Tal Golan (tgolan@csu.fullerton.

edu)
ENST 500: Environmental Issues and Approaches (Fall 2010)
02 Sept 2010: Volatile Places – Chapter 1 Summary

The first chapter of “Volatile Places” (VP) is entitled “When Environments and
Communities Collide.” Beginning with this chapter’s title the authors call
immediate attention to the basic message they wish to communicate; that
issues of environmental concern do not exist in a vacuum, but are tightly
bound to the communities that are affected and connected with the issues
themselves. Serving as an introduction to the reader, this chapter clearly
specifies the authors’ perspective that this text approaches the questions of
environmental issues from a sociological perspective described as
“environmental sociology.” Through the use of case studies, recounts of first-
hand experiences, and portfolios, it is the intention of the authors to bring to
the forefront many of the key questions raised when one considers the
complex interplay between community and environment.

In an effort to peak the reader’s interest and to frame the inherent duality of
environmental issues evaluated from a sociological perspective, we are
provided with a case study entitled “The Love Canal From Two Perspectives.”
It is generally agreed the contamination of Love Canal neighborhood in the
city of Niagara Falls, NY is/was a terrible environmental disaster.
Interestingly, this case study does not focus simply on the facts of the
contamination, but rather on the very different ways the people of the Love
Canal neighborhood respond to the crisis. These comparisons are based
largely on socioeconomic, educational, and age based factors. This brief case
study highlights that even in the face of what most/all people would agree to
be an environmental disaster, there are many different perspectives that
must be considered when seeking to understand the issue as a whole.

Next we are asked to consider the question “Why focus attention on local,

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community-based environmental problems when the important issues seem
to be global environmental change with its worldwide implications?” The
authors agree that Global Environmental Change (GEC) is of key concern,
and ask the question, once again through the use of a case study discussing
hurricane Katrina, whether GEC might have been directly responsible for the
hurricane itself.

As we analyze and evaluate, it is our responsibility to make sure to keep a

balanced perspective. “Taking the community as ground zero, however, does
not mean an exclusive focus on the local level. A characteristic feature of
modernity is the pervasive interplay between the local and the global.” This
acknowledgement is of key importance, as it reminds the reader as to the
danger of being myopic.

The remainder of the chapter begins by identifying conservancy disputes,

sitting disputes, and exposure disputes as “…the three most prominent
types of local environmental conflicts…” Conservancy disputes are framed
by the challenges inherent in how to define and protect natural places,
animal species, and potentially, certain human artifacts. Sitting disputes
arise in response to proposed land use issues, and exposure disputes are
related to pre-existing hazards found in a local area.

The authors acknowledge the difficult analysis required to see “beyond the
concrete details of any particular conflict to broader patterns of relationships
found in similar cases.” A technique, defined as the “portfolio approach,” is
recommended to facilitate the process. The portfolio approach is not to be
considered antithetical to the Case Study Method, as popularized at the
University of Chicago in the early 20th century, but is inclusive of the Case
Study Method. Through the portfolio approach, additional information is
included for the expressed purpose of assuring that suitable context is
provided. Elements such as organized accounting of unique conflict

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participants and their claims, in conjunction with a chronological reporting of
events and relevant case studies, define the major components of the
portfolio.

Given the many layers of inter-related complexity that power any

environmental question, it makes perfect sense to first frame the issue(s),
then systematically identify the discrete elements and relationships that give
life to the issue(s). It is important that we, as students of environmental
questions, must maintain our objectivity, while acknowledging the fact that
we are members of the macro community in which the environmental issues
play out. Whether one adheres strictly to the Case Study Method of analysis
or uses the portfolio approach, it is absolutely essential to not only
acknowledge, but embrace, the unbreakable bond between environmental
issues and the community, local and/or global, into which the issue exists.

By choosing the title “Volatile Places” the authors clearly position this text
not as a place to find answers, but as a wellspring from which questions will
surface. It is only through these questions, in concert with the deliberate
organization of facts, opinions, and perspectives, that we can hope to reach
workable conclusions that may, one day, become actual solutions.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is “environmental sociology” compatible with the scientific method? If

so, how/why? If not, why not?

scientific method: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge
involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through
observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses and
procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and
formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment,
and the formulation and testing of hypotheses

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 – Merriam-Webster

2. What came first… environmental issues or communities? Is it possible

to have an “environmental issue” without a corresponding community
impact?

3. Is it possible to resolve an environmental question/issue/conflict in

manner where all interested parties feel like “winners?”

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