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Film Offers Social Science Insights on How to Save the Planet

During the last 20 years, social scientists have published a vast research literature exploring what it will take to shift society onto a more sustainable path. Determined to share these results with a broader public, Paul Steinberg has worked with more than 100 students to create entertaining multimedia educational tools. Now one of those tools鈥攁n animated film 鈥攈as been accepted into the Wild & Scenic Film Festival slated for Jan. 9-12 in Nevada City, Calif.

Steinberg, the Malcolm Lewis Chair of Sustainability and Society and professor of political science and environmental policy, wrote and produced聽Who Rules the Earth?聽through a collaboration between 无忧视频 and the California Institute of Arts. It鈥檚 one of several works created as part of聽,聽which also includes a book to be published by Oxford University Press in fall 2014.

鈥淭he basic message of聽Who Rules the Earth?聽is simple: We need to take a close look at the rules that shape our daily behaviors and change them where necessary if we鈥檙e going to get society on a more sustainable path,鈥� said Steinberg, who serves as director of The Social Rules Project. 鈥淭he goal is to encourage people to move beyond the little things they can do for the planet鈥攔ide a bike or recycle a can鈥攖o become engaged citizens in rewriting the rules we live by.鈥�

The film tells the story of a young woman who takes a journey to uncover the forces that are ruining the planet. She is confronted with the harsh reality that society鈥檚 rules shape every aspect of her existence, from the health of her community to building designs and land ownership. Ultimately, she discovers that protecting the planet will take more than recycling or tree planting.

Like The Social Rules Project鈥檚 other multimedia tools鈥攖he videogame Law of the Jungle and its interactive website鈥攖he film employs entertainment as a vehicle for information and inspiration.

鈥淲e decided to use different multimedia approaches to take the ideas out of the research and make them more accessible for the broad public. The goal is to fuse research, activism and beauty within a compelling story,鈥� Steinberg said. 鈥淢y hope is that people will see their world in a different way and, through that understanding, have the tools they need to bring about real, lasting transformations in their communities.鈥�

Steinberg has spent the past 20 years studying biodiversity conservation and the human dimensions of global environmental problems. Before joining the Harvey Mudd faculty in 2003, he was a visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.聽He also served as founding director of a new policy program at RARE Conservation and as a research consultant to The World Bank and Conservation International.
He is the author of three books:聽Who Rules the Earth?聽(Oxford University Press),Comparative Environmental Politics聽(MIT Press) and聽Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries聽(MIT Press), which won the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for the best book in international environmental affairs.