Ecology and Empire: Environmental History of Settler Societies

by Tom Griffiths (Editor), Libby Robin (Editor)

Overview

Ecology and Empire forged a historical partnership of great power -- and one which, particularly in the last 500 years, radically changed human and natural history across the globe. This book scrutinizes European expansion from the perspectives of the so-called colonized peripheries, the settler societies. It begins with Australia as a prism through which to consider the relations between settlers and their lands, but moves well beyond this to a range of lands of empire. It uses their distinctive ecologies and histories to shed new light on both the imperial and the settler environmental experience. Ecology and Empire also explores the way in which the science of ecology itself was an artifact of empire, drawing together the fields of imperial history and the history of science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295976679
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	07/01/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Editorial Reviews

A comparative environmental history using Australia as a case study. The 15 contributions also look at the US, South Africa, and Latin America in their exploration of environmental change as an unexplored aspect of colonialism. Specific topics include ecology and environmentalism in the Anglo settler colonies, water management in Australia, progressive heroes on Australia's ecological frontiers, and the Transvaal beef frontier as a locale for the discussion of markets and the ideology of development. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

In this important compilation of new work, Tom Griffiths and Libby Robin reflect on the nature of ecology and empire - combining the essences, as Griffith puts it, of power and innocence...The book sets itself apart from the typically self-regarding US tradition in environmental history by insisting on presenting environmental history on a regional and global comparative scale. 'Think locally, but act globally' becomes more than a bumper sticker in their capable hands. This text, already a primer in its field, will help anyone wishing to take up the task.

From the Publisher