Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ne of the most interesting books for understanding the Chinese system of timber trade during the Qing era. Zhang's book can be useful to us today because we are living in a time of deforestation of the Amazon, climate change, and problems with the actual economic system. The explanation provided by Zhang might be part of the solution for shaping humanity's common future." * H-Net *"Zhang's work is superlative... [T]his remarkable book belongs on the shelves and syllabi of any scholar interested in the economical and environmental history of early modern China." * Journal of Asian Studies *"For the reader unfamiliar with the details of imperial Chinese political economy, this is a work that is attentive to what you need to know. For the specialist it is skilled in logical weaving together of the impact of a complex set of institutions and practices. This should encourage wide readerhip among comparative historians as well as China scholars." * Journal of Chinese History *"This carefully constructed study makes a major contribution to Chinese economic and environmental history and to world-historical discourses on resource management, early modern commercialization, and sustainable development." * New Books Network *"At a time when the market has been seen as a main culprit for resource degeneration, Zhang’s study offers an important opportunity for us to reconsider the market–resource relationship. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese history, economic and environmental history, Chinese geography, resource management, sustainable forestry, market–environment relationships, and related topics." * China Review International *"Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars of early capitalism, regional political economy, historical resource economics, and the convergence of ecology and economics (a new Oikonomics?) will gain much from a careful, critical, and comparative reading of this remarkable and challenging book." * Environmental History *"Offering vivid insights into labourers, who played a crucial role in different stages of timber production, such as cutting, processing, and transportation, Zhang’s book fills a gap in current knowledge about the history of forest labourers." * International Review of Social History *"[An] original and fascinating new perspective on forest history in China…Scholars and students of global and East Asian environmental, forest, and economic history will find [this] new and insightful analysis very useful." * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *"An impressive and careful study of a subject unexplored in English. [Meng Zhang's] insights into the role of market forces in environmental management make a vital contribution to the field of environmental history." * American Historical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"By focusing in on those key wetlands as case studies, O’Gorman plots a rather more open-ended story-map that draws out the Basin’s water-management, from Deep Time to the present day. It enlarges the scale of its history to include the more-than-human world; it registers the aspirations as well as the inconsistencies of ‘progress’ and ‘sustainability’ and it gives rich, place-based readings that help us understand how we got here." * History Australia *"While focused on a single region, this globallyrelevant work makes a good contribution to the literature concerning wetland ecosystems." * Choice *"[T]his book mounts a new kind of multi-directional critique of modern conservation science that expands our understandings of ecological agency and colonial biopolitics. It depicts a world of nature and culture in relationship, offering a sensitive environmental history of the Murray-Darling Basin and of the diverse socioecological relationships grounded therein." * Australian Historical Studies *"Engangingly written and ambitious in its scope, Wetlands in a Dry Land adds complexity and nuance to our understanding of wetlands." * Bulletin of the Pacific Circle *"[A] phenomenal study from a master river historian that can help redefine the historiography of rivers." * H-Net *"Wetlands in a Dry Land is one of multiple books to be released about the Murray Darling Basin in recent years. What sets this text apart is O’Gorman’s impeccably detailed and considered research, her capacity to weave together contemporary place-based research with archival gems, the deep sensitivity and specificity through which she approaches First Nations’ culture and knowledge, and her capacity to articulate the more-than-human lives that shape these watery worlds." * Historical Records of Australian Science *"Emily O’Gorman beautifully weaves a tale of human and more-than-human existence in her book detailing the histories of Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. The basin consists of thirty thousand wetland areas, and she lays out an easy-to-follow history of how different stakeholders (of the human and nonhuman variety) have developed in conjunction with one another and with the land…One of the book’s greatest strengths comes in the form of its masterful storytelling." * Historical Geography *"I see Wetlands in a Dry Land as one of the most sensitive pieces of research relating to political ecologies of water in Australia, and indeed even globally…This is an important book which highlights the significance of drawing on multiple framings and multiple forms of enquiries to address the multiple issues which are exposed in this book’s multiple cases. Indeed, thinking with ‘the multiple’ will be crucial to remedying the long history of mismanagement that the MDB region has experienced under settler-colonial occupation." -- Taylor Coyne, University of New South Wales, Sydney * Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"By focusing in on those key wetlands as case studies, O’Gorman plots a rather more open-ended story-map that draws out the Basin’s water-management, from Deep Time to the present day. It enlarges the scale of its history to include the more-than-human world; it registers the aspirations as well as the inconsistencies of ‘progress’ and ‘sustainability’ and it gives rich, place-based readings that help us understand how we got here." * History Australia *"While focused on a single region, this globallyrelevant work makes a good contribution to the literature concerning wetland ecosystems." * Choice *"[T]his book mounts a new kind of multi-directional critique of modern conservation science that expands our understandings of ecological agency and colonial biopolitics. It depicts a world of nature and culture in relationship, offering a sensitive environmental history of the Murray-Darling Basin and of the diverse socioecological relationships grounded therein." * Australian Historical Studies *"Engangingly written and ambitious in its scope, Wetlands in a Dry Land adds complexity and nuance to our understanding of wetlands." * Bulletin of the Pacific Circle *"[A] phenomenal study from a master river historian that can help redefine the historiography of rivers." * H-Net *"Wetlands in a Dry Land is one of multiple books to be released about the Murray Darling Basin in recent years. What sets this text apart is O’Gorman’s impeccably detailed and considered research, her capacity to weave together contemporary place-based research with archival gems, the deep sensitivity and specificity through which she approaches First Nations’ culture and knowledge, and her capacity to articulate the more-than-human lives that shape these watery worlds." * Historical Records of Australian Science *"Emily O’Gorman beautifully weaves a tale of human and more-than-human existence in her book detailing the histories of Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. The basin consists of thirty thousand wetland areas, and she lays out an easy-to-follow history of how different stakeholders (of the human and nonhuman variety) have developed in conjunction with one another and with the land…One of the book’s greatest strengths comes in the form of its masterful storytelling." * Historical Geography *"I see Wetlands in a Dry Land as one of the most sensitive pieces of research relating to political ecologies of water in Australia, and indeed even globally…This is an important book which highlights the significance of drawing on multiple framings and multiple forms of enquiries to address the multiple issues which are exposed in this book’s multiple cases. Indeed, thinking with ‘the multiple’ will be crucial to remedying the long history of mismanagement that the MDB region has experienced under settler-colonial occupation." -- Taylor Coyne, University of New South Wales, Sydney * Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisConfronting the role of foodie culture in gentrificationHaving discovered the flavors of barbacoa, bibimbap, bánh mi, sambusas, and pupusas, white middle-class eaters are increasingly venturing into historically segregated neighborhoods in search of authentic eateries run byand forimmigrants and people of color. Fueled by media attention and capitalized on by developers, this interest in ethnic food and places contributes to gentrification, and the very people who produced these vibrant foodscapes are increasingly excluded from them. