The Response of the Hermeneutic Social Sciences to a ‘Post Carbon World’

• Authors: Michael Redclift
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Sociology has taken a ‘back seat’ in much of the debate, within policy and social science circles, about ‘post-carbon’ societies, in which our dependence on hydrocarbons is significantly reduced. The low profile of sociology does not reflect a lack of relevance, but rather an inability to follow up on the debates being generated in several congruent areas, including geography, international relations and particularly environmental economics. Sociology has much to contribute to the discussion of societal alternatives, not least in the work being undertaken on utopias and governance. It is suggested that sociologists can enhance the role of the social science disciplines, and that of sociology in particular, by re-engaging in the wider discussions, lending a hermeneutic understanding to the current policy debates about responding to climate change.

Keywords

EN

post carbon sociology; sustainable development

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: International Review of Social Research
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 155-166

Dates

published

2011-10-01

online

2015-05-06

Contributors

author

Michael Redclift

• King’s College, London

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/irsr-2011-0025