2019 Volume 25 Pages 7-17
The papers included in this special feature edition of the Journal of Environmental Sociology are based on the symposium "An Environmental Sociology Approach to Research on Environmental Problems Caused by the Military" held on December 9, 2018. This introduction presents a general review of each paper and summarizes the issues they suggest environmental sociology should be cognizant of when examining environmental problems caused by the military. Furthermore, this paper makes it clear that, behind these issues, the military is directed by the state, and highlights the importance and difficulty of studying the state when it is the state that can be considered the instigator of the problems under discussion. In addition, it is proposed that environmental sociology should develop a "logic of the environment" that can compete effectively with the "logic of the state" from the perspective of the general public conducting everyday life in society, thereby making it possible to construct a path towards a de-militarized society. In so doing, environmental sociology can expand its scope and make a unique contribution to military environmental problem research.
