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Sociologist Steven Yearley takes a long look at the way in which ideas such
as “think globally, act locally” spring from a mistaken assumption that we all
mean the same thing when we discuss the world or global problems. In Sociology,
Environmentalism, Globalization (Sage, £12.95, ISBN 0 8039 7517 1), he
asserts that in capturing the moral high ground by claiming the planet for
themselves, environmentalists are ignoring the fragmented nature of many of the
problems they want to resolve. And the emotional construct that hangs round the
notion that we are all global now, united in defence of planet Earth, obscures
the real forces acting to damage the environment. Even the role of science as
arbiter of quarrels about pollution, for example, is questioned.