Rural Sociology and the Environment

Rural Sociology and the Environment clearly and carefully illustrates the evolution of natural resource sociology and social science as a distinct field of study. Well before "social-ecological systems" became a popular concept in academic literature broadly, Donald R. Field and William R. Burch, Jr. co-authored this seminal text on what they call "social ecology." In this examination, these authors explore the evolving concepts of the environment in Rural Sociology during the 20th century from "dominion over nature" to "expanding the domain of nature" to "nature as a partner," which reflects a broader recognition of human dependence on environmental systems. One important contribution of this text is the revelation that the contemporary recognition of environmental service values for people emerges in part from a rigorous tradition of scholarship in Rural Sociology.