SOC 202 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Treadmill of production theory - ✔✔one of several theories of environmental impact
grounded in political economy that view continuous expansion/growth as the defining feature
of capitalism.
Ecological modernization theory - ✔✔a variant of general theories of modernization that
emphasize the unique features of the modern period, including pervasive risk and reflexivity
(Beck, 1999) and the ability of corporations to update processes and practices.
A key cleavage in theories of corporations and the environment - ✔✔between those who
see corporations as expressions of capitalist power and the [capitalist] state, locked into a logic
of extraction and dispossession of nature, indigenous peoples, and workers versus those who
argue that corporations are evolving to take on practices of social and environmental
responsibility.
Kuznets curve - ✔✔hypothesizes the relationship between pollution and economic
development as tracing the shape of an inverted letter U.Technological and efficiency advance
motivated by government regulation and consumer pressure are argued to lead to turning
point in environmental pollution at a certain level of income, at least for some pollutants under
certain conditions.
Jevons paradox - ✔✔suggests that more efficient use of resources leads to price declines
which drive increased consumption,undermining the environmental benefits of efficiency gains.
Research focuses on the size and mechanisms driving such rebound effects.
Koch Industries - ✔✔A major polluting corporate conglomerate in the USA.
Neoliberalisation - ✔✔Economic policy emphasizing free-market capitalism and
deregulation.
,ENGOs - ✔✔Environmental non-governmental organizations focused on conservation.
Traditional conservation - ✔✔Approach emphasizing wilderness and minimal human
intervention.
New conservation - ✔✔Modern approach integrating human needs with environmental
protection. focuses on capitalist/corporate needs
Rhetorical framing - ✔✔Using language to shape perceptions of conservation issues.
Sustainable management - ✔✔Practices ensuring long-term health of resources and
ecosystems.
Gifford Pinchot - ✔✔head of the U.S. Forest Service under Roosevelt, who believed that it
was possible to make use of natural resources while conserving them, important with
utilitarianism
Utilitarianism - ✔✔idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest
happiness for the greatest number of people
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) - ✔✔Organization promoting new conservation and
ecosystem services.
Natural capital project - ✔✔Initiative converting ecosystems into tradeable services.
The Breakthrough Institute's senior fellows - ✔✔have in the past included French sociologist
Bruno Latour and new conservationist Peter Kareiva. Latour merges Nature into society and
advocates the sole existence of 'hybrid Nature'
, Breakthrough Institute - ✔✔self-proclaimed eco-modernist think tank advocating
government funding for businesses to accelerate technological development to stimulate a new
era of economic growth. They aim to build a community of leaders in their push for policies that
support such things as nuclear power, genetically modified crops, mega dams, urbanisation and
geoengineering the climate.
Geoengineering - ✔✔Deliberate manipulation of Earth's climate systems.
Megadams - ✔✔Large-scale dams for energy and water management.
Social Darwinism - ✔✔Theory applying evolutionary concepts to social policies.
in a revival of social Darwinism, Kareiva and Marvier (2012: 967) even claimed that: - ✔✔In
essence, corporations are the 'keystone species' of global ecosystems"
spash on new conservation rhetoric - ✔✔This attempt to naturalise corporate power, as if
some deterministic evolutionary outcome that can be seen as positive and progressive, neither
relates to the institutional construction of the modern corporation , nor the historical origins of
capitalism of which it is a development. Indeed,there appears little science and much rhetorical
flourish in the promotion of new conservation.
the TNC's new corporate allies - ✔✔Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola and Rio Tinto—appeared
concerned only for their own survival and likely to drop ecological concerns and continue
polluting if this conflicted with business-as-usual.
Pro-Growthers - ✔✔Advocates for economic growth in conservation efforts.
Degrowthers - ✔✔Opponents of growth-focused conservation strategies.
ANSWERS
Treadmill of production theory - ✔✔one of several theories of environmental impact
grounded in political economy that view continuous expansion/growth as the defining feature
of capitalism.
Ecological modernization theory - ✔✔a variant of general theories of modernization that
emphasize the unique features of the modern period, including pervasive risk and reflexivity
(Beck, 1999) and the ability of corporations to update processes and practices.
A key cleavage in theories of corporations and the environment - ✔✔between those who
see corporations as expressions of capitalist power and the [capitalist] state, locked into a logic
of extraction and dispossession of nature, indigenous peoples, and workers versus those who
argue that corporations are evolving to take on practices of social and environmental
responsibility.
Kuznets curve - ✔✔hypothesizes the relationship between pollution and economic
development as tracing the shape of an inverted letter U.Technological and efficiency advance
motivated by government regulation and consumer pressure are argued to lead to turning
point in environmental pollution at a certain level of income, at least for some pollutants under
certain conditions.
Jevons paradox - ✔✔suggests that more efficient use of resources leads to price declines
which drive increased consumption,undermining the environmental benefits of efficiency gains.
Research focuses on the size and mechanisms driving such rebound effects.
Koch Industries - ✔✔A major polluting corporate conglomerate in the USA.
Neoliberalisation - ✔✔Economic policy emphasizing free-market capitalism and
deregulation.
,ENGOs - ✔✔Environmental non-governmental organizations focused on conservation.
Traditional conservation - ✔✔Approach emphasizing wilderness and minimal human
intervention.
New conservation - ✔✔Modern approach integrating human needs with environmental
protection. focuses on capitalist/corporate needs
Rhetorical framing - ✔✔Using language to shape perceptions of conservation issues.
Sustainable management - ✔✔Practices ensuring long-term health of resources and
ecosystems.
Gifford Pinchot - ✔✔head of the U.S. Forest Service under Roosevelt, who believed that it
was possible to make use of natural resources while conserving them, important with
utilitarianism
Utilitarianism - ✔✔idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest
happiness for the greatest number of people
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) - ✔✔Organization promoting new conservation and
ecosystem services.
Natural capital project - ✔✔Initiative converting ecosystems into tradeable services.
The Breakthrough Institute's senior fellows - ✔✔have in the past included French sociologist
Bruno Latour and new conservationist Peter Kareiva. Latour merges Nature into society and
advocates the sole existence of 'hybrid Nature'
, Breakthrough Institute - ✔✔self-proclaimed eco-modernist think tank advocating
government funding for businesses to accelerate technological development to stimulate a new
era of economic growth. They aim to build a community of leaders in their push for policies that
support such things as nuclear power, genetically modified crops, mega dams, urbanisation and
geoengineering the climate.
Geoengineering - ✔✔Deliberate manipulation of Earth's climate systems.
Megadams - ✔✔Large-scale dams for energy and water management.
Social Darwinism - ✔✔Theory applying evolutionary concepts to social policies.
in a revival of social Darwinism, Kareiva and Marvier (2012: 967) even claimed that: - ✔✔In
essence, corporations are the 'keystone species' of global ecosystems"
spash on new conservation rhetoric - ✔✔This attempt to naturalise corporate power, as if
some deterministic evolutionary outcome that can be seen as positive and progressive, neither
relates to the institutional construction of the modern corporation , nor the historical origins of
capitalism of which it is a development. Indeed,there appears little science and much rhetorical
flourish in the promotion of new conservation.
the TNC's new corporate allies - ✔✔Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola and Rio Tinto—appeared
concerned only for their own survival and likely to drop ecological concerns and continue
polluting if this conflicted with business-as-usual.
Pro-Growthers - ✔✔Advocates for economic growth in conservation efforts.
Degrowthers - ✔✔Opponents of growth-focused conservation strategies.
