World society and the natural environment

Shorette, Kristen; Henderson, Kent; Sommer, Jamie; Longhofer, Wesley

doi:10.1111/soc4.12511

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Whereas other macro-level theories of environmental change conceptualize actors as material-seeking, this perspective emphasizes the social context they are embedded in (Meyer, Boli, et al 1997). More specifically, nation-states, organizations, and non-state actors are viewed as socially constructed actors embedded in a transnational system of norms such as rationality, universalism, and modernity (Shorette et al 2017).…”

Section: Global Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Global Environmentalism and the World-System: A Cross-National Analysis of Air Pollution

Mejia

2019

Sociological Perspectives

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Ambient air pollution represents a global health crisis, leading to 7 million annual deaths worldwide. The rise of a “global environmental regime” manifests in the widespread adoption of environmental policies and laws to reduce ambient air pollution, but debate remains whether they have any effect. Scholars argue that the relationship between the global environmental regime and air pollution depends on the penetration of the global environmental regime. In this analysis, I argue that the relationship between the global environmental regime and air pollution levels is contingent on a country’s position in the world-system. Using fixed effects panel analyses of 144 countries from 1990 to 2010, I find embeddedness in the global environmental regime does predict lower national air pollution levels. This effect, however, is smaller in semi-peripheral and peripheral countries. These findings contribute to an emerging body of scholarship integrating world society and world systems approaches in the study of the environment.

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Section: Global Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Global Environmentalism and the World-System: A Cross-National Analysis of Air Pollution

Mejia

2019

Sociological Perspectives

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“…Alternatively, over time countries that adopt omnibus environmental laws significantly reduce their rates of forest loss. This shifts analytic attention away from associations to the role of state institutions and capacities in world society—a key gap in the literature (Shorette et al 2017). What makes state environmental capacities particularly effective relative to EINGOs?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neo-institutional research on environmental outcomes typically highlights EINGOs and neglects the impact of state policies (Shorette et al 2017). This is surprising, considering that state institutions are crucial to outcomes in other domains of the world polity, particularly human rights (Cole 2012, 2015).…”

Section: Current Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, contrary to prior research, I find it is the adoption of omnibus environmental laws rather than EINGOs that drive forest improvements in the Global South. Given the longstanding primacy granted to environmental associations, I suggest that scholars should refocus on the role of state institutions and capacities—a notable gap in the literature on global environmentalism (Buttel 2000; Shorette et al 2017). Second, I show that dependency on vertical trade flows weakens the protective effects of environmental laws.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Deforestation in the Global South: Assessing Uneven Environmental Improvements 1993–2013

Tester

2020

Sociological Perspectives

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In recent decades forest degradation declined around the globe. While encouraging, improvements emerged unevenly in the Global South. What explains these variable trends? Using longitudinal panel models with fixed effects, I assess changes to forest area from 1993–2013 in 73 countries. Drawing from sociological institutionalism and unequal ecological exchange, I make three contributions. I find that omnibus environmental laws mitigate forest loss rather than environmental international nongovernmental organizations, and, I show that dependency on trade with wealthy countries weakens the impact of these policies. I also substantiate and theorize export-led industrialization as a leading driver of deforestation. Broadly, I argue that national states are key sites of contestation between transnational political-economic forces and legitimated but pliable environmental institutions. Developing countries adopt standardized forest protections while, facing political-economic pressures, they variably consent to predatory trade terms and streamline export infrastructures. I conclude with recommendations for future research and policy implications.

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“…Yet, what studies exist have brought fresh insights, contributing alternate ways of understanding social ties (e.g., "social capital") that lead to (or inhibit) successful treaty-making [9], macro-level theories of power, social control, and political economic influence that oftentimes extend beyond treaty confines as well as the investigative scopes of "regime studies" in the political sciences [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], and the efficacy of social movements in shaping global environmental treaty outcomes [19][20][21]. Importantly, a growing body of literature in global sociology and the social sciences in general investigates the effects that protectionism of particular industries and economies is having on global governance and environmental protection in particular [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. This article contributes to this literature in its concern for the deleterious effects that protection of US agri-industry via the delayed the phase-out of the toxic substance methyl bromide-a neurotoxin used as a pre-plant fumigant and for quarantine treatment, and an ozone-depleting substance-had on ozone layer protection during the 2000s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociology in Global Environmental Governance? Neoliberalism, Protectionism and the Methyl Bromide Controversy in the Montreal Protocol

Gareau

2017

Environments

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Sociological studies of global agriculture need to pay close attention to the protectionist aspects of neoliberalism at the global scale of environmental governance. With agri-food studies in the social sciences broadening interrogations of the impact of neoliberalism on agri-food systems and their alternatives, investigating global environmental governance (GEG) will help reveal its impacts on the global environment, global science/knowledge, and the potential emergence of ecologically sensible alternatives. It is argued here that as agri-food studies of neoliberalism sharpen the focus on these dimensions the widespread consequences of protectionism of US agri-industry in GEG will become better understood, and the solutions more readily identifiable. This paper illustrates how the delayed phase out of the toxic substance methyl bromide in the Montreal Protocol exemplifies the degree to which the US agri-industry may be protected at the global scale of environmental governance, thus prolonging the transition to ozone-friendly alternatives. Additionally, it is clear that protectionism has had a significant impact on the dissemination and interpretation of science/knowledge of methyl bromide and its alternatives. Revealing the role that protectionism plays more broadly in the agriculture/environmental governance interface, and its oftentimes negative impacts on science and potential alternatives, can shed light on how protectionism can be made to serve ends that are at odds with environmental protection.

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World society and the natural environment

Cited by 20 publications

References 77 publications

Global Environmentalism and the World-System: A Cross-National Analysis of Air Pollution

Global Environmentalism and the World-System: A Cross-National Analysis of Air Pollution

Deforestation in the Global South: Assessing Uneven Environmental Improvements 1993–2013

Sociology in Global Environmental Governance? Neoliberalism, Protectionism and the Methyl Bromide Controversy in the Montreal Protocol

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