Overview

2020 Award for Distinguished Book from the Animals & Society Section of the American Sociological Association One in five people in the United States is a birdwatcher, yet the popular understanding of birders reduces them to comical stereotypes, obsessives who only have eyes for their favorite rare species. In real life, however, birders are paying equally close attention to the world around them, observing the devastating effects of climate change and mass extinction, while discovering small pockets of biodiversity in unexpected places.   For the Birds offers readers a glimpse behind the binoculars and reveals birders to be important allies in the larger environmental conservation movement. With a wealth of data from in-depth interviews and over three years of observing birders in the field, environmental sociologist Elizabeth Cherry argues that birders learn to watch wildlife in ways that make an invaluable contribution to contemporary conservation efforts. She investigates how birders develop a “naturalist gaze” that enables them to understand the shared ecosystem that intertwines humans and wild animals, an appreciation that motivates them to participate in citizen science projects and wildlife conservation.  

Full Product Details

Author:   Elizabeth Cherry
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.313kg
ISBN:  

9781978801059

ISBN 10:   197880105
Pages:   222
Publication Date:   13 September 2019
Recommended Age:   From 16 to 99 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction 1          Becoming a Birder 2          The Naturalist Gaze 3          Common Birds and the Social Construction of Nature 4          Wilderness, Wildness, and Mobility 5          Good Birds, Bad Birds, and Animal Agency 6          Birding and Citizen Science 7          Birding as a Conservation Movement Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index  

Reviews

Without qualification, For the Birds will make a substantial and significant contribution to sociology. Cherry's writing style and conversational tone take us through the training of a neophyte birder into a level of expertise all the while keeping the book extremely readable, lively and accessible. --Lisa Jean Moore author of Buzz: Urban Beekeeping and the Power of the Bee

Author Information

ELIZABETH CHERRY is an associate professor of sociology at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. She is the author of Culture and Activism: Animal Rights in France and the United States.    

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