Brian J. Gareau

Brian J. Gareau (born November 8, 1973) is an environmental sociologist at Boston College whose scholarship concerns global environmental governance, ozone layer protection, climate change, social theory, and agri-food systems. His books include From Precaution to Profit, Environments, Natures and Social Theory, and Organic Futures, which have been reviewed in academic journals including the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Rural Sociology, Society & Natural Resources, and the Journal of Design History.

Books and reception Gareau's scholarship has examined the political economy of global environmental agreements, the relationship between scientific knowledge and policy-making, and the governance of agri-food systems.

From Precaution to Profit Gareau's book From Precaution to Profit: Contemporary Challenges to Environmental Protection in the Montreal Protocol was published by Yale University Press in 2013 in the Yale Agrarian Studies Series. The book analyzes disputes over methyl bromide regulation within the Montreal Protocol and argues that neoliberal political-economic pressures and contests over scientific authority weakened environmental protection efforts. In Social Forces, Wesley Longhofer described the book's ethnographic analysis of how science, politics, and market interests interacted in Montreal Protocol negotiations as "top notch" and wrote that its theoretical contributions were "subtle yet novel".

Daniel Aldana Cohen's review in the Journal of World-Systems Research described the book as using ethnographic and historical research to show how global inequalities and state-business relations shaped Montreal Protocol negotiations, while also raising questions about the book's periodization of neoliberal environmental governance. In the Journal of Political Ecology, Deborah Scott described the book as a cautionary account of international environmental governance under neoliberalism and emphasized its treatment of science and knowledge within environmental treaty-making. In Rural Sociology, Chris R. Colocousis called the book timely for debates over environmental governance and climate policy, while also criticizing aspects of its organization and execution. David Downie reviewed the book in Global Environmental Politics. Choice rated the book "Essential" for upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

Environments, Natures and Social Theory With Damian F. White and Alan P. Rudy, Gareau co-authored Environments, Natures and Social Theory: Towards a Critical Hybridity, published by Palgrave Macmillan in its Themes in Social Theory series. The book surveys environmental social theory, ecological politics, and approaches to nature-society relations.

In Society & Natural Resources, Jeff Rose described the book as an interdisciplinary engagement with social theories informing environmental politics, management, and ethics, and wrote that it provided a broad typology of perspectives and discourses in ecological politics. In Antipode, Harold A. Perkins described the book as well suited to graduate teaching on nature and social theory and identified its discussion of global environmental governance and the Montreal Protocol as a particularly developed part of the text.

Organic Futures With Connor J. Fitzmaurice, Gareau co-authored Organic Futures: Struggling for Sustainability on the Small Farm, published by Yale University Press in 2016 in the Yale Agrarian Studies Series. The book uses ethnographic research on a New England organic farm to examine the relationship between sustainability, markets, and small-scale agriculture.

The book was reviewed in Agriculture and Human Values, Rural Sociology, and Society & Natural Resources. In Rural Sociology, Alanna K. Higgins described the book as a well-constructed contribution to social, political, and economic questions about food-system alternatives and emphasized its ethnographic treatment of small-scale organic farmers. Later work has examined climate change and cranberry production in New England, including articles in PLOS ONE, Climatic Change, the Journal of Rural Studies, and PLOS Climate.

Selected works

Gareau, Brian J. From Precaution to Profit: Contemporary Challenges to Environmental Protection in the Montreal Protocol. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013. White, Damian F.; Rudy, Alan P.; and Brian J. Gareau. Environments, Natures and Social Theory: Towards a Critical Hybridity. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Fitzmaurice, Connor J., and Brian Gareau. Organic Futures: Struggling for Sustainability on the Small Farm. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.