A Review of Environmental Sociology and the Sociology of Natural Resources： Insights for the Development of Environmental Sociology in China

Environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources are two key subdisciplines of the sociological study on the interactions between nature and human society. Previous discussion on the relationships of these two fields has largely focused on their distinctions and synthesis in western （particularly American） academia. Environmental sociology emerged as an important sociological subdiscipline in China in the early 1990s and is under vigorous disciplinary construction at present. By contrast, the sociology of natural resources is still a novel term for most Chinese researchers. This article provides a systematic review of recent literature on the relationships between environmental and natural resource sociologies, which should provide important implications for the further development of environmental sociology in China.     

Local governance of energy transition: sustainability,transactions and social ties. A case study in Northeast France

This paper tackles the process of energy transition from a transactional perspective. It addresses the governance of energy transition by studying its local actualizations, moving beyond purely technical and normative readings. The paper shows that through the local socio-technological energy systems, sustainability governance filters down to the level of individual, everyday behavior, thus questioning the link between public and private spaces, especially regarding the issue of housing. Going beyond the results commonly yielded by transition studies, which favor large-scale analysis, it details how the discourse of citizen involvement, which often boils down to a mere call to control one’s individual energy consumption, conceals environmental inequalities, confirming the socioeconomic divide materialized in deprived areas such as public housing estates or remote rural areas. From a methodological standpoint, the analysis is based on four case studies in Northeast France, in more or less privileged areas, and in both urban and rural environments: the renovation of a heating network in the public housing estate of Cité de l’Ill, north of Strasbourg; the solar energy systems designed for property owners in Plobsheim, a residential suburb of Strasbourg; the energy-efficient equipment set up in a public housing estate in the city of Saint-Dié, in the Vosges; and citizen participation in a cooperative program to finance wind turbines in the small Alsacian city of Saâles, in a mountain rural area. The paper draws on the results of these sociological investigations, carried out using field observations, questionnaires and interviews.     

Natural hazard events and social capital: the social impact of natural disasters

This study investigates if and to what extent natural disasters affect social capital. Twelve different events in Europe are examined in a quantitative analysis, using data derived from the European Social Survey and the EM‐DAT International Disaster Database. The study uses social trust as an indicator of social capital and offers evidence that a change in social trust is a possible occurrence during or after a disaster, but that it is not an inevitable consequence of it. The results reveal that social trust decreases after a disaster with a death toll of at least nine. Changes in social capital, therefore, are found to be more probable as the severity of the event increases. National, rather than regional, disasters lead more frequently to significant shifts in social trust. This evaluation of 12 separate cases pinpoints several disasters that have had an effect on social trust, but it does not identify any general patterns, underlining the significance of contextual dependency.     

基于安全社会学的高层建筑火灾事故剖析——以上海“11·15”特大火灾事故为例

结合我国基本国情及“11·15”特大火灾事故的具体情况,运用社会学视角,从技术和理性的局限、效益和安全的博弈、人因和制度的瓶颈三个方面透析由高层建筑火灾事故难以解决这一现状暴露出的社会学问题。并提出有利于从深层次上保障人民生命安全和公共财产安全的三点建议：调整引发不安全因素的社会结构;提升有利于确保安全的技术能力;加强政府的社会控制功能。本文针对我国高层建筑火灾事故频发的现状,揭示了“11·15”特大火灾事故带来的警示和反思,就高层建筑火灾防范提出了改进方法,对建筑、消防等部门的管理工作具有一定的参考意义。     

Public Perceptions of California's Exceptional Drought

While the exceptional drought in California ended in 2017, the state is expected to experience similar droughts in the future. Understanding how individuals perceive the causes and consequences of drought will help frame future communication and planning efforts. We surveyed a panel of Californian residents about their perceptions of the 2012–2017 drought. We found a major disconnect in how our respondents perceived drought and water use. Respondents perceived the drought as being caused primarily by climatic factors and underestimated the role human water use, particularly agricultural use, had in exacerbating drought. Comparing our respondents across the state and across socio‐demographics, there were few differences in concern about drought but several differences in how residents thought drought should be managed. Such research can help water managers communicate about the specific concerns the public has about future droughts, as well as address misperceptions about the relationship between drought and water use.     

