Environmental History

Description

Part of the prestigious Ecological Economics and Human Well-being series, this volume is situated at the crossroads of two new sub-disciplines–ecological economics and environmental history. The common concern of environmental historians is to ask when and how humans have reshaped the earth and in turn how nature has influenced human choices. At a time of epochal economic and ecological change, there are new insights and debates into how economic and ecological processes are inseparable. This volume fills a vacuum by addressing precisely these concerns. Histories of environmental change and ecological economics are both cutting-edge disciplines, and this collection presents writings of some of the world's leading scholars on a range of topics. The conceptual essays explore issues of technology choice and energy options. Case studies from emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China take a rare look at the affinity between ecology and economics, covering topics as diverse as human migration and mining, deforestation, and the gene-based agricultural revolution. With contributions from the fields of sociology, history, ecology, and economics, in a language that is as lucid as the approach is sophisticated, this work is vital to anyone interested in a future that reconciles sustainability and equity. Scholars, teachers, and students of natural and social sciences, policymakers, and engaged citizens will find in it ideas that will both stimulate and inform.