Foundations of Socio-Environmental Research - Legacy Readings with Commentaries

Abstract:

News about our interactions with the environment hits us daily, from pandemics following zoonotic transmission to community displacement due to climate change to species extinctions after deforestation.  It’s always topical and always seems new. In scale, it often is: never before has a pandemic spread this far or this fast. Never before have our actions increased temperatures this much. But the interactions themselves and reflections about them have long precedents. 

        This canonical reference provides an informed history of socio-environmental change and research through legacy readings and expert commentaries, and it links that history to a range of current research approaches.  The volume convenes 53 foundational readings—spanning centuries, continents, and disciplines—that showcase key strains and ideas in socio-environmental research. For current research teams, the volume can serve as a springboard for advancing collaborative, interdisciplinary projects.  As a resource in the classroom, the book provides scholars and students with a landscape view of the past and present of socio-environmental research. 

       This effort grew out of a continuing education program at SESYNC during which co-editors met and coalesced around this idea. We hope this anthology provides a useful, accessible, and stimulating reference and teaching resource.