Socio-Ecological Systems

Moving Beyond the Human Exemptionalist Paradigm

Andrew R. Jones, PhD

Department of Sociology

CSU Fresno

Anthropocentric analysis

• Human Exemptionalist Paradigm: – Humans are exempt from laws of nature– Humans have “special attributes” that make them

different from other species (such as??)– Human technology can overcome limits

• “Prometheanism” – pro-technological, anti-ecological views

• “Cornucopianism” – belief that continued progress and provision of material items for humankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology

Anthropocentric analysis

• Human Exemptionalist Paradigm: dominant within the social sciences until the 1960s– Figure 1.1: mainstream

economic models– Figure 1.2: mainstream

sociological models

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

Paradigm shift

• New Ecological Paradigm– Figure 1.3:

Environmental sociological model

– Modern society is unsustainable

Figure 1.3

From HEP to NEP

• New Ecological Paradigm– There are ultimate limits to

• Population• Economic growth

• Science-driven analysis; not ideological

Treadmill of Production

• Allan Schnaiberg– Access to translated works

by Nicholai Bukharin and other Russian scholars who addressed dialectical materialism in Marxism

• Analysis of “societal-environmental dialectic” and “treadmill of production” rooted in Marxist political economy

Treadmill of Production

• Theoretical framework– Captures dynamics of market forces, political

institutions interacting to produce ecological disorganization

• Accumulation of wealth and investments in capital-intensive technologies produces increasing social inequalities and greater ecological “withdrawals” (resource extraction) and “additions” (pollution)

Metabolic Rift

• John Bellamy Foster– Analysis of Marx’s

Capital• Marx studied the work

of soil scientist Justus von Liebig

– Crisis in soil fertility generated by urbanization

– Incorporation of Second Law of Thermodynamics

Metabolic Rift• Metabolic rift in the most general sense refers to a

disruption in the exchange between social systems and natural systems, which is hypothesized to lead to ecological crisis.

• Rift analyses have recently grown in prominence among social scientists, particularly in sociology, being extended to analyses of the carbon cycle, fisheries, and caloric intake

Dialectical Materialism

• Dialectics “is nothing more than the science of the general laws of motion and development of nature, human society and thought.” ~ Friedrich Engels

• Put simply, it is the logic of motion– This logic applies to all forms of scientific analysis– Provides a common theoretical framework for

examining social, biological, and ecological systems – a socio-ecological systems approach

Long-term press

Short-term pulse

Ecosystem Services

BioticStructures

EcosystemFunctioning

A model of social, biological, and environmental interaction

Source for model: Integrative Science for Society and Environment: A Strategic Research Initiative

External Drivers

HumanCognition,Behavior,

andInstitutions

HumanOutcomes

ULTRA-FACES

• Examining the interaction of human and biotic structures through an analysis of water usage and its impacts on biodiversity– Fresno: water metering taking place now– Facts: 51% of water – residential use, 70%

used for landscaping• What impacts will metering have on human water

use behaviors?• What impacts will metering have on biodiversity?

Long-term press(water use)

Short-term pulse(water metering)

Ecosystem Services(nutrient cycling, climate regulation, food, water, habitat, cultural benefits)

EcosystemFunctioning

(species interaction, metaboliccycles, gene flow)

An SES model of water use and impacts on biodiversity

Source for model: Integrative Science for Society and Environment: A Strategic Research Initiative

External Drivers(Water availability, Water policies)

Animal Diversity

LULCPlant

Diversity

Individual

Identity•Cultural•Social•Psycho-logical

Socioeconomic

Status

Education/Environ.

Awareness

CivicMinded-

ness

LegalRights/Limits

Institutional

MeteringMonitoring/

Enforcement

H2Opricing

Economicconditions

Infrastructuredecisions

Land usedecisions

H2O usepolicies

Social component

• Use of Fresno Bird Count observation sites– Collect plant and

social data

• Site selection had to account for municipal and county water jurisdiction in addition to socio-economic status

ReferencesAngus, Ian. (2009) Marx, Engels and Darwin: How Darwin’s theory of evolution confirmed

and extended the most fundamental concepts of Marxism. South Branch PublicationsCatton, William and Riley Dunlap. (1978) “Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm.”

American Sociologist, 13: 41-49Engels, Friedrich. (1940) The Dialectics of Nature. International____. (1947) Anti-Dühring. Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science. Progress

Publishers Foster, John Bellamy. (1999) “Marx’s Theory of Metabolic Rift: Classical Foundation for

Environmental Sociology.” American Journal of Sociology 105(2): 366-405 Foster, John Bellamy. (2000) Marx’s Ecology. Monthly Review PressGould, K., David Pellow and A. Schnaiberg. (2008). The Treadmill of Production: Injustice

and Unsustainability in the Global Economy. Paradigm Publishers Levins, Richard and Richard Lewontin. (1985) The Dialectical Biologist. HarvardLewontin, Richard and Richard Levins. (2007) Biology Under the Influence: Dialectical

Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health. Monthly Review PressMarx, Karl. (1976) Capital: Vol. I. Vintage BooksSchnaiberg, Allan. (1980) The Environment: From Surplus to Scarcity. Oxford University

Press