Environmental social sciences

Communities and their surroundings are bound together in ways that resist simple explanation. Making sense of those ties, and acting on them, calls for research that brings together the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. This volume gathers contributions from specialists who lay out the methods and research approaches used in social inquiry into environmental questions.

The chapters draw on ethnographic and environmental case studies from many parts of the world. Examples run from Australia and the Brazilian Amazon to Madagascar and the United States, and they span both past and present, from prehistoric and historical societies to modern rural and urban settings. The discussion covers climate change, deforestation, local environmental knowledge, nature reserves, disputes over the control and ownership of natural resources, and how the scale of a study in space and time shapes what it can reveal.

By showing what social science can contribute to environmental research and to wider global challenges, the book aims to advance interdisciplinary environmental social science. It is written for social and natural scientists alike, as well as for policy makers.