Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences

1
Dominant Approaches and Ideas – Part 2

Dominant Approaches and Ideas – Part 2

The following are the objectives for this module:

1. Distinguish the ways by which human-environment interactions
shape cultural and natural landscapes
2. Interpret thematic and mental maps to understand landscape changes
and an individual’s sense of place
3. Explain environmental and social issues through the analysis of
spatial distributions and spatial processes
Human-Environment Systems
The Development and Origin
As a social science, the origins of human-environment systems did not
actually begin with society itself, but rather with ecological themes. This
dominant ideology began with the study of ecology, the natural science.
Ecology is defined as “the branch of biology that deals with the
relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.”
This includes all living things, and their daily co-existence with the
environment. At this level, ecology has not yet reached the level of human-
environment systems or what others call ‘human ecology.’ However, the
basic principle of ecology serves as one of the foundations of human-
environment systems.
The Theory
There is no clear definition for human environment system, as it
crosses multiple disciplines at once such as ecology, sociology and
environmental demographics. However, one good description of human
environment system can be seen in environmental sociology.
Environmental sociology is typically defined as the sociological study
of societal-environmental interactions, although this definition immediately
presents the problem of integrating human cultures with the rest of the
environment. (Schaefer, 2016) The primary thrust of this theory is that the
two parties: humans and the environment, are in a state of continuous
interaction and integration. “Although the focus of the field is the relationship
between society and environment in general, environmental sociologists
typically place special emphasis on studying the social factors that cause
environmental problems, the societal impacts of those problems, and efforts
to solve the problems. In addition, considerable attention is paid to the social
processes by which certain environmental conditions become socially
defined as problems.” (Schaefer, 2016)

Course Module
 What makes this theory a dominant ideology is the fact that it
incorporates society’s daily function and process with it’s external
environment, and how nature itself plays a role in the total picture of social
daily living. Human-environment system means that society does not live in a
blank, dysfunctional world, but rather a world that affects society greatly.

Glossary
 Environment – surroundings; the totality of things that in any way
may affect an organism, including both physical and cultural
conditions; a region characterized by a certain set of physical
conditions
 Environmental Sociology – the sociological study of societal-
environmental interactions

References
Macionis, J. (2012). Sociology (14th Edition). Singapore: Pearson Education
South Asia Pte Ltd.
Schaefer, R. (2006). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill
Higher Education.
White, Robert (2004). Controversies in Environmental Sociology. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.