This article develops a critique of the tragedy of the commons theory that is frequently applied to explain fisheries decline. In its place the authors offer the tragedy of the commodity as an alternative framework that better explains resource overexploitation and environmental degradation. They use a political economic analysis to discuss the social and ecological transformations that have occurred in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, with an emphasis on the Sicilian traditional trap fishery. Examining this case, the authors argue that Marx's explanation of capitalist private property, commodity production, and the general formula for capital provide powerful theoretical guides for clarifying the social relations of production that have driven the overexploitation of fisheries in the recent past. Relying on historical and qualitative data, the case study illustrates the ways in which the social imperative of capitalist commodity production toward accumulating surplus-value directs production, reorganizes social relations, and transforms nature into an instrumental input that can more easily serve the needs of capital. The resulting ecological problems demonstrate the tragedy of the commodity.

Thesis advisor: Andrew Jorgenson / Recent research suggests that no country in the world meets its social needs in a sustainable manner. The U.S. is a prime example, as it has achieved a high standard of living but at a substantial cost to the environment. Although, research also suggests that subjective and objective measures of well-being are declining in the U.S. Thus, not only must the country reduce its emissions and environmental resource use, but it must also rethink its development strategy as well-being continues to deteriorate. However, these trends are not homogeneous as there are significant differences in ecological degradation and well-being across the states. What could explain these differences? Resource dependency, w¬hich refers to economic overspecialization in the extractive natural resource sector, offers a promising theoretical perspective to apply to this question. In my four-part dissertation, I explore whether and how resource dependency impacts sustainability-related measures in the U.S. Using state-level panel data, I assess the effects of resource dependency on the carbon-intensity of well-being, the renewable energy-fossil fuel nexus, and CO2 emissions in chapters two through four. In the fifth chapter, I describe three Stata commands (eiwb, xtasysum, and lreff) that I developed as part of my dissertation. Taken together, I show that resource dependency undermines environmental and social well-being outcomes in the U.S., but it does so in complex ways. I conclude by discussing the implications of my findings, this dissertation’s contributions to sociology and sustainability science, and paths for future research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

No description available.

As famílias assentadas na Gleba Ribeirão Bonito, que vivem ao lado do Parque Estadual do Morro do Diabo, estão, ao contrário do que se poderia esperar, contribuindo, através de projetos articulados por uma rede de organizações, para a conservação dos recursos naturais desta Unidade de Conservação. A dissertação explora os fatores que têm condicionado tal realidade, fundamentando-se nas contribuições teóricas da economia das instituições e da sociologia ambiental. A conclusão é que está em processo de construção, na região do Pontal do Paranapanema, uma nova instituição que pode contribuir para a promoção de um modelo de desenvolvimento regional que inclua, ao mesmo tempo, o desenvolvimento social e econômico das famílias assentadas e a conservação da natureza. / The families seated in the Gleba Ribeirão Bonito, who live to the side of the Morro do Diabo State Park, are, in contrast of that we could wait, contributing, through designs articulated for a network of organizations, for the conservation of the natural features of this Unit of Conservation. The text explores the factors that condition such reality, basing itself on the theoretical contributions of the institutional economics and environmental sociology. The conclusion is that it is in construction process, in the region of the Pontal of the Paranapanema, a new institution that can contribute for the promotion of a model of regional development that includes, at the same time, the social and economic development of the seated families and the conservation of the nature.

