Environment - Society's Negative "phase Transition"

Relationship between society and environment is the focus of environmentalsociological research. The issue is particularly important for our country. At present,China has entered the period of highlights environmental issues and social transition.In this context, environmental problems are intertwined with social issues, and there ismutual influence between each other. The impact in rural areas is particularly evident.However, this issue has not yet been given sufficient attention, lacking of in-depthresearch and empirical analysis.The research is started on the basis of environmental sociology, and "phase transition"is selected as the logical starting point for research. In the article, the author haschosen to take Zhelin town as an example to be researched by means of investigatingfields. This research will explore interaction and transformation process betweenenvironmental issues and social problems of Zhelin town since 20^th century 90's, fromeconomic, social and cultural dimensions. The study results show that:First, in the economic dimension, ordinary people and the Government are stillnegative towards environmental issues, and social problems such as decline in incomeand short-term behavior has exacerbated environmental problems.Second, in the social dimension, environmental issues affect people of different statusin different ways, and thus exacerbated the phenomenon of social injustice.Environment injustice is a manifestation of social injustice.Third, environmental change speeds up social transformation and collapses thetraditional social structure and the local culture. On the other hand, moral deficienciesin the process of social transformation have exacerbated the deterioration of theenvironment.Based on the empirical analysis, the conclusion is that, there is interaction betweensocial issues and environmental problems in rural areas in the context of socialtransformation. Environmental problem is due to people's irrational utilization ofnatural resources, and at the same time it is related with the unreasonable allocation ofsocial resources. To some extent environmental issues is a catalyst for socialtransformation, and moral crisis accompanied by a variety of social transformationhas further exacerbated the environmental problems.At present, there is negative transformation between environment and society in ruralareas. Further studies are needed to resolve the current conflicts and to promote thepositive transformation between them.