珠海市社会经济发展与资源环境的协调度分析

经济与资源环境协调发展成为研究热点，众多学者运用不同的数学方法对区域经济和环境的协调度进行了分析。目前这方面的研究仅包括经济和环境两大系统，未将社会发展作为独立的系统，且指标的选取未能体现区域经济发展的特点。根据珠海市的实际，对原有的协调度计算方法进行适当调整，得出珠海市社会经济发展与资源环境协调度发展的状况属于良好协调发展类中的经济滞后型。     

Boater Perceptions of Environmental Issues Affecting Lakes in Northern Wisconsin

Understanding public perceptions of the importance of environmental issues is crucial for gauging support for management activities. I present a novel methodological approach to assess the importance boaters placed on 16 water issues in a lake‐rich region of northern Wisconsin. A latent class maximum difference conjoint model was used to examine the relationships between environmental concern and engagement with lake resources. Boaters were grouped to maximize observed heterogeneity in prioritizing issues of concern. Socio‐demographic characteristics, recreation specialization, place attachment, and attitudes concerning aquatic stewardship and invasive species management were then used to predict class membership. This modeling approach identified five groups whose perceptions of issues pertaining to lakes are influenced by their interactions with the lake environment. While anglers were most concerned about fishing quality, sightseers identified lakeshore development and loss of natural habitat. Groups also differed in their socio‐demographic and attitudinal characteristics. The priorities of each group were substantially different from those of the overall sample. Accounting for differences in stakeholders' environmental concerns may improve public involvement in water management initiatives by allowing managers to identify common concerns and prioritize important issues among multiple groups.     

The digital frontiers of fisheries governance: fish attraction devices,drones and satellites

ABSTRACT

High seas fisheries remain one of the least transparent global production practices. Distance from shore, coupled with the highly mobile nature of fish stocks, has put attention on new monitoring, control and surveillance technologies to collect spatially referenced data on the location of fishing vessels, gears and even fish stocks and eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity. Faced with their nascent implementation, research is yet to address how these technologies are reconfiguring the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors involved in fisheries management, including who collects and controls fisheries related information. In this paper, we compare three monitoring, control and surveillance technologies that are gaining traction in fisheries; the use of private fish attraction devices in oceanic tuna fisheries, unmanned public drones for marine surveillance and global satellite monitoring of fishing vessels. In doing so, we question how different configurations of actors are structuring flows of information and with what effect on sustainability performance of high seas fisheries. We also explore how these technologies configure new (and imagined) geographies of high seas fisheries which challenge existing modes of fisheries management.     

Stayers versus movers: Social capital and early career imprinting among young professionals

We investigate what interfirm career mobility patterns would emerge if individuals are motivated by the job rewards they obtain as a function of their experience in organizations. We articulate two career strategies that individuals employ to navigate their early careers—commitment to a single employer and “job hopping” between different employers. Each strategy generates social capital (an individual's structure of social relations) but of a different kind. Embeddedness in the same organization over time develops a strong local identity and reputation within the firm. Boundary spanning through experience in different organizations creates opportunities for connecting people and ideas and for knowledge transfer between firms. We posit and present evidence that the choice between these two strategies is conditioned by social experience at the onset of one's career—the length of tenure with the first employer—which sorts individuals into “stayers” and “movers.”     

人水和谐理念下城市河涌整治的环境社会学思考

导致城市河涌污染和不健康的因素众多,不仅具有生态学的根源,而且还具有社会学的根源。河涌整治已经成为许多城市环境治理的重点。文章依据环境社会学的理论和人水和谐的理念,分析当前河涌整治的模式及优缺点,重点探讨政府、企业、市民、传媒等利益相关者在城市水环境污染与治理中的角色、作用以及相互之间的互动与整合,为城市河涌综合整治建立长效社会机制提供依据。