Opkomst en ontwikkeling van de Nederlandse academische milieukunde. Een wetenschapssociologische duiding

Samenvatting

The Rise and Development of Dutch Environmental Science: An interpretation in terms of the Sociology of Science. The environmental consciousness of concerned scientists in the early 1970s gave rise to the development of environmental sciences, both on the national and the international level. This article examines the organisational and substantive development of environmental science in the Netherlands from a perspective of the sociology of knowledge. Dutch environmental science developed very quickly and successfully from an academic opposition movement into an institutionalised and recognised field of scientific knowledge. This acknowledgement not only had to do with its mission (based upon key concepts such as problem-centredness, solution-orientation and interdisciplinary research). The main factors responsible for its success are the societal and political circumstances which enabled environmental science to become involved in a process of professionalisation and commercialisation.