Khaleda Mamdouh What on earth makes you think that sociological theory can explain climate change? Climate change has been going on for millions of years before humans existed and will continue due to do so irrespective of whether humans survive or not. Sociology is about societies and social structures, not about astro physics or geology.

Here are some papers that discuss the issue of climate change from the sociological perspective:

Article Sociological Perspectives on Climate Change and Society: A Review

Article Social Theory and Climate Change: Questions Often, Sometimes...

Article Climate Change and Society

Among those theories, there is also my theory: All species saturate their habitat. All species oscillate in and out of oversaturation. Climate change is just another saturation event, as many have happened before. The other species negotiate saturation by slowly evolving into something else. Humans negotiate saturation by developing new technology, therefore evolving in their minds instead of in their DNA.

Preprint Long term world human population, lifespan and GDP growth mo...

le climat a ces impacts sur le fonctionnement social et sociétal dont l’étude sociologique des changements relationnels ou comportemental des groupes sociaux.

Since climate change is a large-scale system change at a higher level than the human social system, if we only consider the interaction between people, we need to combine other scientific theories, such as physics, geography, climatology and so on. If you want to discuss the impact of climate change on human society more directly and consider climate change and changes in human society as a whole, you can try the theory of Social Thermodynamics. This theory comprehensively considers the energy exchange relationship between matter system and human social system, and discusses the thermodynamic relationship between climate change and human society by using the already mature and tested thermodynamic laws. So you can explain why the Mongols rose and why the Roman Empire fell. Of course, you can also use this theory to explain the youth riots in Paris, the prevalence of coronavirus and so on.

We must integrate several scientific theories, such as those from physics, geography, climatology, and other fields, since climate change is a large-scale system change that affects human society on a higher level than just human interaction. Try the theory of social thermodynamics if you want to talk more specifically about how climate change affects human society and how it affects changes in human society overall. Using the well-established and tried-and-true thermodynamic rules, this theory addresses the thermodynamic relationship between climate change and human society as well as the energy exchange relationship between the matter system and the social system of humans. In order to justify the rise of the Mongols and the fall of the Roman Empire.

Latour's theory is really an excellent theory to solve the climate problem and the relationship between human society. In his theory, I think this metaphor is very appropriate, that is, people watch dance now, not only to watch the actors' performances, the scenery of the dance and even the whole theater, but also to have an impact on the content of the dance. Extending to the relationship between climate problems and human society, the problem mentioned by Dr. Khaleda Mamdouh is the influence of human society on climate change. And my previous answer is the impact of climate change on human society. Is this an irrelevant answer? It's time to clarify. According to Newton's third law, action and reaction are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. In other words, if you have an effect on a system, then the system will definitely have a reaction to you. However, if you just hit a ping-pong ball to the ground, I believe that the earth will not feel the role of this ping-pong. Because the earth is so big. Similarly, for the human society in the Stone Age, it is really insignificant compared with the environment of the whole earth. So you only need to consider the impact of climate change on human society. But with the development of modern industrialized society, a large number of huge machines have been made. These industrial products have been able to have a great impact on the earth's environment. Therefore, human society will have a considerable impact on global climate change. Therefore, in modern sociological theory, only regarding human beings as a creature that can get energy from infinite earth resources, we will certainly encounter various paradoxes.

Of course, not only sociologists should consider the impact of human society on climate change. So do natural scientists. As Latour pointed out, natural scientists are used to telling people the seriousness of the impact of climate change on human society from the perspective of God. Think they are very objective. But they intentionally or unintentionally hide their values. On the contrary, this has turned an originally moderate theory into dogmatism. This is the reason why climate change is difficult to gain universal recognition. And this dogmatism is also very harmful to society. Just like the coronavirus pandemic in the past, the corresponding policies designated under the influence of some dogmatic scientists have led to great problems in some societies. At present, I see that Britain is starting to reflect accordingly.

