Environmental sociology and the theory of social movements

Abstract

The theory of social movements is useful to analyze environmental problems and environmental movements such as anti-pollution movements, natural conservation movements, antinuclear movements and movements to promote amenities. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the theory of social movements is related to the environmental sociology, which is new in the academic field. They are the same, in terms of the subject of the studies. However, they are different from each other concerning the sphere of the environmental problems. We analytically differentiate the sphere into six, using two axes, and . Then, we try to specify the approaches of the environmental sociology and the theory of social movements into suitable spheres for solving environmental problems.As approaches to environmental problems, we refer to the sociomaterial circulation, life environmentalism, social dilemma and community co-management in the environmental sociology, and new social movements, resource mobilization and networking in the theory of social movements. In this paper, we define the environment as the situation where the symbiosis between nature and human are sustained in the global circulation of nature, of which conservation has become political issues especially since late 1980s. It is the environmental sociology that analyzes and investigates these issues.