Papers by Shannon Elizabeth Bell
Environmental Sociology, 2019
The environmental health risks associated with the production and use of fossil fuels have sparke... more The environmental health risks associated with the production and use of fossil fuels have sparked grassroots resistance efforts throughout the world, leading to stricter regulations, lawsuits, defeated pipelines, and bans on hydraulic fracturing and wastewater injection in certain municipalities, states, and nations. Arguably, the hegemony that fossil fuel industries have long maintained is under threat, whereby the pass they have received to externalize environmental and public health costs onto society is increasingly being contested. How have fossil fuel industries responded to these challenges? Through an analysis of the public relations materials of three fossil-fuel-energy front groups in the United States, this study examines fossil fuel industries' efforts to retain cultural hegemony in the face of increasing threats to power and profits. We find that a central strategy of these public-relations campaigns is a process we term 'Identity Co-optation,' which entails appropriating and reconstructing the identities of fossil fuel industries' fiercest opponentsconcerned women and mothersin the delivery of their counterclaims. We argue that the strategic mobilization of women in defense of coal, oil, and gas is a clear example of hegemonic powers attempting to appropriate, embodyand ultimately neutralizethreats to their influence and authority.
Rural Sociology, 2015
In this study we examine how the agribusiness industry works to manipulate conventional farming m... more In this study we examine how the agribusiness industry works to manipulate conventional farming masculinities in the United States to facilitate agricultural deskilling, a process that has serious implications for the future of sustainable agriculture uptake among American farmers. Through analyzing one year's worth of advertisements in three conventional farming magazines and through conducting participant observation and interviews at the second largest indoor farming show in the United States, we examine the ways in which agribusiness companies, such as chemical, seed, and farm machinery manufacturers, represent farmers and farming masculinities in their advertisements and marketing materials. We observe a shift occurring among certain agribusiness sectors away from representations of a rugged, strong, solitary farmer, who dominates nature through his manual labor, to depictions of a "businessman" farmer, who farms in collaboration with certain qualified partners (i.e., company representatives). We ultimately argue that these new representations of farming masculinity aim to more deeply entrench conventional farmers' dependence on chemical inputs and agribusiness products by promoting a process of deskilling, effectively alienating the farmer from the land. * We are grateful to the Rural Sociological Society for providing the first author with an Early Career Research Award in 2012 to help fund this project. We also owe a tremendous debt to the three anonymous reviewers, who provided exceptionally insightful feedback and suggestions. Finally, a thank you is owed to our colleague Patrick Mooney, who helped spark the idea for this study in the first author's mind five years ago.
Social science research, 2014
Feminist scholars suggest that improving the quality of life of individuals living in nations aro... more Feminist scholars suggest that improving the quality of life of individuals living in nations around the world may be more readily achieved by increasing women's political power and by reorienting public-policy priorities, than by focusing primarily on economic growth. These considerations raise the question of which characteristics of societies are associated with the quality of life of the people in those societies. Here, we address this issue empirically by statistically analyzing cross-national data. We assess the effects of gender equality in the political sphere, as well as a variety of other factors, on the subjective well-being of nations, as indicated by average self-reported levels of life satisfaction. We find that people report the highest levels of life satisfaction in nations where women have greater political representation, where military spending is low, and where health care spending is high, controlling for a variety of other factors. GDP per capita, urbanizat...
Organization & Environment, 2012
Energy Research & Social Science, 2019
Is an energy transition currently in progress, where renewable energy sources are replacing fossi... more Is an energy transition currently in progress, where renewable energy sources are replacing fossil fuels? Previous changes in the proportion of energy produced by various sourcessuch as in the nineteenth century when coal surpassed biomass in providing the largest share of the global energy supply and in the twentieth century when petroleum overtook coalcould more accurately be characterized as energy additions rather than transitions. In both cases, the use of the older energy source continued to grow, despite rapid growth in the new source. Evidence from contemporary trends in energy production likewise suggest that as renewable energy sources compose a larger share of overall energy production, they are not replacing fossil fuels but are rather expanding the overall amount of energy that is produced. We argue that although it is reasonable to expect that renewables will come to provide a growing share of the global energy supply, it is misleading to characterize this growth in renewable energy as a "transition" and that doing so could inhibit the implementation of meaningful policies aimed at reducing fossil fuel use.
Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
This article describes a collaboration among a group of university faculty, undergraduate student... more This article describes a collaboration among a group of university faculty, undergraduate students, local governments, local residents, and U.S. Army staff to address long-standing concerns about the environmental health effects of an Army ammunition plant. The authors describe community-responsive scientific pilot studies that examined potential environmental contamination and a related undergraduate research course that documented residents’ concerns, contextualized those concerns, and developed recommendations. We make a case for the value of resource-intensive university–community partnerships that promote the production of knowledge through collaborations across disciplinary paradigms (natural/physical sciences, social sciences, health sciences, and humanities) in response to questions raised by local residents. Our experience also suggests that enacting this type of research through a university class may help promote researchers’ adoption of “epistemological pluralism”, and t...
Critical Sociology
Through a case study of a major biofuel company in the United States, we seek to uncover how prod... more Through a case study of a major biofuel company in the United States, we seek to uncover how producers and consumers promote biofuels as a solution to climate change, despite considerable evidence demonstrating that biofuels are socially and environmentally destructive. Analysis of the company’s marketing materials and interviews with the owner and customers reveals that a primary way the company puts a green spin on biofuels is the deployment of “ecomodern masculinity.” This hybrid masculinity invokes a particular class-based environmentalism that positions biofuels as the ethical choice of good men concerned about the environment. This gendered ideology embraces a variant of Ecological Modernization that strategically adopts the appearance of environmental care while promoting the American values of energy security and green consumerism. We argue that this gendered repackaging of biofuels bolsters existing social inequalities, safeguards capital accumulation, and inhibits the syst...
Sociological Perspectives
This study examines the ways in which social capital influences people’s environmental concern in... more This study examines the ways in which social capital influences people’s environmental concern in China. Using data obtained from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey, we measure social capital through social networks and trust. We find that the ways people think about and act toward others influence the ways they think about and act toward the environment. The structural equation modeling results suggest that one’s connections with others, including socializing with relatives and friends as well as general social networking, are significantly and positively related to various dimensions of environmental concern. Greater trust is positively related to one’s willingness to make sacrifices for the benefit of the environment but is also negatively related to perceived dangerousness of pollution. Our findings highlight the value of social capital in promoting environmental concern. We discuss these findings in the context of existing literature, and propose policy implications and sug...
The combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) and, to a lesser extent, changes in land cove... more The combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) and, to a lesser extent, changes in land cover, have led to a rise in greenhouse gasses (GHG) in the atmosphere and an increase in global average surface temperatures. 1 This human-induced warming is causing dramatic changes in the climate that are manifesting in numerous ways throughout the world, including an intensification of storms, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, saltwater intrusion of freshwater aquifers, more frequent and extreme floods, droughts, and heat waves, changes in the range and occurrence of certain infectious diseases, declines in agricultural productivity, and social upheaval resulting from competition for scarce resources. 2 Arguably, the transition to a post-carbon 3 world is urgent, but thus far little progress has been
Environmental Sociology, 2019
The environmental health risks associated with the production and use of fossil fuels have sparke... more The environmental health risks associated with the production and use of fossil fuels have sparked grassroots resistance efforts throughout the world, leading to stricter regulations, lawsuits, defeated pipelines, and bans on hydraulic fracturing and wastewater injection in certain municipalities, states, and nations. Arguably, the hegemony that fossil fuel industries have long maintained is under threat, whereby the “pass” they have long received to externalize environmental and public health costs onto society is increasingly being contested. How have fossil fuel industries responded to these challenges? Through an analysis of the public relations materials of three fossil-fuel-energy front groups, this study examines fossil fuel industries’ efforts to retain hegemony in the face of increasing threats to power and profits. We find that a central strategy of these public relations campaigns is a process we term Identity Co-optation, which entails appropriating and reconstructing the identities of fossil fuel industries’ fiercest opponents – concerned women and mothers – in the delivery of their counterclaims. We argue that the strategic mobilization of women in defense of coal, oil, and gas is a clear example of hegemonic powers attempting to appropriate, embody – and ultimately neutralize – threats to their influence and authority.
