Social ecology looks at how people and their environment are connected, including how people, groups, and organizations rely on each other. It studies how people interact with their surroundings, how they react to it, and how these interactions affect society and the environment. Social ecology developed from areas like biological ecology, human ecology, systems theory, and ecological psychology. It takes a wide approach that focuses more on social, psychological, institutional, and cultural factors in how people and their environment relate. This concept has been used to study many different social issues and policies in the behavioral and social sciences.

Social ecologists look at the bigger picture of how systems work by studying how individuals, groups, and organizations interact and rely on each other. This perspective helps find better ways to solve problems that affect everyone.

Conceptual orientation

As described by Stokols, the core principles of social ecology include:

• Human environments have many parts, including physical and social features, natural and built spaces, things that can be measured (like objects) and things that are felt or understood (like symbols), and places that are real and places that exist online.
• Studying how people and their environments interact involves looking at many different areas, such as small local areas and larger regions, and considering factors like culture, time, and space.
• Systems principles focus on how parts of a system work together, how changes in one part can affect others, and how to plan for unexpected results when making decisions about the environment or public policies.
• Research and theories about social ecology are used to create programs and policies that help communities.
• Ideas and knowledge from many groups are used, including scientists, everyday people, community members, business leaders, and government officials.
• Concepts and methods from different fields are combined to study specific topics related to people and their environments.

Philosophy and ethics

American environmental activist Murray Bookchin introduced the idea of social ecology. He argued that environmentalists should focus more on solving specific problems rather than debating whether humans should control nature. Social ecology is based on this idea. Bookchin believed that differences within society harm it as a whole. He said that human-made hierarchies are the main cause of social and environmental issues. Bookchin viewed society and life as an ecosystem, where all parts are equally important for a healthy, stable environment, not as a hierarchy.

Bookchin believed that humans are part of nature, not separate from it. He divided nature into two parts: biotic nature, which includes all living things, and human nature. For Bookchin, nature is not a fixed state but a process that constantly changes and evolves. Both humans and human civilization are results of this ongoing process. Humans and human societies are not meant to be separate from nature. Instead, they should work with nature to help it develop in ways other species cannot. If humans stop trying to dominate others, they can find their proper place in the ecosystem. Bookchin believed that a fair society would have no nation states, only small towns connected by weak institutions that prevent unfair treatment. These towns would encourage people to work together, removing barriers between personal and group interests, as well as between human and environmental needs. These towns would also become part of their local ecosystems.

Bookchin’s main point is that people should care about the environment for reasons beyond their own survival. Two major ideas in environmental ethics are biocentrism, which values the environment more than humans, and anthropocentrism, which focuses only on human needs. Biocentrism sees humans as equal to other living things, while anthropocentrism sees humans as superior to nature. Bookchin believed that humans are different from nature but still important to it. He thought neither biocentrism nor anthropocentrism fully explains the relationship between humans and nature. This view allows people to see themselves as unique while still respecting the natural world and the value of human progress. It also creates a sense of responsibility to protect the environment.

Bookchin believed that applying these values to society would lead to more fairness and teamwork, with hierarchies no longer deciding who benefits and who does not. A key part of being a good social worker is understanding how each part of society contributes to the whole.

Social ecology supports communities that work together and help each other, but Bookchin differed from some groups by emphasizing local control and democracy. This type of democracy encourages people to make their own decisions rather than relying on a central government.

Social ecology looks at society through the lens of social class and power. However, Bookchin disagreed with Marxism because it focused mainly on economic inequality and ignored environmental issues.

Both social ecology and environmentalism care about protecting the environment and using resources wisely. However, social ecology goes further by saying that problems like inequality and hierarchy must be addressed along with environmental issues.

Deep ecology and social ecology both believe that all living things have value. Bookchin criticized deep ecology for focusing too much on individual solutions and not enough on the social causes of environmental problems.

Anarchism and social ecology both support freedom for individuals and groups while opposing unfair power structures. However, Bookchin disagreed with some anarchists about the importance of making decisions together and organizing society democratically.

Academic programs

Many school programs mix a wide idea of "environmental studies" with how people interact, how living things affect the environment, and the natural world. Several schools and research groups that offer degrees in social ecology help shape how the world understands the connection between society and the environment. Examples include:

• College of the Atlantic
• UC Irvine School of Social Ecology
• Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
• Cornell University College of Human Ecology
• New York University, Environmental Education
• The Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield, VT
• The Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Frankfurt
• Institute of Social Ecology, Vienna
• Stockholm Resilience Centre

Most of the 120 programs listed below focus on human ecology, but many also include topics from social ecology:

• Society for Human Ecology list of programs and institutions