I am delighted to be elected chair for this important division.  I am currently a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University working on the intersection of sedentism (the transition from nomadic to permanent settlement) and mundane technology among the Inuit of Nunavut, in Arctic Canada - where the darkness of winter can be enlightening.  As someone whose own works involves a marginalized, recently-colonized group in need of social justice, I have seen the colonial and technological impact on the Inuit relationship to "The" "E"nvironment, as well as their own immediate changing environment.  Sensitized to the importance of the Environment and Technology Division of SSSP, my goal is to be of service to you all, promoting and encouraging bold research.  I encourage anyone to get in touch with me if I can be of service in some way, or if you have concerns or ideas about the section you would like to raise with me.  I am excited to be in this role for the coming two years. Lisa-Jo van den Scott Sociology Department Northwestern University lisajovan2014@u.northwestern.edu The 62th Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 16-18, promises to bring numerous sessions of great research and discussion. Plan on attending Environment and Technology Division sponsored sessions involving papers focused on food and social justice, environment and globalization, uncertainty and risk, animal rights, and teaching environmental sociology. Denver promises to be a beautiful site for this year’s conference. Check out the SSP recommendations for visitors by clicking here http://sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1550/m/499 and http://sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1551/m/499. Meet our New Division Chair, Lisa-Jo van den Scott Anyone Else Looking Forward to Denver? Environment and Technology Division Newsletter A Note From the Chair… As our 2012 meetings draw near, please begin to think about the sessions you would like to see for 2013. Our Annual Business Meeting is Thursday, 8/16 from 4:30-6:10. Join us immediately following for our Division Reception at 6:30. Join me in welcoming Lisa –Jo van den Scott as our new division chairperson! Lisa– Jo will be happy to hear suggestions for next year’s meeting and is looking forward to working with the division. Congratulations! Lastly, We would love to hear what are members are working on! Whether you are interested in sharing an experience with teaching, research, writing, publishing, community partnerships, among other things, we would love to hear about what our members are engaged in. See you in Denver! 2012 Meetings: The Art of Activism Sociology 2-4 ETS Business Meeting 4 Student Paper Competition Winner 5 Division Statement 6 Inside this issue: Society for the Study of Social Problems Summer 2012 Thursday, August 16 8:30 AM - 10:10 AM Session 4: Reclaiming Hazardous Space: Investigating Pollution, Disaster, and Reuse Room: Mt. Princeton (GH) Sponsor: Environment and Technology Organizer & Presider: Steve Lang, LaGuardia Community College “‘We’re not environmental gods!’: Interviews with employees of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Water Quality,” Kayla Marie Stover, University of Tennessee “Democracy Deferred: Lessons for Rebuilding Cities the Future,” David William Woods, Southern Connecticut State University and GreenWoods Associates “From Industrial Eyesore to Economic Asset- The Transformation of the High Line into an Ecological Park,” Steve Lang, LaGuardia Community College and Julia Rothenberg, Queensborough, CUNY “Rethinking Environmental Racism: White Privilege and Urban Development in Southern Ontario, Canada,” Michael Mascarenhas, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute “Vertical Farms: A New Approach to Sustainable Environments and Urban Agriculture,” James R. Walker, LaGuardia Community and Carol Ramsubhag, LaGuardia Community College Thursday, August 16 10:30 AM - 12:10 PM Session 13: Reclaiming Hazardous Space: Investigating Pollution, Disaster, and Reuse Continued Room: Mt. Princeton (GH) Sponsor: Environment and Technology Organizer & Presider: Steve Lang, LaGuardia Community College “Ecological Disasters: The Political Economy of Floods in Pakistan,” Tarique Niazi, University of Wisconsin “Erasure and Subject Formation within the Neoliberal Construction of Disasters in the United States,” Heather Anita Smith, American University “Risky Neighborhoods: Mapping the New Urban-Environmental Crisis in the Continental United States,” Raoul