Values and the Environment: A Social Science Perspective

It is not only green thinkers who value the environment. Decisions on how to respond to global environmental change, energy policy or where to site a new road are all informed by values. People bring very different sets of values to the understanding of environmental issues depending on whether they come from developed or developing countries, are applying an expert or lay person judgment, are making policy decisions from a distance or are directly affected at their local level. This book examines the multitude of ways in which we value the environment from a social science perspective. This is a multidisciplinary collection with contributions from academics with backgrounds in philosophy, sociology, psychology, economics, geography, law and engineering. The book is divided into four sections: the first addresses fundamental theoretical and conceptual issues; the second explores the methodological problems of uncovering people s values; the third looks at some of the policy dilemmas which arise when different sets of values in relations to the environment conflict; and the final section deals with issues of value-change through education about the environment. The book will be of interest to social scientists whose work, either directly or indirectly, is concerned with the environment, whether looking at national and local government decisions, urban or rural planning, the response of business to environmental issues, protest movements and local democracy, education and value change. It is an excellent introduction to the conceptual and methodological issues and to the way in which researchers from different social science disciplines view values and the environment.