Environmental History

1
Environmental History

• By the account I am giving, it moves from reviews
  of environmental
• Policy (1950s), to
• Thought (1960s), to
• Technology (1960s/70s)
• Science (1970s),
• Gender (early 1980s), and
• Landscapes (mid-1980s-).

2
Environmental Movement

• Conservationism
• Preservationism
• Environmentalism
• Ecofeminism
• Deep Ecology -- philosophy
• Radical Environmentalism anarchism, socialism,
  etc.
• Global/ization (and) Ecological Change

3
Authors

• Samuel P. Hays (1959) Conservation and the Gospel
  of Efficiency. POLICY
• Roderick Nash (1967) Wilderness and the American
  Mind. THOUGHT
• Rachel Carson (1962) Silent Spring. Houghton
  Mifflin. TECHNOLOGY
• Donald Worster (1977). Nature's Economy The
  Roots of Ecology. SCIENCE
• Carolyn Merchant (1982) The Death of Nature.
  GENDER

4
Hays

• pp.2-3 Conservation was, above all, a scientific
  movement. Its essence was rational planning to
  promote the efficient development and use of all
  natural resources. It is from the vantage point
  of applied science, rather than of democratic
  protest, that one must understand the historic
  role of the conservation movement.

5
Hays II

• Conservationists bitterly opposed those who
  sought to withdraw resources from commercial
  development. Since resource matters were
  basically technical in nature, conservationists
  argued, technicians, rather than legislators,
  should deal with them. (p.3)

6
Hays III

• In the late 19th C many became convinced that
  national social problems could be solved by
  decentralizing population from urban centers.
  Many hoped that populating the west with Populist
  small farmers was the best way to go.
• Doing this depended on rationalizing resource
  use and leveling the settlement playing field
  see classic western movies for examples of power
  differentials.

7
Hays IV

• Populism, xenophobia, racism and under-population
  all combine here.
• Urban interests saw the west as a social safety
  valve, a way to relieve urban, immigrant unrest.
• Livestock, extractive and industrial interests
  (including labor) also demanded that foreign
  investment and immigration be terminated.
• Farmers did not want to compete with
  African-Americans, Asians or the wealthy (foreign
  or domestic) for American soil, water or markets.

8
Hays V

• In terms of people and environment,
  Conservationists wanted an organized, rational
  and efficient use of water, timber, range and
  mineral resources.
• At the same time, social Progressives sought
  organized, rational and efficient means of
  educating, acculturating assimilating immigrants
  with Scientific Social Work, Education and
  Criminal Justice.

9
Hays VI

• The key is that the general strategies for
  controlling the environment and the public was
  the same for Progressives and Conservationists.
• Science was the key and the model and elite
  natural scientists and social engineers would
  determine what was good for people and the
  environment.

10
Nash - Preservationism

• In contrast to Conservationisms interest in
  science and efficiency, Preservationism embraces
  spirituality and reflection.
• Nash will be next for a review at a later date.