 A Durkheimian environmental social theoryMark Cladis Chapter 11 in The Elgar Companion to Émile Durkheim, 2026, pp 177-192 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: A Durkheimian Environmental Social Theory seeks to cultivate beliefs, practices, and institutions that bring dignity and justice to the interwoven relationships between humans and the more-than-human. Such a Durkheimian-inspired environmental approach would extend Durkheim's robust social analysis of and commitment to the dignity of the human person and the flourishing of human communities to include non-human creatures and entities. It would pursue the twin-pronged method inherent in Durkheim's work but now employed in an environmental framework: (1) institutionalizing constraints on human power in relation to the non-human world while also (2) cultivating a cultural “second nature” (beliefs, ideals, and practices) that engender care and even reverence for the non-human world. Although the focus of this chapter is on the construction of a Durkheimian environmental social theory, some attention is given to claims by Durkheim that directly pertain to anthropocentrism, culture–nature binaries, and the relation between humans and the more-than-human. Keywords: Emile Durkheim; Durkheim and the environment; Environmental humanities; Anthropocentrism; Solidarity; Neo-liberalism (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22860_11 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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