ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY: TOWARD A PARADIGM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.

This paper briefly outlines the origins and contributions of environ- mental sociology to date, going on to propose ways in which the existing research can be used as a foundation for a new generation of research into the 21st century. It argues that environmental sociologists need to avoid the omphaloskepsis that sometimes afflicts other fields of sociology, but that there is a real opportunity to do so. Three options appear particularly promising: (a) broadening the now-established base of sociological research that deals systematically with environmental variables; (b) devoting greater attention to the ways in which socially constructed "definitions of the situation" may contribute to (and not simply permit the evading of) the environmental problems that societies face; and (c) beginning more fine-grained analyses of the connections between specific human activities (particularly economic activities) and specific components of the physical environment. Contributions to date have clearly established the fact that such connections exist; the work of a much broader range of sociologists will be needed, however, to help develop an improved understanding of the nature, causes, and extent of those connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]