This article analyses the fragile emergence of the research in the field of environmental sociology in the past thirty years in France and its gradual recognition and visibility from the early 2000s. Through existing reflective assessments and selected research papers, it offers a retrospective of the ideas produced by environmental sociology in France, addressing the themes studied and the theoretical frameworks used in relation to science and, followed by scientists’ positions, a sensitive aspect with regard to the place taken up by environmental issues in the public space.