Notes From the Editors
A Different Angle: A Story of Environmental Disasters is a collection of 17 works by Cornell University students from the Spring 2022 Class of Environmental Sociology. Each article looks at an environment, its people and the traditional natural environment, to examine the disaster’s connection to the sociological framework. By juxtaposing real experiences and theory, we hope to use the sociological perspective to illuminate the full impact of a disaster.
To give this insight, the articles will pose several questions:
What remains after a disaster?
What was there before?
What does a community look like when it’s all over?
All these questions and more are answered as the authors examine the landscape, human and non-human, in its tenderest moments. Not only do the articles make you look at the disaster from a different angle, but they also make you question whether it was even a disaster at all.
To the writers…
The young writers featured in this publication are the next generation of climate activists, researchers, lab technicians, politicians, teachers, and everyday citizens. Through their questioning, the writers highlight the diverse perspectives present in climate conversations. As editors, it was a privilege to engage with their work in such an in-depth way. Their curiosity and dedication inspired the titling of the publication.
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Ultimately, our goal as editors is to leverage sociological theory and the diversity of perspectives to challenge our readers to look at environmental controversy from different angles. The use of both theory and anecdote is what cultivates the foundation of each article. That nuance is also what makes the articles so additive to climate conversations. We want our readers to engage with environmental controversy in the same way by pulling from their academic study and human experience. As the climate crisis and environmental disasters become increasingly present in everyday life, this critical toolbox could not be more useful as we empower our readers with the curiosity to truly fathom all that is at stake.
— Editing Team; Amelia Green, Kate Zitzmann, and Brittany Beckwith