This dissertation takes a sociological look at the relationship between urbanization and environmental change. While sociological studies on urbanization have long addressed the social dimensions of the built environment, the natural environment has not been treated as a primary concept in urban sociology. Based on an analysis of local land use change across the United States at the beginning of the 21st century, this dissertation brings the built and natural environments together, recognizing both as important dimensions of urbanization. The expansion of the built environment, through deforestation and the covering up of fertile agricultural land, represents a modern form of land use change with direct and indirect impacts on the natural environment, the most severe effects of which are seen in biodiversity loss, disruption of the nitrogen cycle, and climate change. Drawing on literatures and theories in environmental, rural, and urban sociology as well as demography and human ecology, the bulk of the dissertation involves empirical analyses of overall changes in forest cover as well as the loss of forest cover and agricultural land to the built environment (i.e., the impervious structures and surfaces that cover the land), a process I refer to as land use intensification. My dissertation project uses quantitative methods to examine the demographic, economic, and social forces behind this process in contemporary America. Hypotheses are derived from the various literatures mentioned above; to test these hypotheses, I integrate county-level data from US governmental sources with satellite imagery on land cover change from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). For the years 2001-2006, I use the NLCD data to quantify three dependent variables at the county-level: overall change in the area of forest cover as well as the area of forest cover and agricultural land lost to the built environment. Results from regression analyses demonstrate that urbanization is a multidimensional process that differentially transforms the American landscape. With a focus on land use intensification, this study advances a sociological framework to address connections between urbanization and changes in both the built and natural environments.

Esta é uma tese sociológica sobre formas de assimilação social de novas institucionalidades para regulação do uso e acesso aos recursos hídricos. Busca empreender, a despeito do recorte disciplinar de sua problemática, um esforço no diálogo de saberes com os campos da economia, filosofia, antropologia, geografia humana, agronomia, ecologia e direito ambiental. Sua apresentação geral consta de uma revisão teórico-conceitual crítica sobre o princípio neoclássico da valoração ambiental e da apresentação de dois estudos de caso sobre os possíveis impactos que a política de valoração da água trará para a agricultura paulista. Na revisão teórico-conceitual, a tese discute a necessidade de elaboração de estratégias epistêmicas alternativas de interpretação dos modernos conflitos sócio-ambientais. Propõe a superação dos enfoques formalistas de modelagem da relação sociedade-natureza. Nos estudos de caso, a tese apresenta diferentes possibilidades de ajustamento entre distintas configurações territoriais - dotadas de relações específicas de produção material e de exercício do poder social - e os anseios do princípio da valoração da água. As conclusões gerais do trabalho apontam para uma crítica às intervenções institucionais de gestão ambiental baseadas em modelos universalizantes de supostas condutas racionais de agentes e/ou grupos sociais. / This is a sociological thesis about ways of social assimilating of new institutional inovations for the regulation of the use and access to water resources. It seeks to make an effort to obtain a knowledge dialogue with the fields of economy, philosophy, anthropology, human geography, agronomy, ecology and environmental laws. The thesis\'s general presentation consists of a critical theoretical review about the neoclassical principle of environmental valuation and the presentation of two case studies about the possible impacts that the water valuation policy will bring to the agriculture in São Paulo state. In the theoretical review, the thesis discusses the necessity of elaborating alternative strategies for the interpretation of the modern social and environmental conflicts. It proposes to overcome the formalist approaches of modeling in the relation society-nature. In the case studies, the thesis presents different possibilities of adjustment among different territorial configurations - with specific relations of material production and the exertion of the social power - and the aims of the water valuation principles. The general conclusions of the work point to a criticism to the institutional intervention of environmental policy based on models of suposedly rational bahaviors of agents and/or social groups.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Sociology. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