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, geographer Pascale Joassart-Marcelli traces the transformation of three urban San Diego neighborhoods whose foodscapes are shifting from serving the needs of longtime minoritized residents who face limited food access to pleasing the tastes of wealthier and whiter newcomers. The $16 Taco illustrates how food can both emplace and displace immigrants, shedding light on the larger process of gentrification and the emotional, Trade Review"Joassart-Marcelli explores high-level theories about race, ethnicity, economics, systemic racism, and other factors that shape the food system, and then situates those theories within the city of San Diego... And part of the power of this book comes from the reality that every city is home to the same kinds of stories that Joassart-Marcelli uncovered in San Diego." * Civil Eats *"The book offers a contextualized and complex account of the making and remaking of urban spaces through food, and avoids romanticizing or dismissing the everyday practices of local residents." * The AAG Review of Books *"Jossart-Marcelli’s work makes a useful contribution to the literature on urban evolution and the processes—demographic, political, and financial—that perpetuate cycles of neighborhood ascension, decline, and gentrification... As the geography and culture of urban foodscapes continue to grow and change, Jossart-Marcelli has given readers plenty to chew on." * The Journal of Urban Affairs *"The $16 Taco reflects the best of food-related research and writing today, as it links the foods that sustain each of us with social and cultural practices that shape the material spaces we inhabit." * California History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisConfronting the role of foodie culture in gentrificationHaving discovered the flavors of barbacoa, bibimbap, bánh mi, sambusas, and pupusas, white middle-class eaters are increasingly venturing into historically segregated neighborhoods in search of authentic eateries run byand forimmigrants and people of color. Fueled by media attention and capitalized on by developers, this interest in ethnic food and places contributes to gentrification, and the very people who produced these vibrant foodscapes are increasingly excluded from them. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, geographer Pascale Joassart-Marcelli traces the transformation of three urban San Diego neighborhoods whose foodscapes are shifting from serving the needs of longtime minoritized residents who face limited food access to pleasing the tastes of wealthier and whiter newcomers. The $16 Taco illustrates how food can both emplace and displace immigrants, shedding light on the larger process of gentrification and the emotional, Trade Review"Joassart-Marcelli explores high-level theories about race, ethnicity, economics, systemic racism, and other factors that shape the food system, and then situates those theories within the city of San Diego... And part of the power of this book comes from the reality that every city is home to the same kinds of stories that Joassart-Marcelli uncovered in San Diego." * Civil Eats *"The book offers a contextualized and complex account of the making and remaking of urban spaces through food, and avoids romanticizing or dismissing the everyday practices of local residents." * The AAG Review of Books *"Jossart-Marcelli’s work makes a useful contribution to the literature on urban evolution and the processes—demographic, political, and financial—that perpetuate cycles of neighborhood ascension, decline, and gentrification... As the geography and culture of urban foodscapes continue to grow and change, Jossart-Marcelli has given readers plenty to chew on." * The Journal of Urban Affairs *"The $16 Taco reflects the best of food-related research and writing today, as it links the foods that sustain each of us with social and cultural practices that shape the material spaces we inhabit." * California History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] methodologically innovative and rigorous work...The clarity the book offers in identifying the problems around the multiple framings of climate change makes it essential reading for scholars, development practitioners, government policymakers, and general readers interested in climate change and development, Bangladesh, or both." * H-Environment *"Accessible and eloquently written...[Dewan] convincingly shows that coherent policy ideas around climate change adaptation first and foremost tend to reflect the viewpoints and interests of policy actors themselves rather than those of the envisioned beneficiaries." * Journal of Peasant Studies *"A superb decolonial ethnography...Misreading the Bengal Delta is essential reading for anyone who wishes to think critically about climate change and its local effects, about the modes through which it is made legible, and about how superficial reading may be avoided through deep decolonial, historical, and ethnographic exegeses." -- Stefan Helmreich * American Anthropologist *"Camelia Dewan brilliantly illustrates how narratives of improvement have acted as metacodes from colonial time to modern day Bangladesh." * Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography *"Uniquely, this work focuses on a variety of ‘development brokers’ beyond the ubiquitous English-speaking Western development professionals. Through this focus on brokerage in the development-climate nexus, Dewan highlights the problematic power relations currently deciding climate knowledge production and, through it, advising adaptation projects which ‘misread’ the delta." * South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies *"[Dewan] unveils a perspective on the Bengal delta that is both very intriguing and insightful." * Water Alternatives Book Review *"Dewan’s account is a rich and nuanced portrayal of how climate change and development practitioners translate climate change into practice, and the effects that these translations have on local communities...A brilliant and urgent ethnography." * Anthropology Book Review *"Dewan’s book is a timely and well-critiqued ethnography of how development projects targeting to adapt to the impact of climate change can become maladaptation because of the missing local context." * Society and Culture in South Asia *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] methodologically innovative and rigorous work...The clarity the book offers in identifying the problems around the multiple framings of climate change makes it essential reading for scholars, development practitioners, government policymakers, and general readers interested in climate change and development, Bangladesh, or both." * H-Environment *"Accessible and eloquently written...[Dewan] convincingly shows that coherent policy ideas around climate change adaptation first and foremost tend to reflect the viewpoints and interests of policy actors themselves rather than those of the envisioned beneficiaries." * Journal of Peasant Studies *"A superb decolonial ethnography...Misreading the Bengal Delta is essential reading for anyone who wishes to think critically about climate change and its local effects, about the modes through which it is made legible, and about how superficial reading may be avoided through deep decolonial, historical, and ethnographic exegeses." -- Stefan Helmreich * American Anthropologist *"Camelia Dewan brilliantly illustrates how narratives of improvement have acted as metacodes from colonial time to modern day Bangladesh." * Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography *"Uniquely, this work focuses on a variety of ‘development brokers’ beyond the ubiquitous English-speaking Western development professionals. Through this focus on brokerage in the development-climate nexus, Dewan highlights the problematic power relations currently deciding climate knowledge production and, through it, advising adaptation projects which ‘misread’ the delta." * South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies *"[Dewan] unveils a perspective on the Bengal delta that is both very intriguing and insightful." * Water Alternatives Book Review *"Dewan’s account is a rich and nuanced portrayal of how climate change and development practitioners translate climate change into practice, and the effects that these translations have on local communities...A brilliant and urgent ethnography." * Anthropology Book Review *"Dewan’s book is a timely and well-critiqued ethnography of how development projects targeting to adapt to the impact of climate change can become maladaptation because of the missing local context." * Society and Culture in South Asia *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[O]ne of those rare works that combines practical benefits with broad scholarly significance . . . outstanding. Its original arguments, and the diversity of peoples contained within its pages—Vietnamese, Cham, Chinese, French, French colonial, Japanese, American—ensure that the book will matter to historians of Vietnam, the United States, and the world." * Journal of World History *"Presents the history of this area as a form of stratigraphy, excavating layers of sedimented past where multiple military conflicts occurred. . . . A very welcome addition to the growing field of environmental history on Vietnam and on war and environment generally." * Environmental History *"A very welcome addition to the growing field of environmental history on Vietnam and on war and environment generally." * Environmental History *"[O[ffers readers an intriguing new perspective on the long history of military conflict and occupation in central Vietnam by integrating environmental perspectivves with more traditional military and political histories..an inspiring application of robust historical research to solving modern environmental problems caused by war." * LSE Review of Books *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword: The Many Moments of Malthusianism, by Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments A Note Regarding Texts and Usage Introduction: On an Overgrown Path—Linking Population and Environmental History