Revisiting the Origins of and Distinctions Between Natural Resource Sociology and Environmental Sociology

Abstract

A forum focusing on similarities and differences in environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources is healthy. Attempts to more adequately understand the relationships between social organization and the natural world need to be informed by reviews and critiques of past and current work by resource/environmental social scientists and the array of theoretical frameworks, research designs, and problem-solving capabilities that are represented in the literature. In this article, we provide a perspective on the paths that natural resource sociology and environmental sociology have taken. We draw distinctions based on their origins, conceptual orientations, theoretical perspectives, and problem-solving focuses. Clarifying the differences between natural resource sociology and environmental sociology will not only help in tracing the intellectual foundations for these subfields of inquiry and bring to light lost literature, but also point to areas where synthesis and convergence in these subfields are possible.

This article originally published in Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 15, Issue 3, pages 213–227, 2002. DOI: 10.1080/089419202753445052

Keywords:

• community
• environmental sociology
• natural resource sociology
• rural ecology
• rural sociology