment by recruiting sociology colleagues and students to study global environmental and climate
  change. This means environmental sociologists must reach out to other sub-specialties within sociology,
  collaborating with other scholars, mentoring junior colleagues, and recruiting and training graduate students
  to work in climate related topics, and increasing their involvement in university consortia that address climate
  change.


• Increase the presence of sociologists in local, national, and international research and decision-making by
  clearly articulating the distinct contribution of sociological approaches, research questions, and contributions
  to climate change research.


• Provide funding opportunities to develop and conduct research projects that investigate the human
  dimensions of global climate change broadly defined, including small grants to encourage new projects, new
  investigator awards, and funding to develop collaborations, convene workshops, and offer short courses in
  new techniques for studying the human dimensions of climate change.


• Develop an American Sociological Association (ASA) Committee on Climate Change and draft an ASA
  position statement.


• Facilitate sociologists’ access to climate change research and policy networks by fostering better internal
  networking among sociologists. This could include creating a glossary, directory, or database that identifies
  important organizations and lists sociologists currently involved in major climate change science networks
  and research consortia (e.g., CHDGC, SEDAC, CIESIN, IHDP, PERN, AAAS, NRC).^37

(^35) For instance, in the 1990s Naomi Krogman and JoAnne Darlington found that fewer than 2 percent of articles published in the leading
nine sociology journals addressed environmental issues; Thomas Dietz reported in 2007 that the representation of environmental research
in major sociology outlets has not increased much since then; see Naomi T. Krogman and JoAnne DeRouen Darlington, “Sociology and the
Environment: An Analysis of Journal Coverage,” The American Sociologist 27, 3 (1996):39-55; Thomas Dietz, PowerPoint presentation at
the “Symposium on Linking Environmental Research and the Behavioral & Social Sciences,” National Research Council, Washington, DC,
April 25, 2007.
(^36) Javier Auyero and Debora Swistun, “The Social Production of Toxic Uncertainty,” American Sociological Review (June, 2008):257-279;
Sherry Cable, Thomas Schriver, and Tamara Mix, “Risk Society and Contested Illness: The Case of Nuclear Weapons Workers,” American
Sociological Review (June, 2008):380-401; Rhonda Evans and Tamara Kay, “How Environmentalists ‘Greened’ Trade Policy: Strategic
Action and the Architecture of Field Overlap,” American Sociological Review (December, 2008):970-991; Klaus Weber, Hayagreeva Rao,
L.G. Thomas, “From Streets to Suites: How the Anti-Biotech Movement Affected German Pharmaceutical Firms,” American Sociological
Review (February, 2009):106-127;
(^37) Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change; Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center; Center for International Earth
Science Information Network; International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change; Population Environmental
Research Network; American Association for the Advancement of Science; National Research Council.
Part IV: Recommendations for Advancing
Sociological Research on Global Climate Change