printA History and Theoretical Issues of Environmental Sociology in the World and in Russia
Basheva O.A.
Сand. Sci. (Sociol.), Leading Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia OlgaAUsacheva@yandex.ru
Basheva O.A. A History and Theoretical Issues of Environmental Sociology in the World and in Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2025. No 1. P. 85-95
The article offers a brief excursion into the history of the of global environmental sociology and its formation in Russia. The reasons for its emergence as a separate discipline and the key approaches that form its core are described: the New Ecological Paradigm, eco- Marxism, concepts of socio- ecological metabolism, ecological and reflexive modernization, sustainable and noospheric development, etc. It is concluded that conditions for the development of Soviet and then Russian environmental sociology differed significantly from American and European cases by the presence of such barriers as the lacking interdisciplinary and international connections between scholars, scientific reflection, open information on the state of the environment, etc. Nevertheless, theoretical background, developments of domestic scientists, albeit in a truncated form, made it possible to foster the same research areas within the discipline as in the West, namely: interaction of nature and society, environmental consciousness, environmental movements, political economy, technological risks. In conclusion, an analysis of the reasons for the lag of Russian environmental sociology behind global trends and some prospects for its development are offered.
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