Lievanos, University of California, Davis “Secondary Violences and Disastrous Space: The Hyper-Marginalization of the Lower Ninth Ward in the Aftermath of Katrina,” Daina Cheyenne Harvey, College of the Holy Cross “The Resettlement and Integration of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees: Race, Class and Work,” Sara Chaganti and Jasmine Waddell, Brandeis University Thursday, August 16 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM Session 22: Animals, the Environment, and Social Welfare Room: Mt. Princeton (GH) Sponsor: Environment and Technology Organizer: Lisa Anne Zilney, Montclair State University Presider & Discussant: Jennifer L. Schally, University of Tennessee Portraits of Environmental Problems: An Analysis of Animal Imagery,” Cameron Thomas Whitley, Michigan State University “Power, Desire, and Social Change in Neoliberal Consumer Capitalism: American Animal Rights Activism,” Catherine M. Wilson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst “Animal Rights Activism and Critical Animal Studies: The Research of Dog Fighting,” Seven Marie Bryant, Michigan State University “Subhuman Offenders and Dehumanized Victims: How We Talk About Animals When We Talk About Humans,” Jennifer L. Schally and Lois Presser, University of Tennessee Thursday, August 16 2:30 PM - 4:10 PM Session 30: Environmental Activism Room: Mt. Columbia (GH) Sponsors: Conflict, Social Action, and Change Environment and Technology Poverty, Class, and Inequality Organizers: Tracy E. Perkins, University of California, Santa Cruz Julie R. Andrzejewski, St. Cloud State University Presider: Julie R. Andrzejewski, St. Cloud State University Discussant: Anthony J. Nocella II, Hamline University “The Rise of Environmental Litigation in Taiwan,” Chin-shou Wang, National Cheng Kung University, Hung-Ru Wei, The Institute of Law and Inter-discipline, National Chengchi University and Yu-Hsien Sung, Institute of Political Science, National Sun Yat-Sen University “‘Without El Territorio We Can Not Live’: Indigenous Collective Identity and Territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” Beth Williford, Manhattanville College “Community-Based Conservation Programs- Who’s Voice Matters?” Joanna Eisele, University of Central Florida Environment and Technology Division The Art of Activism, A listing of 2012 Sponsored Sessions “Ah, art! Ah, life! The pendulum swinging back and forth, from complex to simple, again to complex. From romantic to realistic, back to romantic. ” ? Ray Bradbury, The October Country Page # Environment and Technology Division Newsletter Friday, August 17, 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM Session 49: Gentrification and Urban Redevelopment: Conflict, Opportunity, and Inequality Room: Mt. Wilson (GH) Sponsors: Community Research and Development Educational Problems Environment and Technology Racial and Ethnic Minorities Organizer & Presider: Jennifer Darrah, Harvard University “The Culture of Food: Race, Class, Privilege and Bias,” Marina Karides and Patricia Widener, Florida Atlantic University “Lost in Transition? Long-Term Residents in a Gentrified, New Vacation, Place: A Case Study of Alacati, Turkey,” Melis Kural, University at Buffalo “Jersey City’s Economic Revival-A Tale of Two Cities: Lessons from Unequal Development,” Donal Malone, Saint Peter's College “Community Composition and the Development of Civic Associations: What Predicts Where Neighbors Organize?” Bryant Crubaugh, University of Notre Dame “White codes and de facto segregation,” Sarah Mayorga-Gallo, University of Cincinnati Friday, August 17, 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM Session 61: Community Gardens, Parks, and Public Places: Inclusion and Exclusion and the Meaning of Space Room: Mt. Wilson (GH) Sponsors: Community Research and Development Environment and Technology Organizer & Presider: Tamara L. Mix, Oklahoma State University “Access and Inequalities in Local Food Systems,” Shawn A. Trivette, University of Massachusetts, Amherst “Building a Garden, Shaping Space and Place: Narratives and Meanings in a Newly Emergent Garden Community,” Teresa Tucker Trainum and Tamara L. Mix, Oklahoma State University “Fencing a field: The importance of imagined others in conflict over park space,” David Trouille, UCLA “More Than The Sum of Its Parts: Private-Public Space in the SoMa Neighborhood of Little Rock,” Stella M. Capek, Hendrix College “Symbiotic Chains in the Urban Ecology of Public Parks,” Elizabeth Jefferis Terrien, University of Chicago Saturday, August 18, 8:30 AM - 