Several sociological theories can be applied to explain climate change:

1. **Risk Society Theory:** Ulrich Beck's theory suggests that modern societies are characterized by the production of various risks, including environmental risks like climate change. It examines how societies perceive, manage, and respond to these risks.

2. **Environmental Sociology:** This approach explores the relationship between society and the environment. It looks at how social structures, institutions, and cultural beliefs influence environmental attitudes and behaviors, including those related to climate change.

3. **Political Economy of Climate Change:** This perspective emphasizes the role of economic structures, power dynamics, and global inequalities in shaping responses to climate change. It considers how economic systems contribute to environmental degradation and influence policy decisions.

4. **Social Construction of Nature:** This theory focuses on how societal values and perceptions shape the way people understand and interact with the environment. It examines how climate change is socially constructed and the implications of these constructions.

5. **Ecological Modernization Theory:** This theory suggests that societies can address environmental issues, including climate change, through technological innovation and institutional change without sacrificing economic growth.

6. **Social Movement Theories:** Social movements, such as those advocating for environmental justice or climate action, can be understood through various sociological lenses. Resource mobilization theory and framing processes are examples of approaches used to analyze how social movements emerge and influence policy.

Each of these theories provides a unique lens through which sociologists examine the complex interplay between society and climate change.

Dear Khaleda,

You have asked a good question (which I would rephrase as, "How have human groups altered their environments historically, in ways that then impacted their environments (by changing natural environmental cycles of water, air, etc.), and are there general theories about these actions and applied work?) and you have gotten some good responses already. The field that used to concentrate on questions like this was (social) Anthropology, which branched off of Sociology, and whose focus used to be on relations between human groups and their environments, including sustainability/survival and collapse. Today, some of this work has shifted into Human Geography (like Jared Diamond's work, that I recommend -- look at his works and bibliography).

So, there is a lot of good work in Anthropology (social Anthropology and also the subfield of Archaeology) on "collapse" and the social-environmental interactions. Look for literature on collapse (like Tainter's work and his bibliographies, to find examples of those collapses that were related to overuse of environment and to some of the feedback that had on climate). If you interrupt water patterns through agriculture, overhunting, industrialization, and war, you then change air and water which is a climate change, and you can look to this literature on the theories of these human decisions and then the adaptations to the changes.

In my work, that you can find on ResearchGate, I direct you to two pieces of mine on the theory of "cultural suicide" ("The Logic of Cultural Suicide ...", "The Psychology of Cultural Suicide") that I relate to climate change today as one of the examples of cultural suicide. You can also look at how I try to apply political science models like "The Global Prisoner's Dilemma of Unsustainability".

Best,

David Lempert, Ph.D., J.D., M.B.A., E.D. (Hon.)

I am not a sociologist but have a background in marine / natural sciences. My reading of the question is 'what sociologists can say to why we dig our own graves'. Indeed, it's puzzling. The following observation is not sociological theory:

At heart, the balance of species in an ecosystem is ensured through predator-prey relations. When modern humans became themselves formidable predators, not only did they mostly wipe out all fauna bigger than themselves on land (and doing the same in the ocean as well effectively even with comparably primitive means like during the whaling centuries), but when fossil fuel driven machinery became widely available (much of it developed for warfare), Homo sapiens also overcame the limitations of production methods requiring much muscle power and time. Short-termism tended to carry the day irrespective of the social system (see e.g. David Montgomery 'Dirt. The erosion of civilisations').

The evidence of many unsustainable practices have been around, sometimes for centuries, but we seem to find it hard to learn from that evidence and deal with likely effects of our collective action at scale. We are experts at cognitive dissonance. We seem to prefer to fall for the next hype of technological silver bullet - currently e.g. AI.

When climate change spirals out of all proportions because we keep increasing emissions instead of reducing them, we'll likely adjust rather than prevent, implicitly accepting extremely high social and environmental costs and cost of lives. Economist language will speak about 'externalities' and 'market failure', military language of 'collateral damage'... anything but calling a spade a spade.

