Year: 2015

  • The validity of sociological knowledge

    To include epistemological questions concerning the validity of sociological knowledge in the sociology of knowledge is somewhat like trying to push a bus in which one is riding. To be sure, the sociology of knowledge, like all empirical disciplines that accumulate evidence concerning the relativity and determination of human thought, leads towards epistemological questions concerning…

  • “Ideology” and “false consciousness”

    The sociology of knowledge in­herited from Marx not only the sharpest formulation of its central problem (that is “man´s consciousness is determined by his social being”) but also some of its key concepts, among which should be mentioned particularly the concepts of ‘ideology’ (ideas serving as weapons for social interests) and ‘false consciousness’ (thought that…

  • Origin of environmental sociology

    Since its beginnings, environmental sociology has thus placed emphasis on studying the dependency of social life and cultural development from its natural surrounding, and on those factors that cause environmental problems and efforts to solve those problems. (Gross & Heinrichs, 2010:2) Gross, M., & Heinrichs, H. (Eds.). (2010). Environmental sociology: European perspectives and interdisciplinary challenges.…

  • Experimental governance and pre-scientific knowledge

    In a previous post it was addressed the concept of experimental governance, understood “as a means to launch an environmental project in spite of uncertainties and uphold the project without disrupting the overall process” (Gross, M., & Heinrichs, 2010:283). This point, the authors continues “is wholly pragmatic to create and facilitate the building of a…

  • Ecological modernization

    Ecological modernization is an optimistic school of thought in the social sciences that argues that the economy benefits from moves towards environmentalism. It has gained increasing attention among scholars and policymakers in the last several decades internationally. It is an analytical approach as well as a policy strategy and environmental discourse (Hajer, 1995). Hajer, M.…

  • Experimentalist governance

    We note that although American pragmatism has influenced environmental sociology through the writings of Jürgen Habermas and his influence on the “participatory paradigm”-i.e. the idea that public participation is necessary to create legitimate decisions (Parkins and Mitchell 2005)-the generally negative attitude toward ecological reform in North American environmental sociology has somewhat obliterated the many positive…

  • Habermas communicative rationality and how discourse ethics and a vibrant public sphere could break the stranglehold on rationality by elites

    Te belief that meaning and reason were social in nature-i.e., required mutual cooperation and collaboration in its contruction-led early pragmatists to belive that an important part of the route to progressive social change lie in democratic deliberative approaches to addressing pressing social problems. These ideas are best illustrated by Dewey´s lifelong commitment to extensive citzen…

  • Church removal: coal mining, cultural heritage and social cohesion

    Heuersdorf  was a village in the Leipzig lowlands, Saxony, Germany. The area of the village belongs to the city of Leipzig since 2004. After a long but ultimately futile resistance of the inhabitants since 1935 the village was evacuated and devastated. See bellow the description, taken from www.heuersdorf.de, illustrates the struggle: The villagers were forced to…

  • CENTRO Y CENTRALIDAD EN CONTEXTOS URBANOS, por Manuel Delgado

    Texto de Manuel Delgado, extraído de El Cor de les aparences. Mi aportación al final, con un link a la bibliografía mencionada. He leído algún comentario derivado de lo que dije a propósito de la centralidad política en la entrevista que me publicaron en vilaweb hace unos días y he visto que esa idea de…

  • Socio-spatial differentiation in southern Leipzig post-mining area

    Bellow it is showed the three types of communities (Kabisch, 2004) adjacent to the coal mine, now pit lakes, in the southern leizig. Rural villages: Dreiskau-Muckern (469 inh. in 2014), Oelzchau (610 inh. in 2014), Pötzschau (374 inh. in 2014), Mölbis (515 inh. in 2014), Störmthal (512), Auenhain , Wachau, Güldengossa (394 inh. in 2014):…