I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Gerontology and Affiliate of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability at Miami
University. Current research projects concern the potential effectiveness and political-economic dimensions of proposed solutions to environmental problems; paths to climate justice; climate change inaction; the social and environmental impacts of technology; and the renewal of classical and mid-twentieth century sociological theory. I am increasingly interested in the following questions:
1. "Why is there no storming of the Bastille because of the environmental destruction facing mankind?", as the late Ulrich Beck put it. A society that knowingly degrades the natural conditions required for long-term survival calls for a multilayered theory of social reproduction. I think helplessness and ideology are primary lubricants of climate inaction and barriers to climate justice.
2. An old sociological conundrum: Why and how, exactly, do social structures become "obscured" in consciousness despite constantly and necessarily conditioning experience, knowledge, and cognition? Bringing together classical sociology, critical theory, and phenomenology sheds light on this issue and related considerations (e.g., 1, 2, 3).
3. What are the social drivers of biodiversity loss and how can a sociological approach strengthen conservation strategies? Building on previous work (example), colleagues and I are commencing a research project that approaches these questions via the global problem of amphibian decline.
I have published around 60 articles featured in Agriculture and Human Values, Environmental Politics, Journal of Cleaner Production, Organization & Environment, and other journals, and the following books:
Access free digital copy in the above link.
(MayFly Books, 2023)
Introduction (pdf)
(Zero Books, 2021)
Sample chapter (pdf)
(Routledge, 2020)
(Routledge, 2020)
Introduction (pdf)
(University of Michigan Press, 2020)
Contact: Department of Sociology & Gerontology, Miami University, 375 Upham Hall, Oxford, OH 45056. gunderrm@miamioh.edu.
__
"The great problem remains how to bring society to consciousness." - L. F. Ward
__
"The great problem remains how to bring society to consciousness." - L. F. Ward