Part 1: Before Malthus From Anon., Certayne Causes Gathered Together, Wherin Is Shewed the Decaye of England (1552) From Giovanni Botero, The Cause of the Greatnesse of Cities (1635) From Gabriel Plattes, A Discovery of Infinite Treasure (1639) From John Graunt, Natural and Political Observations (1662) From Charles de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1750) From David Hume, "Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations" (1742) From Robert Wallace, A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind, in Antient and Modern Times (1753) From Benjamin Franklin, "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind" (1755) From Thomas Short, A Comparative History of the Increase and Decrease of Mankind in England (1767) From Richard Price, Observations on Reversionary Payments (1772) Part 2: The Malthus Wars From William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) From Marquis de Condorcet, Outlines of an Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind (1795) From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) From William Godwin, Of Population (1820) From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1826) From Thomas Robert Malthus, A Summary View of the Principle of Population (1830) From Mary Shelley, The Last Man (1826) Part 3: Evolving Debates From Charles Darwin, "Extracts from an Unpublished Work on Species" (1839) From Petr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) From W. Stanley Jevons, The Coal Question (1865) From Alfred Russel Wallace, "Free-Trade Principles and the Coal Question" (1873) From John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (1848) From John Ruskin, Unto This Last: Four Essays on the First Principles of Political Economy (1862) From Annie Besant, The Law of Population and Its Relation to Socialism (1886) From John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) From Aldous Huxley, "What Is Happening to Our Population?" (1934) From Josué de Castro, "The Cycle of the Crab" (1937) Part 4: The Population Bomb From William Vogt, The Road to Survival (1948) From Radhakamal Mukerjee, "Population Theory and Politics" (1941) From John Boyd Orr, The White Man’s Dilemma (1953) From Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (1968) From Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1968) From Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Malthus and America: A Report about Food and People (1974) From Barry Commoner, "A Bulletin Dialogue on The Closing Circle: Response" (1972) From Mahmood Mamdani, "The Ideology of Population Control" (1976) From Amartya Sen, "Famines as Failures of Exchange Entitlements" (1976) From Norman Borlaug, "The Green Revolution, Peace, and Humanity" (1970) From Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons (1990) From Julian Simon, "Resources, Population, Environment: An Oversupply of False Bad News" (1980) Part 5: The Malthus Wars Today From Jessica Tuchman Mathews, "Redefining Security" (1989) From Robert D. Kaplan, "The Coming Anarchy" (1994) From Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005) From Jack A. Goldstone, "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World" (2010) From John Beddington, "Professor Sir John Beddington's Speech at SDUK 09" (2009) From Joel E. Cohen, "Population and Climate Change" (2010) From Brian O'Neill et al., "Global Demographic Trends and Future Carbon Emissions" (2010) From Paul J. Crutzen, "Geology of Mankind" (2002) From Johan Rockström et al., "Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity" (2009) From Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment, "Women, Population, and the Environment: Call for a New Approach" (1993) From Betsy Hartmann, "Population, Environment and Security: A New Trinity" (1998) From Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations (1999) From Jade Sasser,"From Darkness into Light: Race, Population, and Environmental Advocacy" (2014) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword: The Many Moments of Malthusianism, by Paul S. Sutter Acknowledgments A Note Regarding Texts and Usage Introduction: On an Overgrown Path—Linking Population and Environmental History Part 1: Before Malthus From Anon., Certayne Causes Gathered Together, Wherin Is Shewed the Decaye of England (1552) From Giovanni Botero, The Cause of the Greatnesse of Cities (1635) From Gabriel Plattes, A Discovery of Infinite Treasure (1639) From John Graunt, Natural and Political Observations (1662) From Charles de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1750) From David Hume, "Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations" (1742) From Robert Wallace, A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind, in Antient and Modern Times (1753) From Benjamin Franklin, "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind" (1755) From Thomas Short, A Comparative History of the Increase and Decrease of Mankind in England (1767) From Richard Price, Observations on Reversionary Payments (1772) Part 2: The Malthus Wars From William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) From Marquis de Condorcet, Outlines of an Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind (1795) From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) From William Godwin, Of Population (1820) From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1826) From Thomas Robert Malthus, A Summary View of the Principle of Population (1830) From Mary Shelley, The Last Man (1826) Part 3: Evolving Debates From Charles Darwin, "Extracts from an Unpublished Work on Species" (1839) From Petr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) From W. Stanley Jevons, The Coal Question (1865) From Alfred Russel Wallace, "Free-Trade Principles and the Coal Question" (1873) From John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (1848) From John Ruskin, Unto This Last: Four Essays on the First Principles of Political Economy (1862) From Annie Besant, The Law of Population and Its Relation to Socialism (1886) From John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) From Aldous Huxley, "What Is Happening to Our Population?" (1934) From Josué de Castro, "The Cycle of the Crab" (1937) Part 4: The Population Bomb From William Vogt, The Road to Survival (1948) From Radhakamal Mukerjee, "Population Theory and Politics" (1941) From John Boyd Orr, The White Man’s Dilemma (1953) From Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (1968) From Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1968) From Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Malthus and America: A Report about Food and People (1974) From Barry Commoner, "A Bulletin Dialogue on The Closing Circle: Response" (1972) From Mahmood Mamdani, "The Ideology of Population Control" (1976) From Amartya Sen, "Famines as Failures of Exchange Entitlements" (1976) From Norman Borlaug, "The Green Revolution, Peace, and Humanity" (1970) From Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons (1990) From Julian Simon, "Resources, Population, Environment: An Oversupply of False Bad News" (1980) Part 5: The Malthus Wars Today From Jessica Tuchman Mathews, "Redefining Security" (1989) From Robert D. Kaplan, "The Coming Anarchy" (1994) From Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005) From Jack A. Goldstone, "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World" (2010) From John Beddington, "Professor Sir John Beddington's Speech at SDUK 09" (2009) From Joel E. Cohen, "Population and Climate Change" (2010) From Brian O'Neill et al., "Global Demographic Trends and Future Carbon Emissions" (2010) From Paul J. Crutzen, "Geology of Mankind" (2002) From Johan Rockström et al., "Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity" (2009) From Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment, "Women, Population, and the Environment: Call for a New Approach" (1993) From Betsy Hartmann, "Population, Environment and Security: A New Trinity" (1998) From Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations (1999) From Jade Sasser,"From Darkness into Light: Race, Population, and Environmental Advocacy" (2014) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTake a closer look into the secret worlds of the intertidal zoneA spectacular variety of life flourishes between the ebb and flow of high and low tide. Anemones talk to each other through chemical signaling, clingfish grip rocks and resist the surging tide, and bioluminescent dinoflagellatessingle-celled algaelight up disturbances in the shallow water like glowing fingerprints. This guidebook helps readers uncover the hidden workings of the natural world of the shoreline. Richly illustrated and accessibly written,Between the Tides in Washington and Oregonilluminates the scientific forces that shape the diversity of life at each beach and tidepoolperfect for beachgoers who want to knowwhy. Features include profiles of popular and off-the-beaten-track sites to visit along the Greater Salish Sea, Puget Sound, and Washington and Oregon coasts the fascinating stories behind both common and less familiar species a lively introduction to how coastal ecosystems work and why no two beaches Trade Review"Outdoorsyfolks, budding naturalists and sea glass collectors will enjoy this beautifully photographed new guide." * Seattle Times *"The enthusiasm the authors have for their topic is genuine and they share remarkable stories of the dynamic interface between ocean and continent as it plays out every day here in the Northwest. There’s real drama here: predation, invasive species, environmental extremes on a twice daily basis as the tides ebb and flow, and eating and sexual mechanics that boggle the imagination. This information truly will help you