Could more women in responsible positions bring us back to our senses? Historically, such societies have been associated with more egalitarian and less megalomaniac approaches. But it's not for granted and at current speed of progress on SDG 5 it'll take another 280 years before we can hope for gender equity.

Are we doomed? Particularly if we just keep going. Luckily, a lot of people see the dangers and want to change course for the better. So it's best to challenge the folly by pushing for a change journey towards safer waters for our civilisations and the thin life support system of our finite planet. It's always worth trying with as many like-minded people as possible.

toutes les sciences peu importe leurs domaines cognitives se focalisent essentiellement de travailler au profit de la société dont la sociologie qu'est a leur tour se spécialise dans l’étude des phénomènes sociétales résultantes de toutes ces interactivités positives que se soient ou négatives.

Hi Khaleda,

I was asked to answer a similar question when writing one of my comprehensive exams and I have attached a page of it with some more recent thoughts and resources. I hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out.

Don

I believe Conflict Theory can be applied to elucidate this phenomenon. Human actions, driven by greed, are contributing to the deterioration of our environment. For example, activities such as hunting, poaching in forests, and deforestation persist despite being prohibited. The conservation of species and the environment is imperative in mitigating climate change.

This reflects a negative human behavior pattern where individuals prioritize personal wealth and power, ultimately harming the planet. Another example is gold panning, which affects nearby waters like rivers, impacting the quality of fish. Those engaged in various activities often exploit their power, causing further harm to the planet.

This is the resilience of human.

la sociologie est une science ressemblante qui s'identifie comme discipline a parcours difficile puisqu'elle se focalise essentiellement a décrypter le vécu-présent -avenir de la société humaine en se basant massivement sur beaucoup d' out-put d'autres sciences avant de s’entamer a étudier les causes postérieures des phénomènes climatiques en occurrence la baisse de la pluviométrie , l'étendu remarquable et sporadique des périodes caniculaires favorisant la sécheresse & la pénurie de l'eau source de la vie et facteur majeur des conflits au sein mémé de la communauté homogène voire pays limitrophes cas de l'Egypte-soudan -Ethiopie ....puis elle étudie les impacts de ces causes implicites& explicites sur le réel et le présent de la société & son devance en allant de prévoir le devenir des ces sociétés sur les deux plans : la prospérité ou le déclin .

il cambiamento climatico si inquadra anche nella diffidenza delle azioni da intraprendere caldeggiate dai governi e implementate dalla popolazione. il quadro di cambiamento pertanto è macro micro e le teorie che si possono usare per spiegare il fenomeno sono relative al capitale sociale di coleman, la coleman boat, e il lavoro sulla fiducia di mutti (La teoria della fiducia nelle ricerche sul capitale sociale)

The most important sociological theory to explain climate change is (ecologically aware) Marxism. Climate change is driven buy increasing energy use to fuel ever greater increases in production, profit and accumulation. This is what our society id driven to do – accumulate capital. Though it's possible to imagine other reasons people seek to increase production beyond ecological limits, it is the accumulation of capital that is rapidly driving us to destruction. Abandoning that goal is the only route out of ride into the abyss.

Sans être sociologue il me semble que la construction sociale de la nature et la théorie du risque tout comme le réseaux social d'acteur peuvent bien éclairer le phénomène du changement climatique.

https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/9/1/7

Article Climate change sociology: Past contributions and future research needs

Article Climate Change and Society

https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/2981052

https://sociologyofclimatechange.com/

https://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/article/climate-change-why-do-social-sciences-matter

Mostly omitted in all my given links on your Khaleda Mamdouh query is the role and design of the monetary system (=infinite money creation vs. finite physical resources).

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/54835/

Stephen I Ternyik's comment on finance points to a very interesting re-evaluation of our understanding. I would add this publication to the list Article Liquidity-Saving through Obligation-Clearing and Mutual Cred...