The Problem of Scale in Human/Environment Relationships

Abstract

"Long familiar to natural scientists, the problem of scale does not figure prominently in the discourse of the social sciences. Yet, in principle, matters of scale are just as pertinent to the growth of knowledge about social systems as they are to the development of understanding of physical and biological systems. In this essay, I endeavor to bring the problem of scale to the attention of students of social phenomena. My strategy for doing so is to consider in some depth similarities and differences between analyses of micro-level and macro-level institutions governing human/environment relationships. In the process, I hope to initiate a larger dialogue regarding the problem of scale among social scientists concerned with a wide range of subjects."