think more comprehensively about which marine species live where along our coastline, and why." * Coast Weekend *"This book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the marine ecology of the region." * Birdbooker Report *"[T]he ultimate guide to exploring different areas at low tide." * KING 5 - Evening *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Altogether, Spawning Modern Fish succeeds resoundingly in its intentions...Because it addresses so many audiences effectively, Swanson’s study will help us realize one of multispecies ethnography’s hopes and promises. We can think with salmon toward how new, better, and more just relations among uneven arrangements of humans and nonhumans might be built." * H-Environment *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Altogether, Spawning Modern Fish succeeds resoundingly in its intentions...Because it addresses so many audiences effectively, Swanson’s study will help us realize one of multispecies ethnography’s hopes and promises. We can think with salmon toward how new, better, and more just relations among uneven arrangements of humans and nonhumans might be built." * H-Environment *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntensifying droughts and competing pressures on water resources foreground water scarcity as an urgent concern of the global climate change crisis. In India, individual, industrial, and agricultural water demands exacerbate inequities of access and expose the failures of state governance to regulate use. State policies and institutions influenced by global models of reform produce and magnify socio-economic injustice in this water bureaucracy.Drawing on historical records, an analysis of post-liberalization developments, and fieldwork in the city of Chennai, Leela Fernandes traces the configuration of colonial historical legacies, developmental-state policies, and economic reforms that strain water resources and intensify inequality. While reforms of water governance promote privatization and decentralization, they strengthen the state centralized control over water through city-based development models. Understanding the political economy of water thus illuminates the consequent failTrade Review"Leela Fernandes’s Governing Water in India is a tour de force, analyzing the politics of reform and bureaucracy, and calibrating and deepening insights into India’s unequal social fabric...Nuanced, rigorous, and refreshingly original." * Current History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Leela Fernandes’s Governing Water in India is a tour de force, analyzing the politics of reform and bureaucracy, and calibrating and deepening insights into India’s unequal social fabric...Nuanced, rigorous, and refreshingly original." * Current History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Michael Dwyer’s engaging analysis of upland geopolitics shows that Laos has been the mother of many outlandish ideas, but these ideas have had real, material, environmental and political consequences." * Journal of Peasant Studies *"This book and its focus not only raise critical questions about the stories of Laos but about how scholars can contribute to a lineage of attempts at understanding Southeast Asia in the world. This book and the questions it raises will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on natural resource governance, land grabbing, transnational investment, political ecology, and geopolitics, within and beyond Southeast Asia." * Eurasian Geography and Economics *"With an innovative methodology which accepts complexity rather than obliterating it, Upland Geopolitics epitomizes the difficulties and the struggles that state administrators face in their strive to project state power on a territory over which they proclaim sovereignty." * Asia Major *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Michael Dwyer’s engaging analysis of upland geopolitics shows that Laos has been the mother of many outlandish ideas, but these ideas have had real, material, environmental and political consequences." * Journal of Peasant Studies *"This book and its focus not only raise critical questions about the stories of Laos but about how scholars can contribute to a lineage of attempts at understanding Southeast Asia in the world. This book and the questions it raises will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on natural resource governance, land grabbing, transnational investment, political ecology, and geopolitics, within and beyond Southeast Asia." * Eurasian Geography and Economics *"With an innovative methodology which accepts complexity rather than obliterating it, Upland Geopolitics epitomizes the difficulties and the struggles that state administrators face in their strive to project state power on a territory over which they proclaim sovereignty." * Asia Major *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a superb look at scientists and science at work." * Publishers Weekly *"The book is richly illustrated, supporting Wagner's evocative description of both the site and the procedures of the scientists he followed, a true window into the world of field science." * Choice *"Author Eric Wagner takes a lively, enthusiastic look at the post-eruption landscape." * The Oregonian *"Readers interested in the Pacific Northwest and historical ecology have much to glean from this carefully rendered portrait of an exceptional research community and iconic place." * Oregon Historical Quarterly *"It is a wonderful story that combines ecology, sociology, and anthropology to paint a picture of nature that can give us a feeling of hope." * In Defense of Plants *"Wagner has told an excellent story of nature in response to an extreme event and the resilience of ecosystems. There is a perfect blend of describing core ecological theories, the individuals conducting the research, and the passion many ecologists share for understanding natural systems. The book also has an inherent positivity, showing that life finds a way through the destruction of a volcanic eruption, that it makes for an enjoyable read beyond the ecological details." * Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America *"Like the seeds of lupine, Mount St. Helens is fortunate that such a writer landed on its soil, turning desolation into fertile ground." * Natural History Magazine *"Marvelous... Wagner's book highlights the amazing work done by a cast of characters who were among the first scientists to arrive at the blast site. More urgently, it chronicles nature's resiliency and the power of our ecosystems to restore and reinvent themselves." * Post Alley *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Hough presents a well-researched narrative...Interesting read, tracing the history of this seismic and scientific debate." * Choice *"Seismologist Susan Hough's account offers a revealing glimpse of the personalities and issues within America's geologic community in the early twentieth century. But it also can be read as a cautionary tale about science and society." * Natural History Magazine *"Hough's book...touches the history of a subfield of earth science that has been only rarely studied before: seismology." * H-Net *"This book is historical and biographical writing at its very best." * Environment and History *"The Great Quake Debate gives all readers—historians, scientists, and interested non-experts—excellent insights into the unfolding of scientific community and scientific investigations of earthquakes in the United States, a topic crucial to public and private life then, and still." * Pacific Historical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Morrissey clearly conveys the benefits that a new materialist perspective can give to his audience. Perhaps Morrissey's book will encourage further collaboration between theoretical philosophy and history. With this refreshing environment-history-philosophy hybrid approach, readers can reflect on how much autonomy human communities have had, or have not had, throughout history when actors like bison, climate, plants, and other non-human entities were in play." * World History Encyclopedia *"A compelling book...People of the Ecotone shines as an example of how focusing on “the place where they lived” enables new histories about Indigenous peoples before, during, and after colonial encounters. It is a must read for historians of the colonial Mississippi valley and definitely a should read for other environmental historians, early Americanists, and Indigenous studies scholars." * H-Environment *"Morrissey’s excellent book traces the deep history of the ecotone and asks profoundly interdisciplinary questions about the contingencies, choices, and interactions that shaped Indigenous worlds of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries." * William and Mary Quarterly *"Morrissey reveals the intersection of ecological forces that shaped an icredible, dynamic interplay of people and tall grass prairie and forest ecosystems in the Indigenous borderlands of the Midwest. Morrissey focuses his well-crafted narrative on the ecological relationships that shaped the lives of the Illini, Miami, Meskwaki peoples." -- Western History Association Hal K. Rothman Book Prize committee"People of the Ecotone is a captivating analysis of the ways in which the peculiar environmental characteristics of the Illinois River Valley and the larger prairie peninsula redefined Native American societies after the fall of Cahokia…I highly recommend this book for those interested in the complexities of Midwestern colonial and Native American histories." -- Stephen Warren, University of Iowa * Western Historical Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Morrissey clearly conveys the benefits