Environmental Politics, Sustainability and Social Science

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Paehlke
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Politics

scholarly journals Process Tracing in the Study of Environmental Politics

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 88-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Vanhala
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Philosophy Of Social Science ◽  
Causal Mechanisms ◽  
Trace Processes

This article surveys the use of process tracing as a method in research on global and comparative environmental politics. It reveals that scholars have been reluctant to explicitly embrace the method, even though a great deal of environmental politics research relies on process tracing and studies causal mechanisms. I argue that the growing number of critiques that the subfield is overly descriptive and insufficiently focused on explanation is one consequence of the reluctance to explicitly embrace process tracing. Drawing on recent debates on causal mechanisms within the philosophy of social science and a growing literature on how to trace processes, this article outlines best practices in the application of the method in the study of environmental politics. I consider some ways in which the use of process tracing in the study of environmental politics may be different from its use in other areas of comparative politics and international relations.

From Science to Multiculturalism: Postmodern Trends in Environmental Organizations

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Ignatow
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Environmental Activism ◽  
Environmental Organizations ◽  
Social Trends ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Hybrid Forms

Postmodern social theory has had little impact on studies of global environmental activism and politics, and has often been treated with suspicion. Yet, in this article, I argue that social science theories of both postmodernization and cultural modernization can provide insights into how globalizing processes have affected environmental politics. Where current perspectives on globalization and environmental politics tend to focus on globalization's homogenizing effects, postmodernization arguments suggest that globalization and postmodern social trends have given rise to hybrid, multicultural politics. In the environmental realm, these trends have challenged environmentalists whose claims are based on science and encouraged hybrid forms of environmental activism linking ecological issues to issues of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. To explore these shifts in environmental politics worldwide, I examine two categories of nonprofit environmental organizations: environmental science organizations and multicultural environmental organizations. Results of an event count analysis show that, for nations, public education predicts the establishment of environmental science organizations. Multicultural environmental organizations were established later, in the 1980s and onward, and tended to be established in countries with preexisting environmental science organizations. I argue that social science theories of cultural modernization and postmodernization can best explain these patterns.

Maximum Likelihood for Social Science

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Ward ◽  
John S. Ahlquist
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Likelihood ◽  
Social Science

The Education of Research Psychologists in Sweden

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Larsson ◽  
Josef Frischer
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Science Department ◽  
Research Education ◽  
The Core ◽  
Social Science Department ◽  
Learning Alliance ◽  
Laissez Faire ◽  
The Government

The education of researchers in Sweden is regulated by a nationwide reform implemented in 1969, which intended to limit doctoral programs to 4 years without diminishing quality. In an audit performed by the government in 1996, however, it was concluded that the reform had failed. Some 80% of the doctoral students admitted had dropped out, and only 1% finished their PhD degree within the stipulated 4 years. In an attempt to determine the causes of this situation, we singled out a social-science department at a major Swedish university and interviewed those doctoral students who had dropped out of the program. This department was found to be representative of the nationwide figures found in the audit. The students interviewed had all completed at least 50% of their PhD studies and had declared themselves as dropouts from this department. We conclude that the entire research education was characterized by a laissez-faire attitude where supervisors were nominated but abdicated. To correct this situation, we suggest that a learning alliance should be established between the supervisor and the student. At the core of the learning alliance is the notion of mutually forming a platform form which work can emerge in common collaboration. The learning alliance implies a contract for work, stating its goals, the tasks to reach these goals, and the interpersonal bonding needed to give force and endurance to the endeavor. Constant scrutiny of this contract and a mutual concern for the learning alliance alone can contribute to its strength.

Assessment of journals in social science psychology.

1989 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 961-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Feingold
Keyword(s):  
Social Science
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