Environmental Justice: Sociology’s attention to people, communities, and the socio-economic ordering of
resource distribution, especially in contrast to research in the natural sciences or economics, makes sociological
research on climate change critical to protecting vulnerable populations, e.g., the poor, elderly, children, women,
and communities of color. Environmental justice researchers have shown that efforts to rebuild communities
and distribute resources in the wake of environmental disasters require that researchers pay attention to the
power differentials shaping people’s access to fair and just protection from these disasters. Environmental justice
scholarship builds on existing research by documenting how social inequalities are structured and exacerbated by
environmental disasters and economic development in both industrial and industrializing countries. Sociological
research on the intersections of race, gender, and class offers a lens for analyzing environmental justice
dimensions of global climate change. Weather-related disasters like Hurricane Katrina can serve as a laboratory
for future sociological research on equitable and inequitable rebuilding and aid practices, and can ensure that
research on vulnerable populations is included in decision-making processes and policy-setting agendas. Research
questions specifically include: How do social inequalities shape policy responses to global climate change? How
are inequalities reproduced by responses to climate change and extreme weather events? How can medical,
transportation, agricultural, and other sectors prepare and remedy specific challenges posed by social inequalities
magnified by global climate change both within and among states? Specific topics for future research include
right to return policies, post-disaster reconstruction (e.g., housing, business, infrastructure, and environmental
refugees), and decreasing the environmental impact of rebuilding efforts.^22Disaster Research: Scholars engaged in
disaster research emphasize the social, political,
and economic factors that magnify weather
events like Hurricane Katrina and turn them
into large-scale disasters. Disaster researchers
examine the social organization of response and
relief efforts and the underlying organizational
and political cultures of disaster planning
and response policies. Drawing on theories
of social construction, disaster researchers
trace the definition of disasters as they emerge
from politically-organized responses, policy
agendas, mass media coverage, and narratives of
individual or collective responsibility for disaster
prevention and response. Environmental disaster
research follows the human ecology tradition by
examining how human interaction with the environment exacerbates the negative effects of natural disasters, for
instance, by destroying protective wetlands or developing residential housing in known flood zones. Disaster and
hazard scholars have documented a lack of disaster readiness, response, and coordination efforts at both the local
and federal levels in the United States. Post-9/11 policies have tended to shift power and authority to security and
law enforcement agencies whose primary efforts and resources are focused on terrorism, rather than on the threats
posed by environmental disasters. Sociological research is necessary to understand how these and other political
decisions occur, and how they may magnify the impacts of climate-related disasters.^23(^22) See Bullard, Maldonado, McCormick, Nagel, Slocum, and Wright papers in Appendix 3.
(^23) See Carmin, Entwisle, McCormick, Nagel, Tierney, and Wright papers in Appendix 3.
Part II: Sociological Perspectives of the Impacts
of Global Climate Change