that a new materialist perspective can give to his audience. Perhaps Morrissey's book will encourage further collaboration between theoretical philosophy and history. With this refreshing environment-history-philosophy hybrid approach, readers can reflect on how much autonomy human communities have had, or have not had, throughout history when actors like bison, climate, plants, and other non-human entities were in play." * World History Encyclopedia *"A compelling book...People of the Ecotone shines as an example of how focusing on “the place where they lived” enables new histories about Indigenous peoples before, during, and after colonial encounters. It is a must read for historians of the colonial Mississippi valley and definitely a should read for other environmental historians, early Americanists, and Indigenous studies scholars." * H-Environment *"Morrissey’s excellent book traces the deep history of the ecotone and asks profoundly interdisciplinary questions about the contingencies, choices, and interactions that shaped Indigenous worlds of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries." * William and Mary Quarterly *"Morrissey reveals the intersection of ecological forces that shaped an icredible, dynamic interplay of people and tall grass prairie and forest ecosystems in the Indigenous borderlands of the Midwest. Morrissey focuses his well-crafted narrative on the ecological relationships that shaped the lives of the Illini, Miami, Meskwaki peoples." -- Western History Association Hal K. Rothman Book Prize committee"People of the Ecotone is a captivating analysis of the ways in which the peculiar environmental characteristics of the Illinois River Valley and the larger prairie peninsula redefined Native American societies after the fall of Cahokia…I highly recommend this book for those interested in the complexities of Midwestern colonial and Native American histories." -- Stephen Warren, University of Iowa * Western Historical Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Cultivated Forest / Ian M. Miller, Bradley Camp Davis, and John S. Lee ix Chapter 1. Deforestation in Early China: How People Adapted to Wood Scarcity / Brian Lander Chapter 2. Forestry by Contract: Knowledge, Ownership, and the Written Record in South China / Ian M. Miller Chapter 3. Fighting over Nature: Resource Disputes in Central Japan during an Age of Instability, 1475–1635 / John Elijah Bender Chapter 4. The Sylvan Local: The Pine Protection Kye in Late Chosŏn Korea, 1700–1900 / John S. Lee Chapter 5. Frontier Timber in Southwest China: Market, Empire, and Identity / Meng Zhang Chapter 6. Splintered Habitats: The Fragmentation of Ecotone Northern China’s Imperial Woodland Complexes / David A. Bello Chapter 7. Camphor, Celluloid, and Colonialism: The Dutch East Indies and Colonial Taiwan in Comparative Perspective / Faizah Zakaria Chapter 8. Modern Trees for Backward China: Arbor Day and the Struggle against Ecological "Backwardness" in Republican China, 1911–1937 / Larissa Pitts Chapter 9. Sunny Slopes Are Good for Grain, Shady Slopes Are Good for Trees: Nuosu Yi Agroforestry in Southwestern Sichuan / Stevan Harrell, Amanda H. Schmidt, Brian D. Collins, R. Keala Hagmann, and Thomas M. Hinckley Glossaries of Plant Names and Non-Roman Characters Bibliography List of Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Fans of bears—and of hearty nature writing—will take pleasure in Chaney’s paean." * Kirkus Reviews *"Robert Chaney tells the story of grizzly bear as an icon and apredator. The book reads like a who’s who of scientists, authors, photographers, and Department of Interior battles that have focused on the grizzly for the past four decades." * The Missoulian *"A well-written and thought-provoking analysis of this pressing issue." * The Literary West *"Illustrated with stories and fortified with facts, Chaney reveals layers of complexity providing a multitude of perspectives in his thorough account." * Outside Bozeman *"[A] timely, important read about much more than how humans are trying to co-exist with such a formidable wild mammal. Chaney’s book raises moral questions about what kind of West we want to live in." * Billings Gazette *"Meticulous new research methods reveal fascinating insights into bear behavior. Author Robert Chaney has spent decades observing human-grizzly encounters and challenges traditional thinking about conservation and preserving the wild." * NPR Books *"A sobering but modestly optimistic tale of a wilderness icon that refuses to stay in the wilderness set aside for it." * Choice *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Homewaters is a sweeping exploration of how a place shapes lives. It begins with glaciers and volcanoes carving up Puget Sound, and examines early Native communities’ relationships with their environment, colonial exploitation of natural resources and efforts to better understand how keystone and emblematic species like salmon, orca, rockfish, herring, kelp and more are enduring the conditions of the Sound today." * Crosscut *"[A] highly readable and enjoyable account that connects seemingly disparate threads and weaves together a complex mix of science and humanities that’s greater than the sum of its parts – much like Puget Sound history itself." * MyNorthwest *"Opens readers’ eyes to the complexity of life in the Sound and the complexity of human history on and beside it." * Post Alley *"[A] fascinating exploration of how a place shapes the lives of the people and cultures that live along its shore from earliest times to the present day... Wonderful history and excellent read." * The Confluence *"David Williams has produced another engaging book covering the Pacific Northwest and how its past has shaped its present... Homewaters is an inspiring book, and we need more like it." * H-Net *"[A] captivating book about Puget Sound... David Williams has a clear, friendly style of writing, making the book an easy read for people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. He weaves together the history, geography, hydrology, ecology and anthropology of this unique waterbody, telling its story from ancient times to the present in a very personal and reflective way." * Western Historical Quarterly *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"In its contents and methods, this captivating case study has far broader relevance beyond its regional focus." * Choice *"While historians have produced studies of individual polities in the region before and after the imposition of imperial rule, The Camphor Tree and the Elephant is the first to situate this transition in a much larger environmental and religious perspective, thus providing a vibrant reevaluation of approaches to the Southeast Asian past." * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"In its contents and methods, this captivating case study has far broader relevance beyond its regional focus." * Choice *"While historians have produced studies of individual polities in the region before and after the imposition of imperial rule, The Camphor Tree and the Elephant is the first to situate this transition in a much larger environmental and religious perspective, thus providing a vibrant reevaluation of approaches to the Southeast Asian past." * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Cultivated Forest / Ian M. Miller, Bradley Camp Davis, and John S. Lee ix Chapter 1. Deforestation in Early China: How People Adapted to Wood Scarcity / Brian Lander Chapter 2. Forestry by Contract: Knowledge, Ownership, and the Written Record in South China / Ian M. Miller Chapter 3. Fighting over Nature: Resource Disputes in Central Japan during an Age of Instability, 1475–1635 / John Elijah Bender Chapter 4. The Sylvan Local: The Pine Protection Kye in Late Chosŏn Korea, 1700–1900 / John S. Lee Chapter 5. Frontier Timber in Southwest China: Market, Empire, and Identity / Meng Zhang Chapter 6. Splintered Habitats: The Fragmentation of Ecotone Northern China’s Imperial Woodland Complexes / David A. Bello Chapter 7. Camphor, Celluloid, and Colonialism: The Dutch East Indies and Colonial Taiwan in Comparative Perspective / Faizah Zakaria Chapter 8. Modern Trees for Backward China: Arbor Day and the Struggle against Ecological "Backwardness" in Republican China, 1911–1937 / Larissa Pitts Chapter 9. Sunny Slopes Are Good for Grain, Shady Slopes Are Good for Trees: Nuosu Yi Agroforestry in Southwestern Sichuan / Stevan Harrell, Amanda H. Schmidt, Brian D. Collins, R. Keala Hagmann, and Thomas M. Hinckley Glossaries of Plant Names and Non-Roman Characters Bibliography List of Contributors Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION Sarah R. Osterhoudt and K. Sivaramakrishnan FARMING AND FOOD 1 . THE FARMING OF TRUST: ORGANIC CERTIFICATION AND THE LIMITS OF TRANSPARENCY IN UTTARAKHAND, INDIA Shaila Seshia Galvin 2 . A "QUEER-LOOKING COMPOUND": RACE, ABJECTION, AND THE POLITICS OF HAWAIIAN POI Hi'ilei Julia Hobart URBAN ENVIRONMENTS 3 . HOW THE GRASS BECAME GREENER IN THE CITY: ON URBAN IMAGININGS AND PRACTICES OF SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN SWEDEN Cindy Isenhour 4 . CIRCULARITY AND ENCLOSURES: METABOLIZING WASTE WITH THE BLACK SOLDIER FLY Amy Zhang ENERGY AND ENERGY ALTERNATIVES 5 . LANDSCAPES OF POWER: RENEWABLE ENERGY ACTIVISM IN DINÉ BIKÉYAH Dana E. Powell and Dáilan J. Long 6 . DECOLONIZING ENERGY: BLACK LIVES MATTER AND TECHNOSCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE AMID SOLAR TRANSITIONS Myles Lennon NONHUMAN LIFE 7 . "THE GOAT THAT DIED FOR FAMILY": ANIMAL SACRIFICE AND INTERSPECIES KINSHIP IN INDIA'S CENTRAL HIMALAYAS Radhika Govindrajan 8 . PASSIVE FLORA? RECONSIDERING NATURE'S AGENCY THROUGH HUMAN-PLANT STUDIES John Charles Ryan CLIMATE, LANDSCAPE, AND IDENTITY 9 . IMAGINING THE ORDINARY IN PARTICIPATORY CLIMATE ADAPTATION Sarah E. Vaughn 10. WHAT THE SANDS REMEMBER Vanessa Agard-Jones LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS INDEX

