International Sociology, Ahead of Print.
Japanese environmental sociology has developed many original perspectives, including the social structure of victims, the benefit versus victimized zone theory, and life environmentalism. Developments in the field can be divided into three stages. The first, to 2001, is characterized by the early organizing of environmental sociologists, including the establishment of the Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology (JAES), and its accompanying journal, and a focus on local environmental destruction case studies. The second, to 2011, is characterized by the institutionalization of the field, while the third was triggered by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The third stage is currently one of diversification and a crisis of academic identity.