Energy Research & Social Science, 2020
Growth in renewable energy does not displace fossil fuel use on a one-to-one basis, but rather in... more Growth in renewable energy does not displace fossil fuel use on a one-to-one basis, but rather increases the total amount of energy that is produced. As numerous scholars have argued, an energy transition away from-rather than in addition to-fossil fuels will require more than technology and financial capital. Here we argue that a feminist perspective on energy provides an important framework for understanding what keeps us stuck in unsustainable energy cultures, as well as a paradigm for designing truly just energy systems. Feminist approaches have been widely taken up in environmental and ecofeminist work, as well as in climate change research. In energy studies, however, gender-related research has tended to focus more narrowly on women's issues. Although this is crucial work, the focus on women represents just one dimension of what feminism can bring to the study of energy. Feminist theory also offers expertise in the study of power more broadly, which is widely applicable to the full spectrum of energy research. This article outlines a feminist energy research agenda that addresses many aspects of energy system design, planning, exchange, and use. We analyze energy along four intersecting coordinates: the political (democratic, decentralized and pluralist); economic (prioritizing human well-being and biodiversity over profit and unlimited growth); socio-ecological (preferring relationality over individualism); and technological (privileging distributed and decentralized fuel power and people power). In doing so, we show that feminism is well-suited for navigating the tangled web of power, profit, and technological innovation that comprises human fuel use.
The SAGE Handbook of Risk Communication, 2014
Gender & Society, Dec 2010
... SHANNON ELIZABETH BELL University of Kentucky YVONNE A. BRAUN University of Oregon ... enviro... more ... SHANNON ELIZABETH BELL University of Kentucky YVONNE A. BRAUN University of Oregon ... environmentalist side than men. When asked whether he believes more women than men are involved in speaking out against the coal industry, Nick Regalado states, Definitely. ...
Rural Sociology, 2015
In this study we examine how the agribusiness industry works to manipulate conventional farming m... more In this study we examine how the agribusiness industry works to manipulate conventional farming masculinities in the United States to facilitate agricultural deskilling, a process that has serious implications for the future of sustainable agriculture uptake among American farmers. Through analyzing one year’s worth of advertisements in three conventional farming magazines and through conducting participant observation and interviews at the second largest indoor farming show in the United States, we examine the ways in which agribusiness companies, such as chemical, seed, and farm machinery manufacturers, represent farmers and farming masculinities in
their advertisements and marketing materials. We observe a shift occurring among certain agribusiness sectors away from representations of a rugged, strong, solitary farmer, who dominates nature through his manual labor, to depictions of a “businessman” farmer, who farms in collaboration with certain
qualified partners (i.e., company representatives). We ultimately argue that these new representations of farming masculinity aim to more deeply entrench conventional farmers’ dependence on chemical inputs and agribusiness products by promoting a process of deskilling, effectively alienating the farmer from the land.
Human Ecology Review, 2015
The neoliberal rejection of a strong role for governmental regulation of industry has led to incr... more The neoliberal rejection of a strong role for governmental regulation of industry has led to increasingly negative consequences for the environment and the people who are forced to bear a disproportionate share of the health and safety hazards created by corporate polluters. The voices of the victims of environmental injustice often go unheard in the policy arena, while an arsenal of paid industry lobbyists exerts undue influence and power over legislative and regulatory agency processes. In this paper, I argue that we as social scientists are frequently positioned in such a way that we could serve as links between the people we study and policymakers, providing an avenue for exposing the ways that neoliberal policies negatively affect the health, safety, and well-being of disenfranchised groups. Through presenting a “Photovoice” project I conducted with 54 women living in five coal-mining communities in southern West Virginia, I demonstrate how feminist activist ethnography, as a distinct type of activist research, can be used for social science inquiry while simultaneously providing an opportunity for research participants’ stories to be heard—and acted upon—by those with political power.
Social Science Research, May 15, 2014
Feminist scholars suggest that improving the quality of life of individuals living in nations aro... more Feminist scholars suggest that improving the quality of life of individuals living in nations around the world may be more readily achieved by increasing women’s political power and
by reorienting public-policy priorities, than by focusing primarily on economic growth. These considerations raise the question of which characteristics of societies are associated
with the quality of life of the people in those societies. Here, we address this issue empirically by statistically analyzing cross-national data. We assess the effects of gender equality in the political sphere, as well as a variety of other factors, on the subjective well-being of nations, as indicated by average self-reported levels of life satisfaction. We find that people
report the highest levels of life satisfaction in nations where women have greater political representation, where military spending is low, and where health care spending is high, controlling for a variety of other factors. GDP per capita, urbanization, and natural resource exploitation are not clearly associated with life satisfaction. These findings suggest that nations may be able to improve the subjective quality of life of people without increasing material wealth or natural resource consumption by increasing gender equality in politics and changing public spending priorities.