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] beautifully, almost lyrically written study that blends science, perception, the human condition, the vagaries of ice, and much, much more. After reading this fascinating story, you will not look at and see glaciers the same way twice." -- Peter Boag * Mazama Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[A] beautifully, almost lyrically written study that blends science, perception, the human condition, the vagaries of ice, and much, much more. After reading this fascinating story, you will not look at and see glaciers the same way twice." -- Peter Boag * Mazama Magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"An eminently readable, elegantly precise treatise on the topic of batteries." * Science *"An enjoyable and accessible book...Many readers may be susceptible to the trap of wide-eyed idealism in terms of environmental activism and the 'clean energy future' Turner discusses in this book. He strikes a great balance between optimism and pessimism on that front; he puts a lot of things into historical and highly realistic perspective. In doing so, he provides a roadmap for people who actually want to achieve a clean energy future, pointing to the pitfalls previous engineers fell into or carved themselves, and advising how to learn from those mistakes and forge ahead." * H-Environment (H-Net) *"Engrossing and sobering, Charged is essential reading for anyone concerned about environment, energy, and the sustainable future." * H-Sci-Med-Tech (H-Net) *"The book provides readers with a valuable history of battery technology, the interdependency of batteries and the environment, and the challenge (and perhaps impossibility) of just energy transition policies." * Environmental History *"[A] careful and scrupulously referenced historical account of an important object: where [the battery] came from, its evolving influences on society, and where it might be taking us. . . . No one who thinks seriously about our energy future should neglect either Turner’s warnings or his hopes." * Literary Review of Canada *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisLooks at political and economic debates surrounding the valuation of gold and the emerging industrial economy that exploited its extraction in Alaska, and explores the ways in which a web of connections among America's transportation, supply, and marketing industries linked miners to other industrial and agricultural labourers across the country.Trade Review"The Nature of Gold is a tour de force of modern scholarship. It takes on special significance because few theoretical analyses of northern settlement, particularly in Alaska, have yet been written, and the Klondike gold rush is one of the first historical events newcomers to the field find themselves drawn to. This work will give them just the introduction they need to construct a meaningful understanding of northern history. ." * Pacific Northwest Quarterly *Table of ContentsForeword by William Cronon Acknowledgments Introduction: On the Chilkoot 1/The Culture of Gold 2/The Nature of the Journey 3/The Culture of the Journey 4/The Nature of Gold Mining 5/The Culture of Gold Mining 6/The Nature & Culture of Food 7/The Nature & Culture of Seattle Conclusion: Nature, Culture, and Value Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisConservation became the first nationwide political movement in American history to grapple with environmental problems like waste, pollution, resource exhaustion, and sustainability. This title places conservation in historical context, using the words of participants in and opponents to the movement.Trade Review"Stradling's selections are well chosen. Throughout the book he mixes the pro and the con, the technocratic and the popular, and a wide-cross section of topics. For this reason and its brevity, Stradling's collection is well suited for the classroom. Anyone with an interest in the environmental values of the progressive era should read this work as well. It will be time well spent." * H-Net *Table of ContentsForeword Preface Introduction Part 1: Defining and Debating Conservation Gifford Pinchot, "Principles of Conservation" Theodore Roosevelt, "Special Message from the President of the United States" William E. Smythe, "The Miracle of Irrigation" Ladies' Home Journal, "What Is Meant by Conservation?" George L. Knapp, "The Other Side of Conservation" H. J. M. Mattes, "Another National Blunder" Part 2: Perspectives on Wildlife Conservation George Bird Grinnell, "American Game Protection: A Sketch" Mabel Osgood Wright, "Keep on Pedaling!" William T. Hornaday, Our Vanishing Wild Life: Its Extermination and Preservation David Shepard Merrill, "The Education of a Young Pioneer in the Northern Adirondacks" Part 3: The Utility of "Conservation" Samuel Gompers, "Conservation of Our Natural Resources" J. Horace McFarland, "Shall We Have Ugly Conservation?" Mary Ritter Beard, "Civic Improvement" Irving Fisher, "National Vitality, Its Wastes and Conservation" Ellen H. Richards, Conservation by Sanitation: Air and Water Supply, Disposal of Waste Part 4: Smoke and Conservation in the City Charles A. L. Reed, "An Address on the Smoke Problem" Mrs. Ernest R. Kroeger, "Smoke Abatement in St. Louis" Herbert M. Wilson, "The Cure for the Smoke Evil" Ernest L. Ohle, "Smoke Abatement: A Report on Recent Investigations Made at Washington University" Part 5: Conservation, Preservation, and Hetch Hetchy Warren Olney, "Water Supply for the Cities About the Bay of San Francisco" E. T. Parsons, "Proposed Destruction of Hetch-Hetchy" John Muir, "Hetch Hetchy Valley" Bibliographical Essay Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores how questions of national identity become entangled with environmental concerns in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. This work provides an insight into the motivations of national governments in managing nature, and deals with the different kinds of regional political conflicts that invoke nationalist sentiment through claims on nature.Trade Review"The editors of this volume have begun a valuable process of understanding which must now be pursued." * Journal of Contemporary Asia *"The cases in Ecological Nationalisms— much too rich to summarize here— all take different positions on the relative importance of the ideas, interests, and identities activated or deployed in the politics of nature. . . . Beautifully produced, rich in content, and important; it is genuinely South Asian in scope and both international and interdisciplinary in execution." * Journal of Asian Studies *"Ecological Nationalisms, an edited volume of essays. . . is an ambitious and successful addition to the steadily growing literature on South Asian environmental history. . . . This work asks many good questions and should inspire subsequent research." * Environmental History *"[Ecological Nationalisms] opens the door to a remarkably wide body of research and enquiry. Most of the studies are not only very detailed but soundly based in an historical and conceptual background. The result is not easy reading but certainly provides an excellent base for understanding the interactive patterns at work in each of the areas studied.. it would be very valuable indeed to post-graduate students focusing on related problems and to senior practitioners." * Electronic Green Journal *"Informative and thought-provoking . . . Ecological Nationalisms is a must-read for serious scholars of South Asia studies." * American Anthropologist *Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors 1. Introduction: Ecological Nationalisms: Claiming Nature for Making History / K. Sivaramakrishnan and Gunnel Cederlof Part One | Regional Natures, Nations, and Empire 2. Environmental History, the Spice Trade, and the State in South India / Kathleen D. Morrison 3. The Toda Tiger: Debates on Custom, Utility, and Rights in Nature, South India 1820-1843 / Gunnel Cederlof 4. Contested Forests in North-West Pakistan: The Bureaucracy between the "Ecological," the "National," and the Realities of a Nation's Frontier / Urs Geiser Part Two | Competing Nationalisms 5. Indigenous Forests: Rights, Discourses, and Resistance in Chotanagpur, 1860-2002 / Vinita Damodaran 6. Nature and Politics: The Case of Uttarakhand, North India / Antje Linkenbach 7. Indigenous Natures: Forest and Community Dynamics in Meghalaya, North-East India / Bengt G. Karlsson 8. Sacred Forests of Kodagu: Ecological Value and Social Role / Claude A. Garcia and J.