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Ten facts from critical and interpretive social sciences for environmental research

Ten facts from critical and interpretive social sciences for environmental research
Ten facts from critical and interpretive social sciences for environmental research

The social sciences are crucial contributors to environmental research. Collectively, they provide insights on the economic, cultural, political, and psychological dimensions of sustainability challenges. Yet, efforts to mainstream the social sciences in environmental research are missing the diversity of social science scholarship. Here, we contend that the critical and interpretive social sciences —which question and rethink established paradigms and power structures— have an invaluable, yet still underutilized, role. We propose that rethinking the focus, conduct, and goals of environmental research recognizing 10 facts from the critical and interpretive social sciences can help environmental research to better support desired transformative change for the benefit of both people and planet.

Environmental science, Social sciences
2589-0042
Montana, Jasper
5dc5726c-624c-498d-8525-4169c90c275b
Welden, E.A.
2440646d-f1c4-46d5-b936-95f81260d22a
Anderson, Lea May
889c0606-42bb-4f53-ab4a-ee2ee73bd0bb
Bennett, Aoife
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Byfuglien, Andrea
6641e198-7505-447e-9241-18d17b4c61b9
Bhalla, Sophie
9df8eb64-e99c-464a-b0c1-0e492aef9a19
Fair, Hannah
ac8ce812-836e-4032-900e-b767a775bac1
Greenhough, Beth
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Hafferty, Caitlin
3a87d3b5-72d5-4899-b8b6-b2dc1499dfd5
Hirons, Mark
9061c861-de16-48b8-818a-adbc41c06df4
Kumeh, Eric Mensah
91105a76-7c07-408b-977b-d0f502acab61
Maguire-Rajpaul, Victoria
aff47b41-3d0b-47c9-a907-7f372223cd98
McDermott, Constance L.
0e0d81b8-2a51-4ebf-b0cb-a34b8180a56c
Mulyani, Mari
783df40d-eeb7-43e3-8934-40fb7c7df996
Picot, Laura
1cb5e5d3-0c7b-42d6-b6e1-1adee76645bc
Montana, Jasper
5dc5726c-624c-498d-8525-4169c90c275b
Welden, E.A.
2440646d-f1c4-46d5-b936-95f81260d22a
Anderson, Lea May
889c0606-42bb-4f53-ab4a-ee2ee73bd0bb
Bennett, Aoife
7edaf115-a912-4482-8c51-cda65191f236
Byfuglien, Andrea
6641e198-7505-447e-9241-18d17b4c61b9
Bhalla, Sophie
9df8eb64-e99c-464a-b0c1-0e492aef9a19
Fair, Hannah
ac8ce812-836e-4032-900e-b767a775bac1
Greenhough, Beth
94cba39c-71da-418b-abda-bf3daae4c2c4
Hafferty, Caitlin
3a87d3b5-72d5-4899-b8b6-b2dc1499dfd5
Hirons, Mark
9061c861-de16-48b8-818a-adbc41c06df4
Kumeh, Eric Mensah
91105a76-7c07-408b-977b-d0f502acab61
Maguire-Rajpaul, Victoria
aff47b41-3d0b-47c9-a907-7f372223cd98
McDermott, Constance L.
0e0d81b8-2a51-4ebf-b0cb-a34b8180a56c
Mulyani, Mari
783df40d-eeb7-43e3-8934-40fb7c7df996
Picot, Laura
1cb5e5d3-0c7b-42d6-b6e1-1adee76645bc

Montana, Jasper, Welden, E.A., Anderson, Lea May, Bennett, Aoife, Byfuglien, Andrea, Bhalla, Sophie, Fair, Hannah, Greenhough, Beth, Hafferty, Caitlin, Hirons, Mark, Kumeh, Eric Mensah, Maguire-Rajpaul, Victoria, McDermott, Constance L., Mulyani, Mari and Picot, Laura (2025) Ten facts from critical and interpretive social sciences for environmental research. iScience, 28 (6), [112736]. (doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.112736).

Record type: Review

Abstract

The social sciences are crucial contributors to environmental research. Collectively, they provide insights on the economic, cultural, political, and psychological dimensions of sustainability challenges. Yet, efforts to mainstream the social sciences in environmental research are missing the diversity of social science scholarship. Here, we contend that the critical and interpretive social sciences —which question and rethink established paradigms and power structures— have an invaluable, yet still underutilized, role. We propose that rethinking the focus, conduct, and goals of environmental research recognizing 10 facts from the critical and interpretive social sciences can help environmental research to better support desired transformative change for the benefit of both people and planet.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 23 May 2025
Published date: 9 June 2025
Keywords: Environmental science, Social sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 504301
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504301
ISSN: 2589-0042
PURE UUID: 87431085-a42b-4a24-9456-e932f2f9b792
ORCID for Hannah Fair: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1758-778X

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Date deposited: 03 Sep 2025 16:47
Last modified: 04 Sep 2025 02:41

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Contributors

Author: Jasper Montana
Author: E.A. Welden
Author: Lea May Anderson
Author: Aoife Bennett
Author: Andrea Byfuglien
Author: Sophie Bhalla
Author: Hannah Fair ORCID iD
Author: Beth Greenhough
Author: Caitlin Hafferty
Author: Mark Hirons
Author: Eric Mensah Kumeh
Author: Victoria Maguire-Rajpaul
Author: Constance L. McDermott
Author: Mari Mulyani
Author: Laura Picot

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