Ways Not to Think About Social Theory: Rethinking Environment, Law and Society

Abstract

AbstractIt is possible to broadly characterize social theory in terms of routine moves which are shaped by a priori contexts, and deep structure moves which seek to delineate those shaping contexts and, sometimes, to call for new ones. Thus, for example, in the environmental literature we see the routine moves of so-called “shallow ecologists,” who tend to privilege natural systems only to the extent that they serve human ends, and the deep structure moves of “deep ecologists,” who value non-human life forms and systems for their intrinsic value. The author discusses those moves and demonstrates two deep structure theories in the progression of the spiritual view of nature from animism to its current form of instrumental rationality, together with the implications of liberal political ideology for environmentalism. He then advocates an alternative approach to social theory, grounded in the notion that institutional innovation, properly understood and “managed” along a trajectory free of the dead hand of deep structure theory, may hold the promise of transformative possibilities that are neither trivial nor unrealizably utopian. The implications for environmental reform are considered, together with an example taken from the practices of industrial production.