ABSTRACT

We face an environmental catastrophe of global proportions. The ecological rationality of modern society, and of science in particular, is in question. Science still responds to crises at the level of technocratic expertise, and still treats society as an adaptive system.
By bringing together a number of integrative approaches to the human-environment problem, Human Ecology shapes a more radical, fundamental agenda for change. The book creates a framework for a cohesive discourse, for a "new human ecology". From the notion that the individual person is an agent mediating between society and environment, the individual contributors recognize that the environmental crisis is really a crisis of society - manifesting itself in an increasing fragmentation of lives in general and knowledge in particular. Arguing for environmentally sustainable lifestyles, the book envisages a new kind of consciousness and a new environment.

chapter 1|12 pages

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

part |2 pages

Part I HUMAN ECOLOGY

chapter 2|16 pages

INTRODUCTION TO PART I

chapter 3|16 pages

HUMAN ECOLOGY AND BIOHISTORY

Conceptual approaches to understanding human situations in the biosphere

part |2 pages

Part II THE IMPLICIT AND THE EXPLICIT

part |2 pages

Part III STRUCTURATION

chapter 13|8 pages

INTRODUCTION TO PART III

chapter 14|16 pages

CAN HUMAN ECOLOGY PROVIDE AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK? THE CONTRIBUTION OF STRUCTURATION THEORY TO

The contribution of structuration theory to contemporary debate

chapter 15|20 pages

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN AND THE THEORY OF STRUCTURATION

Steps towards a better understanding of environmentally harmful agency

chapter 16|18 pages

THE ‘CONCRETE MIND’ HEURISTIC

Human identity and social compound from things and buildings