The American Sociological Association (ASA) recently honored Oklahoma State University Dresser Professor and Regents Professor of Sociology Riley Dunlap for his work in chairing the ASA Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change.

Following an approximately four-year process, the task force produced Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives, co-edited by Dunlap and Robert Brulle and published last fall by Oxford University Press.  Consisting of thirteen chapters, the volume examines the human dimensions of climate change including driving forces, social impacts, and societal responses. 

“We think the work in this volume nicely supplements natural science work,” Dunlap said.  “Sociologists have a good insights into issues such as the complexity of the driving forces producing climate change and the inequitable impacts it is producing.” 

The ASA Council thought highly enough of the book to make it an official ASA volume.  They also honored Dunlap and Brulle with a plaque, showing a resolution passed by the Council following the book’s publication.  The resolution reads:

“The Council of the American Sociological Association expresses our deepest appreciation to the Chair, Riley E. Dunlap, and Associate Chair, Robert J. Brulle, as well as each of the Task Force members and contributors for their dedication, determination, and thoughtfulness in demonstrating so effectively how sociological perspectives and scholarship inform and advance our understandings of the causes, consequences, and potential responses to global climate change.

Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives (Oxford, 2015) is a remarkable scholarly achievement and the first of its kind for an ASA Task Force. This volume and your efforts make manifest the core mission of the American Sociological Association to advance sociology as a scientific discipline and profession serving the public good.”

“I never expected we would get that kind of recognition and while I am happy for myself, I am especially happy for the OSU Department of Sociology,” Dunlap said.  “This has really given our department positive visibility in the profession.”

For more information on the American Sociological Association, visit www.asanet.org.