Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology Volume 2
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I Methods
- Part II Embodied Environmental Sociology
- Part III Beyond the Human
- 9 Interventions Offered by Actor-Network Theory, Assemblage Theory, and New Materialisms for Environmental Sociology
- 10 Plants and Philosophy, Plants or Philosophy
- 11 Animals and Society: An Island in Japan
- Part IV Sustainability and Climate Change
- Part V Resources
- Part VI Food and Agriculture
- Part VII Social Movements
- Index
- References
9 - Interventions Offered by Actor-Network Theory, Assemblage Theory, and New Materialisms for Environmental Sociology
from Part III - Beyond the Human
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2020
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology Volume 2
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I Methods
- Part II Embodied Environmental Sociology
- Part III Beyond the Human
- 9 Interventions Offered by Actor-Network Theory, Assemblage Theory, and New Materialisms for Environmental Sociology
- 10 Plants and Philosophy, Plants or Philosophy
- 11 Animals and Society: An Island in Japan
- Part IV Sustainability and Climate Change
- Part V Resources
- Part VI Food and Agriculture
- Part VII Social Movements
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter outlines “more-than-human” approaches being used in the social sciences, and explores their implication and use in environmental sociology. Considering how non-human elements influence human society is one way that we can center ecological life in our sociological work. Moreover, it provides theoretical tools to do so without being deterministic; that is, without assuming that the effects of particular ecological elements in society are inevitable, essential, or one-dimensional. Nor does it assume that those effects are entirely social, discursive, or immaterial. We discuss concepts in actor-network theory, assemblage theory, and new materialism, in the context of environmental sociology and sociological thought more generally. We use the case of apples in agriculture to further elaborate the use and implications of a more-than-human approach to the social life of plants.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology , pp. 161 - 175Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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