Toward a middle-range theory of environmental morality

Nearly three decades ago, Gramling and Freudenburg (1996) urged that greater attention be given to middle-range efforts in environmental sociology. In this article, I will argue that since Gramling and Freudenburg offered their advice, there has been a critical mass of work in environmental sociology undertaken from the perspective of middle-range theory, but this has been undervalued in our never-ending odyssey in search for grand theory. To illustrate this, I review sociological enquiry into risk and risk communication. To make a case of my own for a middle-range sociology appropriate to the second quartile of the 21st century, I advocate the development of a "sociology of environmental morality" (see Farrell, 2015; Hannigan forthcoming, 2024; Stock, 2020) to be pursued via a middle-range perspective. I conclude by outlining two strategies for pursuing a middle-range sociology of environmental morality.