How Many "Ends" of Nature: Making Sociological and Phenomenological Sense of the End of Nature

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Yearley
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Social Character ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Scientific

Despite significant increases in social scientific studies of the environment, there has recently been a narrowing of focus. Increasingly, sociologists have looked at claims and counterclaims about specific environmental problems while missing the broader question of the cultural and social character of environmental concern itself. Only social anthropologists and some social theorists have continued to investigate this issue. In this paper it is argued that McKibben's work offers a useful starting point for examining the meaning of environmental worries since his writings offer a form of "phenomenology" of our concerns for nature. In this paper, this "phenomenology" is subject to a critical review and assessment.

scholarly journals DEEPER COMPREHENSION OF BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THROUGH SERIOUS GAME

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 881-890
Author(s):  
Michal Kozderka ◽  
Bertrand Rose
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Failure Analysis ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Basic Comprehension

AbstractDuring the last three decades we observe growing use of ecodesign, but we observe also misuse of ecodesign methods, leading often to time and financial loss. In coherence with several failure analysis and with our observation, we base our work on a hypothesis: Misuse of ecodesign is often caused by lack of basic comprehension of environmental issues: Non linearity of the processes, their inertia and their excessive costs.Building on this hypothesis, we decided to enhance our education program with an innovative serious game. The goal is to achieve comprehension of the basic environmental issues. Innovation of the game lies in revealing to students at the end of the game, that the fictive initial situation of the game corresponded to a starting point of a real catastrophe. Students can thus not only compare their decisions with those of real leaders, but also to understand how and why bad decisions were taken.Experiments indicate that students who played the game tend to evaluate environmental problems, while those who followed a lecture tend to describe them. This trend (going further than to a description) seems to be useful in decision making and in deployment of ecodesign methods.

Imagining Technology and Environmental Law

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Sociotechnical Imaginaries ◽  
Law And Technology ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Chemicals Regulation ◽  
The Commons

Understandings of environmental law and technology are often co-produced as part of distinctive sociotechnical imaginaries. This essay explores this phenomenon by showing how Hardin’s famous essay, the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, is capable of being interpreted in two different ways, which provide divergent visions of the potential role of environmental law and technology in addressing environmental problems. The first, and more popular, interpretation characterizes law and technology as instruments for bringing about shifts in morality in light of limited resources. A different reading of Hardin’s essay portrays law and technology in more constitutive terms. Identifying these different characterizations provides a starting point for a richer and more nuanced debate about the interaction between environmental law and technology. This is illustrated by an example from chemicals regulation.

scholarly journals Reimagining the terrain of liquid times: Reflexive marketing and the sociological imagination

2020 ◽  
pp. 146954052095520
Author(s):  
Paul Hewer
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Sociological Imagination ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Liquid Modernity ◽  
The Third ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Political Economic

This paper has three objectives. The first is to deliver a critical review of the work of Zygmunt Bauman on Liquid Modernity and Liquid Times. I argue that Bauman’s work can provide a useful starting point for analysing the ‘unruly’ forces of contemporary society. Bauman’s work, as I have sought to reveal, takes us to the heart of liquid modern darkness. It forces us to take seriously the import of the sociological imagination and the insight that personal troubles are best understood as emerging public issues stemming from structural processes. The second objective, is to explore how consumer culture theorists have taken and in dialogue with these ideas sought to expand upon his initial ideas. Here I review the value of the concept of ‘liquid consumption’ and the ‘fresh start mindset’. The third and final objective, is to demonstrate how reflexive marketing practitioners are responding to such liquid times through rethinking their practice and thereby extending the terrain of marketing. Here I detail how the promise marketing imagination starts not with the darkness of liquid modern times but rather with a far more hope inspired tale to enchant new markets and new audiences on the possibilities and ‘solutions’ of being future oriented and technologically savvy. Finally, it argues that the task of reimagining appears essential given the current zeitgeist, where the climate of anxiety, fear and uncertainty whether it be political, economic, environmental or social threatens to engulf us.