A emergência da questão ambiental como tema de interesse da sociedade atinge o Direito fazendo com que nos últimos anos o número de leis relativas ao tema tenha crescido significativamente. Não obstante, dentro deste universo jurídico são frequentes os apontamentos no sentido de que a eficácia social destas leis não ocorre com a mesma intensidade e entusiasmo com que são promulgadas. A partir de uma proposta interdisciplinar que busca contribuições da linguística e da sociologia este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem das questões relativas a eficácia social da legislação ambiental no meio rural agrícola, tendo como recorte um grupo de agricultores penalizados pela Justiça por infração aos dispositivos da competência dos Juizados Especiais na Lei 9.605/98 que tratam da flora. É feita inicialmente uma abordagem teórica sobre tema no âmbito do Direito e da sociologia ambiental buscando-se compreender e apresentar o estágio atual das discussões envolvendo a legislação ambiental no país. Após, com base na Análise do Discurso, é realizada uma incursão pelo processo legislativo que culminou na promulgação da Lei 9.605/98, com ênfase nos interesses contraditórios representados pelos defensores do agronegócio e ambientalistas no Congresso Nacional. Posteriormente, com base nos casos práticos de aplicação dos dispositivos da 9.605/98 pelos órgãos de fiscalização e pela Justiça buscou-se, por meio de uma pesquisa de campo, conhecer os infratores penalizados a fim de caracterizar as propriedades, sistemas de cultivo e produção existentes nas propriedades. Em seguida o mesmo instrumento aplicado aos infratores foi aplicado a um grupo de agricultores similar, mas ambientalmente adequados a fim de produzir inferências sobre o tema pesquisado. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que o modelo de desenvolvimento adotado no âmbito da agricultura é determinante para a forma como os agricultores percebem a legislação ambiental. A pesquisa buscou contribuir para o debate acerca da eficácia social da legislação ambiental no meio rural. / Recently, the environmental issues has been growing as a matter of interest to society, This issues hits the right causing the number of laws on the subject to grown significantly in recent years. Nevertheless, within this universe are frequent juridical notes in the sense that the social effectiveness of these laws does not occur with the same intensity and enthusiasm with which they are promulgated. From an interdisciplinary proposal that seeks contributions of linguistics and sociology, this paper presents an approach to social issues regarding the effectiveness of environmental legislation in the rural environment considering a group of farmers penalized by the courts for violation of the provisions of Special Courts competence of Law 9.605/98 which deal with the flora. It initially made a theoretical approach under the theme of environmental sociology and Right seeking to understand and present the current status of discussions involving environmental legislation in the country. Following, based on Discourse Analysis, it is conducted an incursion by the legislative process that culminated in the promulgation of the Law 9.605/98, with emphasis on conflicting interests represented by the advocates of agribusiness and environmentalists in Congress. Afterwards, based on practical cases of application of the articles of Law 9.605/98 by the fiscalization and Justice aimed to know offenders penalized through a field survey, in order to characterize the farms, farming systems and production systems of existing farms. The data obtained were compared to those obtained in a similar group of farmers, environmentally adequated in order to produce inferences about the searched theme. Then, the same instrument applied to violators was applied to a group of similar farmers, but environmentally suitable in order to produce inferences about the search topic. The results obtained in this work demonstrated the model of development adopted in relation to agriculture is crucial to how the farmers understand environmental legislation. The research aimed to contribute to the debate about the effectiveness of environmental legislation in rural environment.

A emergência da questão ambiental como tema de interesse da sociedade atinge o Direito fazendo com que nos últimos anos o número de leis relativas ao tema tenha crescido significativamente. Não obstante, dentro deste universo jurídico são frequentes os apontamentos no sentido de que a eficácia social destas leis não ocorre com a mesma intensidade e entusiasmo com que são promulgadas. A partir de uma proposta interdisciplinar que busca contribuições da linguística e da sociologia este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem das questões relativas a eficácia social da legislação ambiental no meio rural agrícola, tendo como recorte um grupo de agricultores penalizados pela Justiça por infração aos dispositivos da competência dos Juizados Especiais na Lei 9.605/98 que tratam da flora. É feita inicialmente uma abordagem teórica sobre tema no âmbito do Direito e da sociologia ambiental buscando-se compreender e apresentar o estágio atual das discussões envolvendo a legislação ambiental no país. Após, com base na Análise do Discurso, é realizada uma incursão pelo processo legislativo que culminou na promulgação da Lei 9.605/98, com ênfase nos interesses contraditórios representados pelos defensores do agronegócio e ambientalistas no Congresso Nacional. Posteriormente, com base nos casos práticos de aplicação dos dispositivos da 9.605/98 pelos órgãos de fiscalização e pela Justiça buscou-se, por meio de uma pesquisa de campo, conhecer os infratores penalizados a fim de caracterizar as propriedades, sistemas de cultivo e produção existentes nas propriedades. Em seguida o mesmo instrumento aplicado aos infratores foi aplicado a um grupo de agricultores similar, mas ambientalmente adequados a fim de produzir inferências sobre o tema pesquisado. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que o modelo de desenvolvimento adotado no âmbito da agricultura é determinante para a forma como os agricultores percebem a legislação ambiental. A pesquisa buscou contribuir para o debate acerca da eficácia social da legislação ambiental no meio rural. / Recently, the environmental issues has been growing as a matter of interest to society, This issues hits the right causing the number of laws on the subject to grown significantly in recent years. Nevertheless, within this universe are frequent juridical notes in the sense that the social effectiveness of these laws does not occur with the same intensity and enthusiasm with which they are promulgated. From an interdisciplinary proposal that seeks contributions of linguistics and sociology, this paper presents an approach to social issues regarding the effectiveness of environmental legislation in the rural environment considering a group of farmers penalized by the courts for violation of the provisions of Special Courts competence of Law 9.605/98 which deal with the flora. It initially made a theoretical approach under the theme of environmental sociology and Right seeking to understand and present the current status of discussions involving environmental legislation in the country. Following, based on Discourse Analysis, it is conducted an incursion by the legislative process that culminated in the promulgation of the Law 9.605/98, with emphasis on conflicting interests represented by the advocates of agribusiness and environmentalists in Congress. Afterwards, based on practical cases of application of the articles of Law 9.605/98 by the fiscalization and Justice aimed to know offenders penalized through a field survey, in order to characterize the farms, farming systems and production systems of existing farms. The data obtained were compared to those obtained in a similar group of farmers, environmentally adequated in order to produce inferences about the searched theme. Then, the same instrument applied to violators was applied to a group of similar farmers, but environmentally suitable in order to produce inferences about the search topic. The results obtained in this work demonstrated the model of development adopted in relation to agriculture is crucial to how the farmers understand environmental legislation. The research aimed to contribute to the debate about the effectiveness of environmental legislation in rural environment.