10:10 AM Session 95: Social Media, Flash Mobs, and the Internet: the Relationship between Technology and Community Room: Mt. Wilson (GH) Sponsors: Community Research and Development Environment and Technology Organizer & Presider: J.S. Onésimo Sandoval, Saint Louis University “‘Whoever reads this, please write’: Exploring online communities for survivors of sexual violence,” Stacy Gorman, Amanda Jungels, Bobby Jo Otto and Marni A. Brown, Georgia State University “Internet narratives: Exploring women’s birth experiences,” Stacy Gorman, Georgia State University “Performing Race on the ‘World White Web’: Hate and Dissent on an Anonymous Stage,” Heather Hensman Kettrey and Whitney Nicole Laster, Vanderbilt University “The Homeless and Information Technology,” Josie Parker, Donald C. Reitzes and Timothy Crimmins, Georgia State University “Virtual Power Plays: Social Movements, Internet Communication Technology, and Political Parties,” Deana A. Rohlinger, Florida State University, Leslie Bunnage, Seaton Hall University and Jesse Klein, Florida State University Saturday, August 18, 10:30 AM - 12:10 PM THEMATIC Session 108: Explorations in Methodology: Approaches to Environmental Problems Research Room: Mt. Yale (GH) Organizer, Presider &Discussant: Erin E. Robinson, Canisius College “Biotechnology: Conceptualizing and Measuring a Social Problem,” Jenna A. Lamphere, University of Tennessee “Exploring value salience and condition: A tool for understanding environmental and social values in a changing climate,” Georgia Piggot, Jordan Tesluk and Ralph Matthews, University of British Columbia, Canada “From ‘Cowboys and Indians’ to ‘Water Warriors’: Building Unlikely Alliances and Social Capital in a Water Resource Controversy,” Tamara L. Mix, Oklahoma State University Saturday, August 18,12:30 PM - 2:10 PM Session 120: Social Construction of Environmental Problems Room: Mt. Yale (GH) Sponsors: Environment and Technology Teaching Social Problems Organizer: Michael A. Haedicke, Drake University Presider &Discussant: Erin E. Robinson, Canisius College “‘We Don’t Discriminate, So Why Do You?’ An Intersectional Analysis of the Bedbug Problem,” Sara Smits Keeney, Saint Anselm College “Scratching the Green Surface: How Do University ‘Go Green’ Programs Shape Student Views Regarding Environmental Problems?” Ethan D. Schoolman, University of Michigan “Framing the Nuclear Power Debate in France Before and After Fukushima,” Julie Schweitzer and Thomas E. Shriver, Oklahoma State University and Alison E. Adams, University of Florida 2012 Division Sponsored Sessions, Continued Page # Summer 2012 Environment and Technology Business Meeting Information Graduate Student Paper Competition Winner! Environment and Technology Division Mission... The Environment and Technology Division strives to encourage research and discussion about societal impacts of issues in environment and technology.  Our division sponsors paper sessions across a range of subfields of sociology and the environment, including, but not limited to political economy of the environment, social movements and the environment, animals and the environment, technology and society, natural disasters and society, risk and risk perception. As a division, we serve to support research that extends an understanding of social causes and impacts on social institutions that extend from environmental and technological concerns.  We strive to advance the causes of social justice by directing attention to the unjust social consequences of environmental problems.  Socio-economic status and other quality of life indicators become indicators of environmental pollution as well.  Often times, poor and minority individuals suffer the burden of environmental pollution, while those in higher socioeconomic statuses are able to avoid such consequences.  Our division works to understand the institutional causes and consequences of such disparities and work towards producing research that advances the literature in these areas.  Additionally, we seek to understand science and its limits surrounding conclusive evidence between exposure and illness.  For example, it makes sense to focus on the basic needs that provide individuals with a strong quality of life.  Arguably, if someone’s quality of life is impacted, but the exposures do not fall within the deemed statistical significance necessary for the state to act, should consideration still be given to their right to pursue life in a clean, healthy environment? Essentially, the issues become issues of human rights and justice.  