Environment, Development, and Globalization: Examples of Longitudinal Analysis in Sociological Research

In this lecture, Dr. Andrew Jorgenson discusses comparative international work that looks at patterns in environmental change, development, and globalization. He overviews several theories of economic and social development and globalization, and then explains the use of longitudinal methods to characterize global change. He reviews several dependent variables that are often used to measure macro-level global change, and he uses the example of the relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and economic growth to demonstrate analyses of longitudinal trends. Finally, he applies several theories from environmental sociology to that example to highlight how to use theory to interpret empirical patterns.

  • About the Presenters
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    Andrew Jorgenson

    Andrew Jorgenson

    Dr. Andrew Jorgenson is Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology, Professor of Environmental Studies, and coordinator of the Global Environmental Sociology Lab at Boston College. Working in the areas of environmental sociology, global political economy, the sociology of development, and sustainability science more broadly, he conducts research on the human dimensions of global and regional environmental change, with a focus on how development, inequality, and the structure of global production and trade networks contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, industrial pollution, land-...

    Image
    Andrew Jorgenson

    Andrew Jorgenson

    Dr. Andrew Jorgenson is Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology, Professor of Environmental Studies, and coordinator of the Global Environmental Sociology Lab at Boston College. Working in the areas of environmental sociology, global political economy, the sociology of development, and sustainability science more broadly, he conducts research on the human dimensions of global and regional environmental change, with a focus on how development, inequality, and the structure of global production and trade networks contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, industrial pollution, land- cover change, and relationships between environmental conditions and population health. In 2020, Andrew received the Fred Buttel Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Environmental Sociology for his innovation, publication, and service in the field of environmental sociology. He was recently appointed by the U.S. Global Change Research Program to serve as an author for the Fifth National Climate Assessment, which is scheduled for completion in 2023. He is the founding co-editor of Sociology of Development, a journal published by University of California Press, and he serves on the editorial board for various journals.
     

  • Supporting Materials

    Presentation slides:


    Reading list:
    Jorgenson, A.K., and Clark, B. (2005). Are the economy and the environment decoupling? A comparative international study, 1960-2005. American Journal of Sociology 118, no. 1, 1-44.
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/665990

Presenters
Andrew Jorgenson, Boston College
Date
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