A Critical Review on Condensation Heat Transfer in Microchannels and Minichannels

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Awad ◽  
A. S. Dalkiliç ◽  
S. Wongwises
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Saturation Temperature ◽  
Thermal Control ◽  
Condensation Heat Transfer ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Channel Diameter ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Wide Range

Condensation in microchannels and minichannels is widely used in small devices such as air-cooled condensers for the air-conditioning and automotive industry, in heat pipes, thermosyphons and other applications for system thermal control. Currently, many research centers all over the world are dealing with the structure and operation of compact refrigerating devices. This is in line with the trend of 21st century that is moving towards the use of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technical equipment. In the present study, a critical review on condensation heat transfer in microchannels and minichannels is presented. This review include a wide range of different parameters such as the channel diameter (d), the saturation temperature (Ts), the mass flux (G), the vapor quality (x), different working fluids like steam, CO2 or R744, FC72, R22, R410A, and R407C, various shapes such as circular and noncircular, different orientations like horizontal and vertical, and systems consist of either single or multiple channels. At the end, recommendations for future studies will be given. As a result, this paper cannot only be used as the starting point for the researcher interested in condensation heat transfer in microchannels and minichannels, but it also includes recommendations for future studies on condensation heat transfer in microchannels and minichannels.

A case for deliberation in response to hormesis research

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 529-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
KC Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Good Deal ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Productive Research ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Deliberative Processes ◽  
Tentative Diagnosis

Research on the phenomenon of hormesis (i.e., low-dose stimulatory effects caused by normally inhibitory or toxic substances) has recently provoked a good deal of debate. Formal mechanisms for deliberation and public participation are increasingly popular strategies for responding to controversial decisions in environmental policy, but they have been used only to a limited extent in response to scientific research itself. This commentary introduces natural scientists to some of the social scientific literature on these issues and argues for the importance of “diagnosing” whether controversial areas of policy relevant research would benefit from some form of deliberation. It provides a tentative diagnosis in the case of hormesis research, recommending a varied deliberative approach. There are many reasons to pursue broadly based deliberation in response to hormesis, including the potential to promote more productive research projects, alleviate public distrust, and prevent bias. Deliberative proceedings in this case should address judgments associated with at least four activities: (1) choosing projects and designing studies, (2) developing terminology, (3) interpreting and evaluating studies, and (4) applying research results to public policy. Although an advisory group composed primarily of experts might provide an adequate starting point, more intensive deliberative processes would be valuable before developing major changes to regulatory policy.

scholarly journals Soil Stabilization Using Plastic Chips, Granules & Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Mixture

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (VIII) ◽  
pp. 290-298
Author(s):  
Shivangini Tyagi
Keyword(s):  
Sugarcane Bagasse ◽  
Soil Stabilization ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Swelling Properties ◽  
Plastic Wastes ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Shrinkage And Swelling ◽  
Sugarcane Bagasse Ash

Soil is mainly the foundation of structure, that actually supports the structure from its beneath and hold it for a life long time and spread the load uniformly. If the stability of a soil would not be proportionate enough to hold or to support the structure then the chances of the breakdown of the structure might occur in the true form of its settlement and development of cracks. So, the soil stabilization will help in enhancing the shear strength of the soil as well as it enhancing the shrinkage and swelling properties of soil. It will also help in increasing the load bearing capacity of our soil in support of foundations and pavements. Soil stabilization can also be done by using the various admixtures such as lime, fly ash, cment etc. but in present day, these admixtures happen to be more expansive to be use as soil stabilizing mixture. So this problem is demanding an alternative solution in making the soil stabilizing process cheap and economic by using wastes as a stabilizer.This research work present the use of excess waste generated in our present and make it hazardeous. India generates nearly around 2600-2700 tons of plastic wastes everyday which is seriously one of the major problems not too for the India but also for the whole world. The harmful gases being generated by the various plastics such as furnace, dioxin, mercury e.t.c. into the open atmosphere and have a threat to our vegetation, humans life and animals as well. In the past recent years, the researchers from the various fields have attempt their best to solved the ecological problems occurred by plastic. But our major motive of this project is to properly analyse the potential capabilities of using plastic types as a stabilizer as well as sugarcane bagasse and its ashes. Bagasse ash as we all know, spread generally over the farms and dumped in ponds which causes severe environmental problems and also many researchers stated that ashes being dumped in the open workplace exposure can cause chronic lung infections. So there is seriously a major concern to reuse the sugarcane bagasse ash. This new techniques of soil stabilization could be essentially meet the various challenges in terms environmental concern. Plastic wastes being converted into chips will be used as a reinforcement in stabilizing the soil. So recommendation of using plastic waste and bagasse ash as a soil stabilizer will reduce the problem of disposing wastes and also helps to reduce the environmental problems.

