Sociological Theories on Air Pollution: Between Environmental Justice and the Risk Society Approach

Risk sociologists consider risks in contemporary society to be global, interconnected, and in large part unpredictable. According to Beck, the globalization of risks implies that individuals are exposed to the same level of risk (democratization of risks). On the other hand, the environmental justice perspective, though acknowledging the centrality of risk, underlines the correlation between socio-economic inequalities and exposure to air pollution. Also, deprived people are more vulnerable to air pollution because they often have worse health conditions compared with the upper class. Promoting the involvement of lay people in research, the environmental justice perspective proposes a ‘popular epidemiology’ in contrast with the dominant trends in epidemiological perspective. Moreover, for them individual interventions based on lifestyles changes are desirable but cannot solve the problem of health threats caused by air pollution. Sociology can provide a theoretical framework, evidence from empirical research and data for both institutional forms of prevention and social mobilization against sources of pollution.