Download The Sociological Perspective In Laudato Si`

The Sociological Perspective In Laudato Si’
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis asks a fundamental sociological question. This
question centers on “the kind of society we want to build” for future
generations.1 The answer is rests to a large extent on the analytical method we
adopt to understand the social process. Sociologists and human ecologists are
among the many social and natural scientists who would appreciate the so-called
“systems thinking” approach employed by Pope Francis in his grand explanation
of the ecological conditions facing the peoples and all life on the earth.2
Systems thinking, as indicated by the encyclical themes, offers an interrelated,
big picture, holistic perspective , taking into account our technologies, politics,
beliefs, values, morals, education, happiness, lifestyles, social love, our
relationship with God, the wisdom of the Saints, and everyone and every
entity in existence. The parts and pieces of the ecological system are
assembled in a statement by Pope Francis which constructs a Christian
worldview on nature long overdue and previously misunderstood. Sociologists
and anthropologists agree that religion is the major determinant of worldview. At
this time in the 21st century, sociologists and allied experts in human ecology
are exploring worldviews, as the field of sociology is searching for a new
sociological imagination, which mends the nature-social duality originating in the
Cartesian, mechanistic mode of conceptualization within the thought of the
medieval philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes and numerous other
thinkers before him in the ancient world.3 Sociology is a field born within the
Age of Enlightenment during the urban-industrial revolution, at a time when
society separated from nature. The omission of nature is noted especially in
2
urban sociology theories of last century. Presently, sociologists are challenged to
address environmental problems not only in conceptual frameworks but also in
applied problem-solving projects spanning the local to the global.
As sociologists are trying to make sense of ecological ethics and
environmental justice issues, their work is compounded by the startling
innovations and ethical issues of the Biotechnology Age. In Laudato Si,’ reference
is made to the “globalization of the technocratic paradigm” as Pope
Francis speaks to the technologically-induced complications of unlimited growth,
possession, mastery, and transformation.4 These same concerns are on the
sociological agenda of concern and inquiry, as our very definition of what it is to
be human is at risk in an increasingly electronic culture.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis identifies the complex crisis of our times linking
two interrelated aspects of the problem which are the social and environmental.5
The social-environmental connection is integral to the definition of what Pope
Francis terms “cultural ecology.” According to his definition, “ecology, then, also
involves the cultural treasures of humanity in the broadest sense.” 6 Thus, there
is the need to preserve the historic and lived processes of the peoples of the
world. The biosphere (air, water, and land) and the ethnosphere (human
cultures) surrounding the globe are interrelated and both are at risk in the
environmental breakdown.
Sociologists tend to be resourceful; they know where to go for assistance to
enable change. Sociologists, especially those in the specialty area of Catholic
sociology, will find great value and hope in the prayers at the end of Laudato Si.’
3
1
Laudato Si, no. 107. “We have to accept that technological products are not neutral, for they
create a framework which ends up conditioning lifestyles and shaping social possibilities along
the lines dictated by the interests of certain powerful groups. Decisions which may seem purely
instrumental are in reality decisions about the kind of society we want to build.”
2
See Louria, D.B.(2010). reTHINK: A twenty-first century approach to preventing societal
catastrophies. Louwat Publishing for examples of systems thinking on global problems such as
emerging infections.
3
See Fuller, S. (2006). The new sociological imagination. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Fuller
identifies the following as the fundamental question facing social science in this century:
“What is distinctly human that must be retained across episodes of social reproduction?” (p.
204).
4
Laudato Si, section II, no. 106. “The basic problem goes even deeper: it is the way humanity
has taken up technology and its development according to an un-differentiated and onedimensional paradigm. This paradigm exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and
rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external object. The
subject makes every effort to establish the scientific and experimental method, which in itself is
already a technique of possession, mastery, and transformation.”
5
Laudato Si, no. 139. “It is essential to seek comprehensive solutions which the interactions
within natural systems themselves and with social systems. We are faced not with two
separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis
which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated
approach to combatting poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time
protecting nature.”
Irene J. Dabrowski
Associate Professor of Sociology
St. John’s College