Brian K Obach
Biographic Data
| ID | 254502 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brian K Obach |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brian K |
| FAMILY NAME | Obach |
| SIGNATURE | OBACH B K |
| AFFILIATIONS | SUNY New Paltz |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2328-163X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
In Defense of Doom and Gloom: Science, Sensitivity, and Mobilization in Teaching about Climate Change
Given the profound social implications of climate change, this subject is increasingly important for a broad range of sociology classes. Sociology instructors who address the subject of climate change face a dilemma. Presenting too grim of a portrait risks fostering psychological distress and withdrawal from action to address climate change, whereas downplaying the magnitude of the crisis can provide false assurance that the situation is well in …
Rethinking Alternatives with Marx: Economy, Ecology and Migration
Grassroots Environmentalism
Blue and Green: The Drive for Justice at America’s Port by Scott L. Cummings
Blue and Green provides a detailed account of an important site of struggle in the neo-liberal global economy; the two biggest ports in the United States. According to Scott L. Cummings, “Operating at the leading edge of globalization—at the exact border where the global economy meets local community—the ports are spaces where the unequal costs and benefits of trade and consumption see their most immediate and palpable impact” (341). The communit…
Cultural Barriers to Environmental Mobilization in the Republic of Turkey
The Republic of Turkey provides an opportunity to examine how aspects of national culture can foster sentiments contrary to environmental mobilization. Two deeply rooted cultural values embedded at the founding of the Turkish Republic, a commitment to developmentalism and a strong suspicion of foreign interference, have served to undermine the Turkish environmental movement. Calls for environmental protection are perceived by many as foreign-insp…
Polarization and the environmental movement in Turkey
Environmental civil society organizations in Turkey have been drawn into the deep cultural and religious divide that characterizes Turkish society more broadly. Turkish environmental organizations are viewed by the Islamist leaning government as proxies for secularist opposition forces and not as independent voices truly committed to environmental protection. Interview data from fifty environmental leaders and Turkish state officials are analyzed…
Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market
Capitalism versus the Earth: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
Un nouveau syndicalisme: Ralentir l'Engrenage De La Production
Brian Obach met ici en scène la théorie de « l'engrenage de la production » (treadmill of production) de Allan Schnaiberg. Elle repose sur l'idée que la production est un processus dans lequel une diversité d'acteurs trouve son compte, et contribue donc à l'alimenter : l'État y trouve des recettes, les actionnaires des profits, les travailleurs des revenus. Mais dans le même temps cette même production dévore littéralement la planète, avec les co…
Civic agriculture and community engagement
Capitalism, State Economic Policy and Ecological Footprint: An International Comparative Analysis
This article examines the relationship between state economic policy and environmental performance. It tests the hypothesis that a greater reliance on free market policies leads to higher levels of resource use and pollution. This issue sits at the heart of much theoretical debate about the role of capitalism in environmental performance. The Economic Freedom Index is used as a measure of the degree to which states adhere to free market policies.…
Consumption, Ecological Footprints and Global Inequality: A Lesson in Individual and Structural Components of Environmental Problems
As evidence of the growing ecological crisis mounts, it is imperative that sociolo gists speak to this social problem and incor porate a sociological perspective on envi ronmental issues into the curriculum. Cen tral to understanding how social issues re late to environmental problems is an exami nation of the ties between consumption and its ecological consequences. The lesson described here encourages students to criti cally reflect on their be…
Theoretical Interpretations of the Growth in Organic Agriculture: Agricultural Modernization or an Organic Treadmill
Ecological modernization theory and treadmill of production theory offer competing interpretations of the direction of environmental practices in capitalist democracies. These theoretical perspectives are applied to the growth and institutionalization of organic agriculture in the United States. From the perspective of ecological modernization theory, the growing popularity of organic agriculture and its institutionalization in the form of federa…
Cross Course Collaboration in Undergraduate Sociology Programs
education is not well integrated (Association of American Colleges 1991). This is true both within and between (American Sociological Association 1991). Rather than approaching subjects as distinct areas of inquiry, there has been an effort to better integrate the curriculum, which has resulted in interdepartmental collaborations or other means for across the disciplines (Davis 1995; Letterman and Dugan 2004; Robinson and Schaible 1995). The same…
Labor and the Environmental Movement: The Quest for Common Ground
Relations between organized labor and environmental groups are typically characterized as adversarial, most often because of the specter of job loss invoked by industries facing environmental regulation. But, as Brian Obach shows, the two largest and most powerful social movements in the United States actually share a great deal of common ground. Unions and environmentalists have worked together on a number of issues, including workplace health a…
New Labor: Slowing the Treadmill of Production