scholarly journals Misunderstandings of the transmission of the Black Death to Western Europe : a critical review of De Mussis’s account

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-498
Author(s):  
Jongkuk NAM
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Biological Warfare ◽  
Black Death ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Religious Perspective ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The City

This article aims to critically review de Mussis’s report of the events at Caffa. De Mussi says in his account that Tartars catapulted their dead compatriots infected by the plague into the besieged city of Caffa in order to contaminate the Genoese defending the city and that some Genoese galleys fleeing from the city transported the disease to Western Europe. Some historians interpret his report of Tartars catapulting plague-infected bodies as an act of biological warfare, and others do not trust his account as a reliable historical record, while some works rely on his account, even though they do not interpret it as evidence of biological warfare. This article tries to determine whether his account is true or not, and explain historical contexts in which it was made. De Mussi was not an eye-witness of the war between the Tartars and the Genoese in the years of 1343 to 1437 in Caffa, contrary to some historians’ arguments that he was present there during the war. In addition, he understands and explains the disease from a religious perspective as does most of his contemporary Christians, believing that the disease was God's punishment for the sins of human beings. His account of the Tartars catapulting their compatriot’s bodies may derive from his fear and hostility against the Tartars, thinking that they were devils from hell and pagans to be annihilated. For de Mussi, the Genoese may have been greedy merchants who were providing Muslims with slaves and enforcing their military forces. Therefore, he thought that the Tartars and the Genoese were sinners that spread the disease, and that God punished their arrogance. His pathological knowledge of the disease was not accurate and very limited. His medical explanation was based on humoral theory and Miasma theory that Christians and Muslims in the Mediterranean World shared. De Mussi's account that Caffa was a principal starting point for the disease to spread to Western Europe is not sufficiently supported by other contemporary documents. Byzantine chronicles and Villani's chronicle consider not Caffa but Tana as a starting point. In conclusion, most of his account of the disease are not true. However, we can not say that he did not intentionally lie, and we may draw a conclusion that his explanation was made under scientific limits and religious prejudice or intolerance of the medieval Christian world.

Does the US Media Have a Liberal Bias?

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 767-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Nyhan
Keyword(s):  
Media Effects ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Media Bias ◽  
Associate Editor ◽  
American Mind ◽  
Left Turn ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Media ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Liberal Bias

In Left Turn: How Liberal Bias Distorts The American Mind, Tim Groseclose argues that media effects play a crucial role in American politics. His case rests on three arguments: (1) that journalists tend overwhelmingly to be liberal rather than conservative; (2) that their innate political bias slants their views in empirically measurable ways; and (3) that this bias fundamentally shapes American politics, by bringing US citizens further to the left than they would naturally be. According to Groseclose, in a world where media bias did not exist, American citizens would on average hold views close to those of Ben Stein or Bill O'Reilly. In such a world, John McCain would have defeated Barack Obama by a popular vote margin of 56%—42% in the 2008 presidential election.In making these claims, Groseclose draws on his own research, and on recent media scholarship by both political scientists and economists, making the broader claim that peer-reviewed social science—which seeks to deal with problems such as endogeneity and selection bias—should be the starting point for public arguments about the role of the media. His book, then, is clearly an effort to bring social scientific arguments into mainstream debates. Groseclose makes no secret of his conservative political leanings—but recent books from left-leaning political scientists such as Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson are equally unapologetic. It is at least plausible that political scientists' typical unwillingness to engage directly in political arguments has weakened the discipline's capacity for public engagement.In this symposium a diverse group of contributors have been invited to engage with Groseclose's arguments in ways that bring together specific empirical and/or theoretical points and arguments aimed at the broader “political science public sphere” that Perspectives on Politics seeks to nurture. Contributors were asked to consider these five questions: (1): How do we best measure media effects? (2): If media bias exists, what are its plausible sources? (3): Can one use work on media effects to determine what people's views would be in the absence of such bias? (4): Do you agree that American politics is insufficiently representative, and if so what do you consider the primary sources of this problem? (5): What kinds of political and/or media institutions or practices might enhance democratic discourse?—Henry Farrell, Associate Editor

