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
- 5 Strangers on the Land? Rural LGBTQs and Queer Sustainabilities
- 6 Masculinity and Environment
- 7 Toxicity, Health, and Environment
- 8 The Environment’s Absence in Medicine: Mainstream Medical Coverage of Leukemia
- Part III Beyond the Human
- Part IV Sustainability and Climate Change
- Part V Resources
- Part VI Food and Agriculture
- Part VII Social Movements
- Index
- References
7 - Toxicity, Health, and Environment
from Part II - Embodied Environmental Sociology
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
- 5 Strangers on the Land? Rural LGBTQs and Queer Sustainabilities
- 6 Masculinity and Environment
- 7 Toxicity, Health, and Environment
- 8 The Environment’s Absence in Medicine: Mainstream Medical Coverage of Leukemia
- Part III Beyond the Human
- Part IV Sustainability and Climate Change
- Part V Resources
- Part VI Food and Agriculture
- Part VII Social Movements
- Index
- References
Summary
Environmental sociologists working in the intersection of medical and political sociology on topics related to environmental public health are bridging knowledge gaps around environmental risks, exposures, government accountability, and public mobilization. This most recent turn of environmental sociology engages in boundary crossing efforts that move beyond pure research to intervention that affects both health and environmental policy. In this chapter we examine how environmental sociologists have advanced understanding environmental health issues, in particular through pushing for social and structural understandings of traditionally individualized disease experiences. Alongside environmental justice activists, environmental sociologists argue for an intersectional approach to examining the roles of racism, gender, and social class in understanding the mechanisms that target vulnerable communities for pollution. Social scientists have highlighted broad impacts of environmental harms including complex physical effects, direct and indirect mental health impacts, and community-wide strains on social relations within affected communities. While several barriers exist that challenge this work, including academic expectations with respect to standards of proof, sample sizes, and institutional priorities, we point to equity building processes, such as community-based participatory research, civic science, and critical epidemiology, in which social scientists are well positioned to critically engage.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology , pp. 117 - 136Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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