Kommentar |
Sociology has often been rendered the science of the social. Its main concerns have been internal or cultural aspects of society whereas natural, material, or ecological elements were left to the natural sciences and engineering, but also to disciplines like geography or anthropology. However, in recent decades many sociological classics have been discovered for ecological insights in attempts to move beyond "dematerialized" or nature-free forms of sociology. This course addresses major perspectives and theoretical focal points in sociology from the 19th century onwards in order to discuss classical insights for contemporary issues in human-nature relations.
Topics from before World War I include but are not limited to Herbert Spencer’s organicism, Marx’ and Engels’ concept of a metabolic rift between nature and society, Ellen Richards’ human ecology, Durkheim’s notion of “things” as part of society, Simmel’s reflections on landscapes and ruins, Wilhelm Ostwald’s energetic foundations of sociology, or Max Weber’s notion of the “pillage economy.” In addition, variations of the Chicago schools of human ecology from the 1920s and 1930s to George Herbert Mead’s environmental thinking as well as Goffman’s proto-environmental sociology based on “primary frames” will round up the course. |