Slide 2: Definition of Environmental History
Environmental Outline
Jessica Keys
Erica Reynolds
Luke Stowell
Slide 2: Definition of Environmental History
• Environmental History has no universally accepted definition.
• Can be described as how we perceive our environment to be the way it is, and how humanity has influenced the condition of the environment.
• According to J. Donald Hughes, the definition of environmental history is “The study of human relationships through time with the natural communities of which they are a part in order to explain the processes of change that affect that relationship.”
• In the perspective of Donald Worster, environmental history can be defined as “the interaction between human cultures and environmental in the past.”
• John Mcniell defines environmental history as “The history of the mutual relations between humankind and the rest of nature.”
Slide 3: Major Factors
- Is it safe for us to assume that interactions between different cultures, and the nature of human temperament are in relation to our surroundings?
- We have had number of provocative studies of ideas associated with the conquest of the American continent.
- In discussing Environmental History, the perspective of a distinct natural condition as well as a symbolic construct in order for analysis.
- The ideas and influences of prominent individuals in the field of environmental history allow us to discover fresh, new, and inverted perspectives.
Slide 4: Ecological Analysis
- "As a method, environmental history is the use of ecological analysis as a means of understanding human history ... an account of changes in human societies as they relate to changes in the natural environment.”
- This is the argument that J. Donald Hughes is presenting the environmental history of the world in the form of a comprehensive survey beginning with basic principles.
- Ecology can be defined as the branch of biology dealing with the relations and the interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.
- Breaking this down a little further, we, human beings are organisms, and we have interactions with other human beings from different cultures and ethnic groups in different environments on Earth.
- In relation to environmental history, key events have had historical influence considering the human interaction and environmental conditions existing during the time of the event.
Slide 5:
- In 2003 McNeill suggested that environmental history was "... the history of the mutual relations between humankind and the rest of nature"
- As a subfield of history, environmental history is an established discipline that argues that traditional history is human history. Also, considered to be the story of people and their institutions.
- Anthropocentrism becomes less reflective within the larger context, though the subject has anthropogenic change as the focal point of its narrative.
- Anthrpocentrism- interpreting or regarding the world in terms of human values and experiences
Slide 6: Transformation of the Globe’s Ecology
- Theme 1- Neolithic Revolution, a.k.a the Agricultural Revolution- was a lifestyle transition for many human cultures of hunting and gathering to a lifestyle of agriculture and settlement. This allowed the ability for societies to support an increasingly large population.
- Theme 2- Technological Revolution – only reflects a short period in history technology is constantly replace by newer and better technologies. ( There is also no clear definition for the difference between technological revolution and technological change, but both of them include inventions, innovations, diffusion of technology or processes.
- Theme 3- Imperialism or Colonial Expansion- “The term imperialism has been applied to Western (and Japanese) political and economic dominance especially in Asia and Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its precise meaning continues to be debated by scholars. Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more broadly to describe any system of domination and subordination organized with an imperial center and a periphery. From a Marxist perspective, imperialism is a natural feature of a developed capitalist nation state as it matures into monopoly capitalism.”
- Theme 4- Urbanization - the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent communities. In addition to describing a particular form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. According to Paul Ward, “the increasingly sophisticated history of colonization and migration can take on an environmental aspect, tracing the pathways of ideas and species around the globe and indeed is bringing about an increased use of such analogies and ‘colonial’ understandings of processes within European history.” . As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, we will begin to eliminate the large pools of low-cost workers that live in modern, rural areas.
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Slide 7
- Environmental history can be viewed as bridging the gap between arts and natural sciences.
- An important point to address is whether environmental advocacy can detract from scholarly objectivity. This is an area in which most research has been done by non-historians,
- Paul Warde sees a lack of "human agency" in its texts and suggest it be written more to act: as a source of information for environmental scientists.
- “Many of the themes of environmental history inevitably examine the circumstances that produced the environmental problems of the present day, a litany of themes that challenge global sustainability including: population, consumerism and materialism, climate change, waste disposal, deforestation and loss of wilderness, industrial agriculture, species extinction, depletion of natural resources, invasive organisms and urban development.” Hughes, J Donald (2006). What is Environmental History? (What is History Series). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Useful References
"Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England Revised Edition." Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England: William Cronon, John Demos:
Nash, Roderick. Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven: Yale UP, 1973. Print.
Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism.Vintage Publishers, 1994. P.9
"What Is Environmental History?" Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2015. "Wilderness and the American Mind: Fifth Edition Paperback – January 28, 2014." Wilderness and the American Mind: Fifth Edition: Roderick Frazier Nash
Warde, Paul & Sorlin, Sverker (2007). "The Problem of the Problem of Environmental History: A Re-reading of the Field and its Purpose". Environmental History