Within the treadmill of production framework, labor unions are considered one of the central actors propelling the system of environmental degradation. This article examines the evidence for this designation. American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations documents and other historical evidence indicate unions have been strong proponents of expanding production, lending support to the view that unions are rightfully considered …
Industrial Relations, Politics, and Government
On the Edge of Scarcity: Environment, Resources, Population, Sustainability, and Conflict
These essays address one of the most pressing and significant issues that humanity has confronted to date - the lack of life-sustaining resources. Michael N. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann establish a disturbing but realistic scenario of the disastrous future that awaits humankind as surplus populations collide with dwindling resources. Authors consider a number of cause-and-effect situations on industrialization, biophysical limits, exponential …
Barriers to Collective Action: A Classroom Simulation
Dans cet article, l'A propose un exercice pedagogique visant a faire decouvrir aux etudiants de sociologie l'importance de l'approche des problemes de l'action collective. En utilisant une stimulation basee sur la reconstitution d'un puzzle, l'A met ici en exergue les conflits potentiels entre reussite personnelle et bien-etre collectif, et souligne l'interet de la theorie du choix rationel pour permettre une premiere lecture des forces sociales …
Labor‐Environmental Relations: An Analysis of the Relationship between Labor Unions and Environmentalists
Objective. I seek to assess the quality of relations between labor unions and environmental organizations and to identify economic, political, and organizational factors that influence those relations. Methods. A survey of state labor leaders was conducted in order to determine the quality of relations between unions and environmental organizations around the United States. Ordinary least squares regression is used to identify associations betwee…
Teaching about Institutional Discrimination and the Controversies of Affirmative Action
L'A. estime que les etudiants en sociologie tendent spontanement a envisager la vie sociale, de maniere individualiste, c'est-a-dire comme la resultante de la somme des libres decisions des individus. Il evoque une experience qui permet aux etudiants de decouvrir le fonctionnement et la signification des inegalites structurelles et des discriminations institutionnelles. Apres un expose analysant le role de la stratification sociale et raciale dan…
The Wisconsin Labor-Environmental Network: A Case Study of Coalition Formation among Organized Labor and the Environmental Movement
Political conflict between environmental advocates and polluting industries is easily under-stood. However, workers may also be affected by environmental measures leading to the involvement of unions in environmental policy debates. The impact of environmental policy on the status of workers varies a great deal and the position that unions take on environmental issues also shows significant variability. How unions will relate to environmental org…
Demonstrating the Social Construction of Race
THE IDEA THAT race is socially constructed is widely accepted within social science disciplines (Haney Lopez 1996; Omi and Winant 1986; Waters 1990). Relating this concept to students, however, can present a serious challenge. Students, like most people, tend to view their world as an objective reality divorced, in many ways, from interpretation or constructed meaning. This is also true of the racial categories that are presented and reified thro…
Labor‐Environmental Relations: An Analysis of the Relationship between Labor Unions and Environmentalists
Objective. I seek to assess the quality of relations between labor unions and environmental organizations and to identify economic, political, and organizational factors that influence those relations. Methods. A survey of state labor leaders was conducted in order to determine the quality of relations between unions and environmental organizations around the United States. Ordinary least squares regression is used to identify associations betwee…
Demonstrating the Social Construction of Race
THE IDEA THAT race is socially constructed is widely accepted within social science disciplines (Haney Lopez 1996; Omi and Winant 1986; Waters 1990). Relating this concept to students, however, can present a serious challenge. Students, like most people, tend to view their world as an objective reality divorced, in many ways, from interpretation or constructed meaning. This is also true of the racial categories that are presented and reified thro…
Civic agriculture and community engagement
Capitalism, State Economic Policy and Ecological Footprint: An International Comparative Analysis
This article examines the relationship between state economic policy and environmental performance. It tests the hypothesis that a greater reliance on free market policies leads to higher levels of resource use and pollution. This issue sits at the heart of much theoretical debate about the role of capitalism in environmental performance. The Economic Freedom Index is used as a measure of the degree to which states adhere to free market policies.…
Polarization and the environmental movement in Turkey
Environmental civil society organizations in Turkey have been drawn into the deep cultural and religious divide that characterizes Turkish society more broadly. Turkish environmental organizations are viewed by the Islamist leaning government as proxies for secularist opposition forces and not as independent voices truly committed to environmental protection. Interview data from fifty environmental leaders and Turkish state officials are analyzed…
Theoretical Interpretations of the Growth in Organic Agriculture: Agricultural Modernization or an Organic Treadmill
Ecological modernization theory and treadmill of production theory offer competing interpretations of the direction of environmental practices in capitalist democracies. These theoretical perspectives are applied to the growth and institutionalization of organic agriculture in the United States. From the perspective of ecological modernization theory, the growing popularity of organic agriculture and its institutionalization in the form of federa…