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Papers by Shannon Elizabeth Bell
their advertisements and marketing materials. We observe a shift occurring among certain agribusiness sectors away from representations of a rugged, strong, solitary farmer, who dominates nature through his manual labor, to depictions of a “businessman” farmer, who farms in collaboration with certain
qualified partners (i.e., company representatives). We ultimately argue that these new representations of farming masculinity aim to more deeply entrench conventional farmers’ dependence on chemical inputs and agribusiness products by promoting a process of deskilling, effectively alienating the farmer from the land.
by reorienting public-policy priorities, than by focusing primarily on economic growth. These considerations raise the question of which characteristics of societies are associated
with the quality of life of the people in those societies. Here, we address this issue empirically by statistically analyzing cross-national data. We assess the effects of gender equality in the political sphere, as well as a variety of other factors, on the subjective well-being of nations, as indicated by average self-reported levels of life satisfaction. We find that people
report the highest levels of life satisfaction in nations where women have greater political representation, where military spending is low, and where health care spending is high, controlling for a variety of other factors. GDP per capita, urbanization, and natural resource exploitation are not clearly associated with life satisfaction. These findings suggest that nations may be able to improve the subjective quality of life of people without increasing material wealth or natural resource consumption by increasing gender equality in politics and changing public spending priorities.
their advertisements and marketing materials. We observe a shift occurring among certain agribusiness sectors away from representations of a rugged, strong, solitary farmer, who dominates nature through his manual labor, to depictions of a “businessman” farmer, who farms in collaboration with certain
qualified partners (i.e., company representatives). We ultimately argue that these new representations of farming masculinity aim to more deeply entrench conventional farmers’ dependence on chemical inputs and agribusiness products by promoting a process of deskilling, effectively alienating the farmer from the land.
by reorienting public-policy priorities, than by focusing primarily on economic growth. These considerations raise the question of which characteristics of societies are associated
with the quality of life of the people in those societies. Here, we address this issue empirically by statistically analyzing cross-national data. We assess the effects of gender equality in the political sphere, as well as a variety of other factors, on the subjective well-being of nations, as indicated by average self-reported levels of life satisfaction. We find that people
report the highest levels of life satisfaction in nations where women have greater political representation, where military spending is low, and where health care spending is high, controlling for a variety of other factors. GDP per capita, urbanization, and natural resource exploitation are not clearly associated with life satisfaction. These findings suggest that nations may be able to improve the subjective quality of life of people without increasing material wealth or natural resource consumption by increasing gender equality in politics and changing public spending priorities.
Motivated by a deeply rooted sense of place and community, Appalachian women have long fought against the damaging effects of industrialization. In this collection of interviews, sociologist Shannon Elizabeth Bell presents the voices of twelve Central Appalachian women, environmental justice activists fighting against mountaintop removal mining and its devastating effects on public health, regional ecology, and community well-being.
Each woman narrates her own personal story of injustice and tells how that experience led her to activism. The interviews--a number of them illustrated by the women’s “photostories”--describe obstacles, losses, and tragedies. But they also tell of new communities and personal transformations catalyzed through activism. Bell supplements each narrative with careful notes that aid the reader while amplifying the power and flow of the activists' stories. Bell's analysis outlines the relationship between Appalachian women’s activism and the gendered responsibilities they feel within their families and communities. Ultimately, Bell argues that these women draw upon a broader "protector identity" that both encompasses and extends the identity of motherhood that has often been associated with grassroots women’s activism. As protectors, these women challenge dominant Appalachian gender expectations and guard not only their families, but also their homeplaces, their communities, their heritage, and the endangered mountains that surround them.
"A groundbreaking collection of life stories from women in the struggle against mountaintop removal. These extraordinary stories are luminous with the courage and moral passion of these women as they struggle to protect their communities, families, land, and cultural heritage."
--Betsy Taylor, coauthor of Recovering the Commons: Democracy, Place, and Global Justice
"Our Roots Run Deep as Ironweed substantially contributes to our understanding of grassroots activism and gender roles. Bell charts new ground with her extension of the 'motherhood effect' in grassroots environmental mobilization to the 'protector identity' motivated by an appreciation of nature. This book will be useful and attractive to scholars, students, and general readers." --Sherry Cable, author of Sustainable Failures: Environmental Policy and Democracy in a Petro-dependent World