ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the causes of our current environmental situation and emphasizes that they are fundamentally social. This means that it is not enough to make sweeping statements about the causes being in “culture,” “society,” or “humanity,” but that it is necessary to examine how contemporary societies function and how they have been shaped historically. The five facets of the social, which include explanations at the macro, meso, and micro levels, make it possible to understand and analyze current global environmental challenges. This model of the social emphasizes that there is no single cause of ecological destruction – such as capitalism, industrialism, or individualism – but many intertwined and interacting causes. The chapter reviews four macrosocial theoretical traditions that attempt to explain why current society is unsustainable and why it has been difficult to change course toward a more sustainable society. The chapter then turns to microsocial explanations of why people find it difficult to adopt sustainable lifestyles. It then examines meso-sociological perspectives, including how socio-material arrangements and organizations interweave societal institutions and individual actions. Finally, the chapter considers the importance of a power perspective for understanding the social roots of environmental problems.