Teaching about Institutional Discrimination and the Controversies of Affirmative Action
L'A. estime que les etudiants en sociologie tendent spontanement a envisager la vie sociale, de maniere individualiste, c'est-a-dire comme la resultante de la somme des libres decisions des individus. Il evoque une experience qui permet aux etudiants de decouvrir le fonctionnement et la signification des inegalites structurelles et des discriminations institutionnelles. Apres un expose analysant le role de la stratification sociale et raciale dan…
Cross Course Collaboration in Undergraduate Sociology Programs
education is not well integrated (Association of American Colleges 1991). This is true both within and between (American Sociological Association 1991). Rather than approaching subjects as distinct areas of inquiry, there has been an effort to better integrate the curriculum, which has resulted in interdepartmental collaborations or other means for across the disciplines (Davis 1995; Letterman and Dugan 2004; Robinson and Schaible 1995). The same…
Grassroots Environmentalism
Consumption, Ecological Footprints and Global Inequality: A Lesson in Individual and Structural Components of Environmental Problems
As evidence of the growing ecological crisis mounts, it is imperative that sociolo gists speak to this social problem and incor porate a sociological perspective on envi ronmental issues into the curriculum. Cen tral to understanding how social issues re late to environmental problems is an exami nation of the ties between consumption and its ecological consequences. The lesson described here encourages students to criti cally reflect on their be…
In Defense of Doom and Gloom: Science, Sensitivity, and Mobilization in Teaching about Climate Change
Given the profound social implications of climate change, this subject is increasingly important for a broad range of sociology classes. Sociology instructors who address the subject of climate change face a dilemma. Presenting too grim of a portrait risks fostering psychological distress and withdrawal from action to address climate change, whereas downplaying the magnitude of the crisis can provide false assurance that the situation is well in …
Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market
Un nouveau syndicalisme: Ralentir l'Engrenage De La Production
Brian Obach met ici en scène la théorie de « l'engrenage de la production » (treadmill of production) de Allan Schnaiberg. Elle repose sur l'idée que la production est un processus dans lequel une diversité d'acteurs trouve son compte, et contribue donc à l'alimenter : l'État y trouve des recettes, les actionnaires des profits, les travailleurs des revenus. Mais dans le même temps cette même production dévore littéralement la planète, avec les co…
The Wisconsin Labor-Environmental Network: A Case Study of Coalition Formation among Organized Labor and the Environmental Movement
Political conflict between environmental advocates and polluting industries is easily under-stood. However, workers may also be affected by environmental measures leading to the involvement of unions in environmental policy debates. The impact of environmental policy on the status of workers varies a great deal and the position that unions take on environmental issues also shows significant variability. How unions will relate to environmental org…
Demonstrating the Social Construction of Race
THE IDEA THAT race is socially constructed is widely accepted within social science disciplines (Haney Lopez 1996; Omi and Winant 1986; Waters 1990). Relating this concept to students, however, can present a serious challenge. Students, like most people, tend to view their world as an objective reality divorced, in many ways, from interpretation or constructed meaning. This is also true of the racial categories that are presented and reified thro…
Teaching about Institutional Discrimination and the Controversies of Affirmative Action
L'A. estime que les etudiants en sociologie tendent spontanement a envisager la vie sociale, de maniere individualiste, c'est-a-dire comme la resultante de la somme des libres decisions des individus. Il evoque une experience qui permet aux etudiants de decouvrir le fonctionnement et la signification des inegalites structurelles et des discriminations institutionnelles. Apres un expose analysant le role de la stratification sociale et raciale dan…
Labor‐Environmental Relations: An Analysis of the Relationship between Labor Unions and Environmentalists
Objective. I seek to assess the quality of relations between labor unions and environmental organizations and to identify economic, political, and organizational factors that influence those relations. Methods. A survey of state labor leaders was conducted in order to determine the quality of relations between unions and environmental organizations around the United States. Ordinary least squares regression is used to identify associations betwee…
On the Edge of Scarcity: Environment, Resources, Population, Sustainability, and Conflict
These essays address one of the most pressing and significant issues that humanity has confronted to date - the lack of life-sustaining resources. Michael N. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann establish a disturbing but realistic scenario of the disastrous future that awaits humankind as surplus populations collide with dwindling resources. Authors consider a number of cause-and-effect situations on industrialization, biophysical limits, exponential …
Barriers to Collective Action: A Classroom Simulation
Dans cet article, l'A propose un exercice pedagogique visant a faire decouvrir aux etudiants de sociologie l'importance de l'approche des problemes de l'action collective. En utilisant une stimulation basee sur la reconstitution d'un puzzle, l'A met ici en exergue les conflits potentiels entre reussite personnelle et bien-etre collectif, et souligne l'interet de la theorie du choix rationel pour permettre une premiere lecture des forces sociales …
Labor and the Environmental Movement: The Quest for Common Ground