Environmental sociology and related areas of study have developed into a substantial field of literature since the 1970s.  We seek to consistently address the findings in the literature from this field and offer engaging dialogue that seeks to advance the study of environment and society.  From political economy of the environment introduced in seminal works, such as The Environment from Surplus to Scarcity (Schnaiberg 1980) to the social constructionist work of John Hannigan in Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective (1995), literature rich in theoretical and empirical findings continues to challenge assumptions made about the social world.  Our division serves as a space for these discussions to be held. SSSP members are drawn to this organization in part because of its historical focus on issues of social justice.  We are interested in applying critical scientific perspectives to the basic study of society that affects us all.  In concert with that, members of the Environment and Technology Division seek engage in research in order to explore and analysis a root cause of social injustice—environmental issues.  Environmental issues are fundamentally issues of social justice. Inherent to these issues are issues of health and illness, issues of economics, issues of race, class, and gender, and issues of colonial exploitation.  As we continue to advance as a society in late modernity, we will evermore have the need to explore and understand the consequences on society and environment of such forms of development such as a globalization, neoliberalism, and advanced capitalism. Erin E. Robinson, PhD. Department of Sociology Canisius College 2001 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14208 Phone: 716-888-2748 E-mail: robinso5@canisius.edu Check out the latest SSSP updates and information at sssp1@org Environment and Technology Division Newsletter Page # Summer 2012 Page # Congratulations, Lisa-Jo van den Scott, a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at North Western University, this year’s winner of the Brent K. Marshall Graduate Student Paper Competition. We encouraged Lisa-Joto submit this paper for publication and will be presenting it at the annual meetings in the following session. Saturday, August 18,8:30 AM - 10:10 AM Session 96: Student Award Winning Papers III Room: Mt. Yale (GH) Sponsor: Program Committee Organizer: Ashley Currier, University of Cincinnati Presider: Lisa D. Brush, University of Pittsburgh “Activist and Non-Activist Labels: Differential Activist Identification in the Tea Party and Occupy Movements,” Jesse Klein, Florida State University, Winner of the Conflict, Social Action, and Change Division’s Student Paper Competition “Mundane Technology: A Case Study of the Introduction of Permanent Walls to the Inuit of Arviat, Nunavut, Canada,” Lisa-Jo van den Scott, Northwestern University, Winner of the Environment and Technology Division’s Student Paper Competition “You May Smother My Voice, but You Will Hear My Silence: An Autoethnography on Street Sexual Harassment, the Discourse of Shame and Women’s Resistance in Iran,” Faezeh Bahreini, University of South Florida, Winner of the Institutional Ethnography Division’s Student Paper Competition “Welcoming the Personal as Sociological: Critical Self-Reflection and Transformation in the Classroom,” Sarah E. Rusche and Kendra Jason, North Carolina State University, Winner of the Teaching Social Problems Division’s Student Paper Competition Thank you to all who submitted papers. It was a very competitive year and resulted in a difficult decision among all the superb papers. We encourage you to think now of a submission for the 2013 competition!! Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.  ~John Muir Environment and Technology Division Newsletter Page # Summer 2012 Page # Division Business Meeting Date: Thursday, August 16 Time: 4:30 PM—6:10 PM Room: Imperial Ballroom (GH) Ever wonder how sessions for next year’s meeting are created? Come to out division meeting for a relaxed atmosphere and discussion about next year’s program. Volunteer to be a session organizer! It is a great way to get involved with the organization and provide professional service. Let’s grow our division and enhance our discussion through social media. Join us for a discussion of new ways to learn about what our division members are doing and exchange ideas about environment and technology. The business meeting is a great way to meet others in the division and share ideas for research and trends in the field.