-P. Pascal Part Three | Commodified Nature and National Visions 9. Knowledge Against the State: Local Perceptions of Government Interventions in the Fishery (Kerala, India) / Gotz Hoeppe 10. Shifting Cultivation, Images, and Development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh / Wolfgang Mey 11. Forest Managementin a Pukhtun Community: The Construction of Identities / Sarah Southwold-Llewellyn 12. "There Is No Life Without Wildlife": National Parks and National Identity in Bardia National Park, Western Nepal / Nina Bhatt Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines the different trajectories of landscape change and land use among communities who call themselves Akha in political contexts. Drawing on anthropological debates on the state in Southeast Asia, this book shows how people live in a state of negotiated boundaries - political, social, and ecological.Trade Review"The way that Sturgeon brings both social and ecological data to bear on her research situates the book squarely in the burgeoning field of political ecology. But Border Landscapes is an exemplar of how this approach can be productive in answering questions that go well beyond environmental politics." * Canadian Geographers *"This is a highly interesting and multi-layered study. . . . based on diligent fieldwork and careful review of relevant historical literature. It engages a range of social science theories in a vigorous dialog. Its multinational comparative approach effectively opens a new vista for our understanding of interethnic affairs in both human and natural milieus." * Agricultural History *"This book is a rich and thoughtful analysis..Moreover, it should be noted that the book is attractively produced, with photographs and diagrams inserted in appropriate locations throughout. It should be read as an example of how both political and landscape changes are occurring in the real world, and as a groundbreaking analysis of the implications of these changes for people living in border regions." * Progress in Development Studies *"This book exemplifies political ecology that far surpasses the 'chains of expectations' associated with progressive contextualization..an impressively balanced account of biophysical and socioeconomical variables and how they are intertwined..yet never loses its focus on the linkages between environmental change and human agency at local, regional, national, and international scales." * The Geographical Review *"This book should certainly be read by anyone who cares about natural resource management, ethnic minorities, and issues of territory and state power in China, Thailand, and Myanmar. . . Sturgeon's comparative research design and methods serve as a model for the potential of interdisciplinary research." * Annals of the Association of American Geographers *"Border Landscapes is without doubt an important and very timely work.. But the significance of Sturgeon's work extends far beyond this fascinating region, to areas of cultural, political, and biological complexity worldwide." * Human Ecology *"Sturgeon admirably demonstrates how local people live with the reality of continually negotiated political, social and ecological boundaries between China and Thailand. . . . A scholarly, interesting and timely treatment of an important issue, the ever-changing and local nature of political and environmental transformation of a minority culture not just in a single political setting, but on the boundaries of multi-state formation and resource control." * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. The Production of Border Landscapes 2. The Production of Marginal Peoples and Landscapes: Resource Access on the Periphery 3. The Production of Borders: Sites for the Accumulation and Distribution of Resources 4. Small Border Chiefs and Resource Control, 1910 to 1997 5. Premodern Border Landscapes under Border Principalities 6. Landscape Plasticity versus Landscapes of Productivity and Rule: Akha Livelihoods under Nation-States Conclusion Appendix 1: Trees and Shrubs of Mengsong, China Appendix 2: Trees and Shrubs of Akhapu, Thailand Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Three cheers for Richard Walker's The Country in the City, as one of the first efforts to bring together a community-scale history of environmental activism and politics . . . . There is a wealth of information here, particularly pinpointing some of the specific individuals who spearheaded various activist campaigns to improve the area's environment." * Journal of Regional Science *"The Country in the City clearly and concisely relates the story of a major environmental success. That this was achieved through the diligent efforts of a concerned population should give hope to other such populations nationwide." * California History *"Walker presents a highly readable case study of the San Francisco Bay Area. . . . An excellent book for all libraries, especially those with regional and environmentalist holdings. Highly recommended." * Choice *"The Country in the City is a masterful and much-needed chronicle of the Bay Area's diverse ecopolitical scene. It is a fruitful serendipity that such a rich and wonderful place has a scholar who, with intelligence and affection, can gracefully capture its green evolution." * Orion *"Walker makes our landscape come alive as the arena of an ongoing struggle to figure out how to live lightly and well in this remarkable corner of the planet." * Bay Nature *"Meticulously and succinctly, Walker recounts the early vision and the prolonged determination that resulted in our precious—- and all-too-rare—- situation. He guides the reader through the first stirrings of environmental consciousness, which soon were followed by struggles to set aside preserves, then forestall depredations, and finally establish benign public policies to guide development and land management. After reading this book, even those who already possess a green tinge in their thinking will understand the promise and peril of modern times as never before." * San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors *"Readers of The Country in the City will enjoy immersing themselves in the Bay Area's story. Readers will see that just as nature made this place, so did people— and it's up to people to keep doing so." * Greenbelt Alliance *"In The Country in the City, a history of local conservation and environmental activism, Walker delivers a deeply loving paean to this place where he grew up and has lived and worked and been a political activist all of his life." * San Francisco Chronicle Book Review *Table of ContentsForeword: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally / William Cronon Preface Abbreviations Introduction: Saving Graces 1. Out of the Woods: Stirrings of Conservation 2. Fields of Gold: Resources at Close Quarters 3. Moving Outdoors: Parks for the People 4. The Upper West Side: Suburbia and Conservation 5. The Green and the Blue: Saving the Bay and the Coast 6. Encounters with the Arch-Modern: Regional Planning and Growth Control 7. Fasten Your Greenbelt: Triumph and Trust Funds 8. Sour Grapes: The Fight for the Wine Country 9. Toxic Landscapes: Beyond Open Space 10. Green Justice: Reclaiming the Inner City Conclusion: City and Country Reconciled? Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor over two hundred years, Catskill Mountains have been repeatedly and dramatically transformed by New York City. This text shows transformation of Catskills landscape as a collaborative process, one in which local and urban hands, and ideas have come together to reshape mountains and communities therein, with economic, and cultural consequences.Trade Review"Stradling has given us an entirely new understanding of the complex interrelations of the urban and rural landscape. This is an excellent history." * Environmental History *"Making Mountains is perhaps the best example yet of a small but growing literature that links urban, suburban, and rural space into a synthetic narrative of social and environmental change. Stradling neither dismisses rurality as a static and homogenous placeholder irrelevant until colonized by the suburbs nor privileges simplistic ideals, whether of wilderness or bucolic agrarianism, that do not reflect the complexity of life beyond the metropolis.. [A]n outstanding work of environmental and urban history that should remind scholars that despite the apparent distance between the two, the city and the country share a common history and a common future." * H-Net *"The main strength of this sophisticated book lies in Stradling's moving beyond stating the Catskills' importance in forming American ideals of the countryside and wilderness or describing its role in the early conservationist movement. His most sweeping conclusion holds that scholars' traditional 'imperial model,' emphasizing the dominant role of urban elites in transforming the environment, tells an incomplete story. In the Catskills, urban tourists, weekenders, and natives whose families named the landscapes together shaped— and shape— the region." * The Journal of American History *"Making Mountains [is] an engaging read [in] its focus on and exploration of the bridgeable chasm between the country and the city, the rural and the urban, the metropolis and the mountain chain, places of change and places of assumed stasis. . . . Making Mountains will be insightful for all scholars working on the friction and contentious contact zones and conditions that emerge when rural and urban realities and their cultural producers and discourses are brought into play." * Electronic Green Journal *"Making Mountains is a meticulously researched and intellectually focused piece of scholarship, but— clearly written, engaging, and full of telling anecdote— it is also designed to reach a wide audience." * New York History *Table of ContentsForeword Preface: The Haynes Family of Haynes Hollow Acknowledgments Introduction: Types of the Permanent and Unchanging 1) A Natural Resource 2) Envisioning Mountains 3) The Mountain Hotels 4) Making Wilderness 5) Mountain Water 6) Moving Mountains 7) A Suburb of New York Epilogue: Whose Woods These Are Notes Bibliographical Essay Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers a study based on extensive fieldwork as well as historical sources. This book examines the different trajectories of landscape change and land use among communities who call themselves Akha (known as Hani in China) in contrasting political contexts.Trade Review"The way that Sturgeon brings both social and ecological data to bear on her research situates the book squarely in the burgeoning field of political ecology. But Border Landscapes is an exemplar of how this approach can be productive in answering questions that go well beyond environmental politics." * Canadian