Does the US Media Have a Liberal Bias?

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 772-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nolan McCarty
Keyword(s):  
Media Effects ◽  
American Politics ◽  
Media Bias ◽  
Associate Editor ◽  
American Mind ◽  
Left Turn ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Media ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Liberal Bias

In Left Turn: How Liberal Bias Distorts The American Mind, Tim Groseclose argues that media effects play a crucial role in American politics. His case rests on three arguments: (1) that journalists tend overwhelmingly to be liberal rather than conservative; (2) that their innate political bias slants their views in empirically measurable ways; and (3) that this bias fundamentally shapes American politics, by bringing US citizens further to the left than they would naturally be. According to Groseclose, in a world where media bias did not exist, American citizens would on average hold views close to those of Ben Stein or Bill O'Reilly. In such a world, John McCain would have defeated Barack Obama by a popular vote margin of 56%—42% in the 2008 presidential election.In making these claims, Groseclose draws on his own research, and on recent media scholarship by both political scientists and economists, making the broader claim that peer-reviewed social science—which seeks to deal with problems such as endogeneity and selection bias—should be the starting point for public arguments about the role of the media. His book, then, is clearly an effort to bring social scientific arguments into mainstream debates. Groseclose makes no secret of his conservative political leanings—but recent books from left-leaning political scientists such as Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson are equally unapologetic. It is at least plausible that political scientists' typical unwillingness to engage directly in political arguments has weakened the discipline's capacity for public engagement.In this symposium a diverse group of contributors have been invited to engage with Groseclose's arguments in ways that bring together specific empirical and/or theoretical points and arguments aimed at the broader “political science public sphere” that Perspectives on Politics seeks to nurture. Contributors were asked to consider these five questions: (1): How do we best measure media effects? (2): If media bias exists, what are its plausible sources? (3): Can one use work on media effects to determine what people's views would be in the absence of such bias? (4): Do you agree that American politics is insufficiently representative, and if so what do you consider the primary sources of this problem? (5): What kinds of political and/or media institutions or practices might enhance democratic discourse?—Henry Farrell, Associate Editor

FAITH-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES IN APPALACHIA: CONNECTING FAITH, ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN AND REFORM

2003 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndsay Moseley ◽  
David Lewis Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Environmental Ethic ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Environmental Initiatives ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Environmental Reform ◽  
Traditional Paradigm

AbstractChristian faith-based environmental reform efforts in Appalachia advance a framework for policy change based on the view that the roots of the contemporary environmental crisis are moral and spiritual in nature. We examine how this framework is advanced among twenty faith-based organizations in Appalachia—a region with a legacy of serious environmental problems and a strong Christian tradition. We argue that these groups call for a new paradigm for assessing the causes of environmental problems—and for alleviating them. Unlike the traditional paradigm for change, which emphasizes political alterations, faith-based initiatives in Appalachia seek to advance environmental reform by promoting a transformation of personal values, attitudes, and conduct in support of an environmental ethic of care. Furthermore, these initiatives' strategies focus on educational and other strategies that can bring about this personal transformation—and, eventually, societal change. The major assumptions promoted by the traditional paradigm are seen by these Appalachian initiatives as key reasons for continued environmental degradation, while the underlying values of the new paradigm constitute a vision for an earth-keeping community having individual and global dimensions.

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