Relations between organized labor and environmental groups are typically characterized as adversarial, most often because of the specter of job loss invoked by industries facing environmental regulation. But, as Brian Obach shows, the two largest and most powerful social movements in the United States actually share a great deal of common ground. Unions and environmentalists have worked together on a number of issues, including workplace health a…
New Labor: Slowing the Treadmill of Production
Within the treadmill of production framework, labor unions are considered one of the central actors propelling the system of environmental degradation. This article examines the evidence for this designation. American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations documents and other historical evidence indicate unions have been strong proponents of expanding production, lending support to the view that unions are rightfully considered …
Industrial Relations, Politics, and Government
Theoretical Interpretations of the Growth in Organic Agriculture: Agricultural Modernization or an Organic Treadmill
Ecological modernization theory and treadmill of production theory offer competing interpretations of the direction of environmental practices in capitalist democracies. These theoretical perspectives are applied to the growth and institutionalization of organic agriculture in the United States. From the perspective of ecological modernization theory, the growing popularity of organic agriculture and its institutionalization in the form of federa…
Cross Course Collaboration in Undergraduate Sociology Programs
education is not well integrated (Association of American Colleges 1991). This is true both within and between (American Sociological Association 1991). Rather than approaching subjects as distinct areas of inquiry, there has been an effort to better integrate the curriculum, which has resulted in interdepartmental collaborations or other means for across the disciplines (Davis 1995; Letterman and Dugan 2004; Robinson and Schaible 1995). The same…
Capitalism, State Economic Policy and Ecological Footprint: An International Comparative Analysis
This article examines the relationship between state economic policy and environmental performance. It tests the hypothesis that a greater reliance on free market policies leads to higher levels of resource use and pollution. This issue sits at the heart of much theoretical debate about the role of capitalism in environmental performance. The Economic Freedom Index is used as a measure of the degree to which states adhere to free market policies.…
Consumption, Ecological Footprints and Global Inequality: A Lesson in Individual and Structural Components of Environmental Problems
As evidence of the growing ecological crisis mounts, it is imperative that sociolo gists speak to this social problem and incor porate a sociological perspective on envi ronmental issues into the curriculum. Cen tral to understanding how social issues re late to environmental problems is an exami nation of the ties between consumption and its ecological consequences. The lesson described here encourages students to criti cally reflect on their be…
Civic agriculture and community engagement
Un nouveau syndicalisme: Ralentir l'Engrenage De La Production
Brian Obach met ici en scène la théorie de « l'engrenage de la production » (treadmill of production) de Allan Schnaiberg. Elle repose sur l'idée que la production est un processus dans lequel une diversité d'acteurs trouve son compte, et contribue donc à l'alimenter : l'État y trouve des recettes, les actionnaires des profits, les travailleurs des revenus. Mais dans le même temps cette même production dévore littéralement la planète, avec les co…
Capitalism versus the Earth: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
Organizing Organic: Conflict and Compromise in an Emerging Market
Polarization and the environmental movement in Turkey
Environmental civil society organizations in Turkey have been drawn into the deep cultural and religious divide that characterizes Turkish society more broadly. Turkish environmental organizations are viewed by the Islamist leaning government as proxies for secularist opposition forces and not as independent voices truly committed to environmental protection. Interview data from fifty environmental leaders and Turkish state officials are analyzed…
Cultural Barriers to Environmental Mobilization in the Republic of Turkey
The Republic of Turkey provides an opportunity to examine how aspects of national culture can foster sentiments contrary to environmental mobilization. Two deeply rooted cultural values embedded at the founding of the Turkish Republic, a commitment to developmentalism and a strong suspicion of foreign interference, have served to undermine the Turkish environmental movement. Calls for environmental protection are perceived by many as foreign-insp…
Blue and Green: The Drive for Justice at America’s Port by Scott L. Cummings
Blue and Green provides a detailed account of an important site of struggle in the neo-liberal global economy; the two biggest ports in the United States. According to Scott L. Cummings, “Operating at the leading edge of globalization—at the exact border where the global economy meets local community—the ports are spaces where the unequal costs and benefits of trade and consumption see their most immediate and palpable impact” (341). The communit…
Grassroots Environmentalism
In Defense of Doom and Gloom: Science, Sensitivity, and Mobilization in Teaching about Climate Change
Given the profound social implications of climate change, this subject is increasingly important for a broad range of sociology classes. Sociology instructors who address the subject of climate change face a dilemma. Presenting too grim of a portrait risks fostering psychological distress and withdrawal from action to address climate change, whereas downplaying the magnitude of the crisis can provide false assurance that the situation is well in …
Rethinking Alternatives with Marx: Economy, Ecology and Migration
Political science (18 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Economics (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · Political economy (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Ecology (5 works)