Orientador: Leila da Costa Ferreira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T00:14:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bacchiegga_Fabio_M.pdf: 1357263 bytes, checksum: fce6ca837d7dc483dad3566f0dc8a003 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: A temática ambiental tornou-se objeto de ampla reflexão nas últimas décadas, pautanto debates, delimitando e consolidando uma sólida presença, em especial nos debates acadêmicos. Surge nos anos 1960, dentro de um contexto histórico muito específico - de contra cultura e críticas ao modelo de desenvolvimento predatório vigente - e chega ao Brasil nos anos 1970, assumindo uma face singular, agora como uma crítica ao fim do "Milagre Econômico" e aos impactos ambientais resultantes dessa opção de crescimento. Conhecer seu processo de institucionalização é importante para compreender como a Sociologia Ambiental deixa o status de subcampo de áreas da Sociologia, como a rural, e conquista um campo específico. Este projeto, que é parte integrante do trabalho "A Questão Ambiental, Interdisciplinaridade, Teoria Social e Produção Intelectual na América Latina" (NEPAM/UNICAMP) desenvolvido desde 2006, visa analisar os artigos a respeito da temática "Ambiente e Sociedade" publicado nas principais revista relacionadas a área de Humanidades do Brasil de 1980 até 2007, a partir do método de Análise de Conteúdo, e assim colaborar para a compreensão do processo de (re)fazer da Sociologia Ambiental como área especifica do pensamento sociológico / Abstract: The environmental issue has become the object of broad discussion in recent decades it was the subject of debate, delimiting and building a solid presence, especially in academic. Emerged during the 1960s, within a very specific historical context - counterculture and criticisms of the current predatory model of development - and arrives in Brazil about 1970, assuming a singular face, now as a criticism of the end of the "Economic Miracle" and the environmental impacts resulting from this development option. Knowing the process of institutionalization is important to understand how environmental sociology leaves the status subfield areas of sociology, such as rural, and achieves a specific field. This project, which is part of the work, "The Environmental Issue, Interdisciplinary, Social Theory and Intellectual Production in Latin America" (NEPAM/UNICAMP) developed since 2006, aims at analyzing the articles on the theme "Environment and Society" published in major journals related to the Humanities area of Brazil 1980 to 2007, from the method "Content Analysis", and thus contribute to understanding the process of (re) making of Environmental Sociology as a specific area of sociological thought / Mestrado / Sociologia / Mestre em Sociologia