Geographers *"This is a highly interesting and multi-layered study. . . . based on diligent fieldwork and careful review of relevant historical literature. It engages a range of social science theories in a vigorous dialog. Its multinational comparative approach effectively opens a new vista for our understanding of interethnic affairs in both human and natural milieus." * Agricultural History *"This book is a rich and thoughtful analysis..Moreover, it should be noted that the book is attractively produced, with photographs and diagrams inserted in appropriate locations throughout. It should be read as an example of how both political and landscape changes are occurring in the real world, and as a groundbreaking analysis of the implications of these changes for people living in border regions." * Progress in Development Studies *"This book exemplifies political ecology that far surpasses the 'chains of expectations' associated with progressive contextualization..an impressively balanced account of biophysical and socioeconomical variables and how they are intertwined..yet never loses its focus on the linkages between environmental change and human agency at local, regional, national, and international scales." * The Geographical Review *"This book should certainly be read by anyone who cares about natural resource management, ethnic minorities, and issues of territory and state power in China, Thailand, and Myanmar. . . Sturgeon's comparative research design and methods serve as a model for the potential of interdisciplinary research." * Annals of the Association of American Geographers *"Border Landscapes is without doubt an important and very timely work.. But the significance of Sturgeon's work extends far beyond this fascinating region, to areas of cultural, political, and biological complexity worldwide." * Human Ecology *"Sturgeon admirably demonstrates how local people live with the reality of continually negotiated political, social and ecological boundaries between China and Thailand. . . . A scholarly, interesting and timely treatment of an important issue, the ever-changing and local nature of political and environmental transformation of a minority culture not just in a single political setting, but on the boundaries of multi-state formation and resource control." * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. The Production of Border Landscapes 2. The Production of Marginal Peoples and Landscapes: Resource Access on the Periphery 3. The Production of Borders: Sites for the Accumulation and Distribution of Resources 4. Small Border Chiefs and Resource Control, 1910 to 1997 5. Premodern Border Landscapes under Border Principalities 6. Landscape Plasticity versus Landscapes of Productivity and Rule: Akha Livelihoods under Nation-States Conclusion Appendix 1: Trees and Shrubs of Mengsong, China Appendix 2: Trees and Shrubs of Akhapu, Thailand Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTraces shifting attitudes toward DDT and pesticides in general through a variety of sources: excerpts from scientific studies and government reports, advertisements from industry journals, articles from popular magazines, and the famous "Fable for Tomorrow" from "Silent Spring".Trade Review"DDT, Silent Spring, and the Rise of Environmentalism provides an important survey of petrochemical use in the postwar United States. It is both a thought-provoking text for undergraduates and a diverse collection of primary sources for scholars..Dunlap valuably provides a succinct overview of the complicated relationships between industry, environment, and the chemical debate." * Agricultural History *"Thomas R. Dunlap's purpose as editor is one of historian rather than judge; every essay—- no matter which side it argues from—- is precise, intelligent, and revealing of the biases and limits of the decade. Dunlap's introductions to each section adds hints of reflection and even redemption. Books like this remind people to treat today's new miracles with delicate care until they know where every path might lead." * ForeWord *Table of ContentsForeword by William Cronon Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1: BACKGROUND Views of Nature 1. Stephen A. Forbes, "The Ecological Foundations of Applied Entomology" 2. Leland O. Howard, "The War against Insects" -Pre-DDT Pesticides and DDT's Use in World War II 3. Paul Neal et al., "A Study of the Effects of Lead Arsenate Exposure on Orchardists and Consumers of Sprayed Fruit" 4. Paul Neal et al., "Toxicity and Potential Dangers of Aerosols, Mists, and Dusting Powders Containing DDT" Part 2: DDT'S BRIGHT PROMISE AND NEGLECTED PROBLEMS (1942-1958) DDT as Miracle Chemical 5. Brigadier General James Stevens Simmons, "How Magic is DDT?" 6. "Aerosol Insecticides" 7. Clay Lyle, "Achievements and Possibilities in Pest Eradication" -Early Warnings 8. Paul B. Dunbar, "The Food and Drug Administration Looks at Insecticides" 9. Clarence Cottam and Elmer Higgins, "DDT and Its Effect on Fish and Wildlife" Part 3: RISING CONCERN ABOUT NEW PROBLEMS DDT, Food Chains, and Wildlife 10. Roy J. Barker, "Notes on Some Ecological Effects of DDT Sprayed on Elms" 11. Editorial from Bird Study 12. Derek A. Ratcliffe, "The Status of the Peregrine in Great Britain" 13. Robert Rudd, Pesticides and the Living Landscape 14. Thomas R. Dunlap, Interview with Joseph J. Hickey 15. Robert S. Strother, "Backfire in the War against Insects" Part 4: THE STORM OVER SILENT SPRING Public Alarm 16. Morton Mintz, "'Heroine' of FDA Keeps Bad Drug Off Market" 17. Rachel Carson, "A Fable for Tomorrow" -Reactions 18. President's Science Advisory Committee, Use of Pesticides 19. Robert H. White-Stevens, "Communications Create Understanding" 20. Edwin Diamond, "The Myth of the 'Pesticide Menace'" 21. Robert Gillette, "DDT: Its Days are Numbered, Except Perhaps in Pepper Fields" Part 5: DDT AND MALARIA 22. Thomas Sowell, "Intended Consequences" 23. Thomas R. Hawkins, "Rereading Silent Spring" 24. May Berenbaum, "If Malaria's the Problem, DDT's Not the Only Answer" Notes on Further Reading Credits Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisPicking up where "The Informed Gardener" left off, this title uses scientific literature to debunk a new set of common gardening myths. It investigates the science behind each myth, reminding us that urban and suburban landscapes are ecosystems requiring their own particular set of management practices.Trade Review". . . a great ally in arming busy landscape practitioners with new approaches to making informed decisions." -- Rose Marques * Perspectives in Landscape Design *"Gardeners tend to separate gardens from nature, but Linda Chalker-Scott's The Informed Gardener Blooms Again plants nature back where it belongs." * Olympian *"Research scientist Linda Chalker-Scott is dedicated to bringing the latest scientific information to the gardening public." * Chicago Botanic Garden *"Readers will likely be fascinated with practices they didn't even know existed." * Klamath Falls Herald and News *"Linda Chalker-Scott's new collection of myth debunking about gardening is a welcome follow-up to her first book, The Informed Gardener . . . . Written in an easy-to-understand manner, with scientific reasoning, both of Chalker-Scott's books are perfect for the novice gardener and the pro." -- Marilyn Dahl * Shelf Awareness *"From the moment you see and then hold Linda Chalker-Scott's new book, The Informed Gardener Blooms Again, you know you have something special. The cover is simply beautiful; reminiscent of a treasured book handed down from generation to generation. And the book itself feels quite substantial as you hold it in your hands. Together, those initial impressions combine to tell you that this book is different from all the others. The bottom line? The Informed Gardener Blooms Again will save you time, effort and money. What more could you want from a book?" * Gardenofpossibilities.com *"I urge the serious gardener to read The Informed Gardener Blooms Again, and its companion The Informed Gardener. At best, we will become better-informed gardeners. At least, we will save a few hundred dollars a season, otherwise spent on nutrients that our gardens do not need." * BookPleasures.com *Table of ContentsPreface EVIDENCE-BASE GARDENING The Myth of Folklore Gardening The Myth of Companion Plantings The Myth of Biodynamic Agriculture - What's Wrong with My Plant?: An Initial Guide to Diagnosis UNDERSTANDING HOW PLANTS WORK The Myth of Foliar Feeding The Myth of Night Light The Myth of Red Leaves The Myth of Stoic Trees The Myth of Designer Trees The Myth of Uniform Plant Performance The Myth of Wilting Leaves The Myth of Winter Watering - Why Weeds Will Always Be in Your Garden HOW / WHAT / WHEN / WHERE TO PLANT The Myth of Arbor Day / Earth Day Planting in the West The Myth of Cloroxed Clippers The Myth of Protective Preservatives The Myth of Root Snorkels The Myth of Vehicular Vibration The Myth of Xeriscaping - How to Avoid Phosphate Overloads in Your Landscape Soils SOIL ADDITIVES The Myth of Extraordinary Epsom Salts The Myth of Gypsum Magic The Myth of Permanent Peatlands The Myth of Wondrous Water Crystals The Myth of Fish-friendly Soil Amendments - Tips for Creating and Maintaining Healthy Landscape Soils MULCHES The Myth of Allelopathic Wood Chips 153 The Myth of Nitrogen-nabbing Wood Chips 157 The Myth of Pathogenic Wood Chips 162 The Myth of Rubberized Landscapes 166 The Myth of Phytotoxic Yard Waste 172 - Why Buying Ladybugs for Your Garden is a Bad Idea MIRACLES IN A BAG / BOTTLE / BOX The Myth of Antitranspirants The Myth of Bubbly Compost Tea The Myth of Curative Kelp The Myth of the Magic Bullet The Myth of Milk and Roses The Myth of Weed-killing Gluten Index

Read more less