To care for creation : the emergence of the religious environmental movement /

Ellingson (Hamilton College) is a sociologist and here he provides a sociological exploration of contemporary faith-based environmental movements in the US. Drawing especially on interviews with movement leaders, he concludes that these movements are as much concerned with the revitalization of religious traditions as they are with saving the environment. He points out that religious environmental movements tend to focus primarily on environmental issues directly affecting humans--as opposed to, for example, protection of wilderness. He also stresses that these movements face constraints that are particular to the religious tradition from which the movement emerges. Often this includes suspicion or hostility from members of the faith community. The constraints often limit the possibilities for working in alliance with secular environmental organizations or organizations from other religious traditions. In explaining how and why these movements have developed as they have, Ellingson places much emphasis on the realities of "embeddedness" within particular theological/symbolic/cultural traditions. This book will be valuable for those interested in sociological analysis of movement formation and development, specifically in the context of religion. It has less to offer those interested in exploring the scriptural and theological resources for environmental concern. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --John H. Sniegocki, Xavier University