Foundations of the ecological paradigm in the social sciences

Abstract

Gradually the environmental debate seems to start recognizing the importance of the effects of our thinking and act on the environment and on our own lives. The study this problem has always required, and particulary requires nowadays, a sociocultural perspective. This paper approaches to various theoretical perspectives that insist on the dialectical relationship between social processes and the environment, with the intention to emphasize the need for a systemic understanding of environ- mental problems in which the criteria for action and operation are evaluated based on the ecological, social, and cultural advantages and disadvantages. To solve this equation becomes indispensable a multidisciplinary approach that goes beyond the partial views of reality.