Invitation to Environmental Sociology - Toward a Sustainable Future

This book uses the author's personal narrative as a tool to explore environmental sociological thinking and broader societal issues. The author not only traces the birth of environmental sociology as a research field but also emphasizes the crucial role of environmental sociological perspectives. He presents a qualitative analysis of the activities and practices that lead to a sustainable future on a community level in Japan. The book also delves into the social conflicts between the government and residents' movements over public policies such as the development of high-speed transportation networks and nuclear energy policy. The author's analysis of the role of environmental sociology in addressing societal challenges such as environmental pollution, energy transformation, climate crisis, and sustainable futures for society is a key focus of the book. He also examines how the notion of a sustainable future in a Japanese context differs from that of the West.

List of contents

Chapter 1: Encounters with Sociology.- Chapter 2: The Impacts of the Shinkansen Noise Pollution Problems.- Chapter 3: How to Explain Social Movements.- Chapter 4: Nuclear Phase-out and American Civil Society.- Chapter 5: Imagine beyond the Electrical Outlet: Rokkasho Village, Aomori.- Chapter 6: Being an Environmental Sociologist.- Chapter 7: For a Sustainable Future.

About the author

Koichi Hasegawa
 is the President at Morioka University and Professor Emeritus at Tohoku University, Japan. He received his Ph.D from the University of Tokyo. His research interests are environmental sociology, social movements, and social change. His representative works include: Constructing Civil Society in Japan (2004) and Beyond Fukushima (2015).

Product details

• Authors: Koichi Hasegawa
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 22.11.2025, delayed
• EAN: 9783032037350
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3203735-0
• No. of pages: 215
• Illustrations: XXI, 215 p. 13 illus., 6 illus. in color.
• Series: Palgrave Studies in Environmental Sociology and Policy
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences; Nachhaltigkeit, Asien, Kulturwissenschaften, Sustainability, Politik der National- Zentral- oder Bundesregierung, Sozialgeographie, Climate Crisis, Social Movements, Meteorologie und Klimatologie (Klimaforschung), Sustainable Development Goals, energy transition, Public Sociology, Human Geography, Asian Culture, Bullet train, Social and Cultural Geography, Climate Sciences, Energy System Transformation, radioactive waste, Sustainable Future, Noise Pollution, Intergenerational Ethics, nuclear power plant, sustainability studies, Nobuko Iijima