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The book goes beyond immediate concerns about the Anthropocene, an epoch where humans are akin to a geological force reshaping nature. It traces specific stories of how when and where societies have reshaped ecosystems with varying outcomes. Resilience as much as collapse, a remaking of nature as much as an unmaking of its fabric get due attention. The collection goes beyond Europe and North America, to the Indian Ocean, Africa, South East and West Asia, examining amosaic of experiences. The global possible rests on our ability to know the parts as well as the larger picture in a longtime perspective.
List of contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Nature and History: An Introduction
- Gunnel Cederlöf and Mahesh Rangarajan
- 1: Kathleen D. Morrison: Provincializing the Anthropocene: Eurocentrism in the Earth System
- 2: Vasudha Pande: Anthropogenic Landscapes of the Central Himalayas
- 3: Michael Adams: Wild Children
- 4: Anneli Ekblom: An Historical Ecology of Cattle in Mozambique
- 5: Harini Nagendra: Wild Beasts in the City
- 6: Sandra Swart: History Eats its Young: The Perils of Short-Termism in Understanding the Past
- 7: Alon Tal: Going, Going, Gone: A History of Israel's Biodiversity
- 8: David Biggs: History and the Militarized Landscape: Long Historical and Broad Social Views
- 9: Ravi Agarwal: Natural' No More? Delhi's Yamuna River
- 10: Sunil Amrith: South Asia's Coastal Frontiers
- 11: Rohan Arthur: Narratives from Indian Seas: Marine Resource Use, Ecosystem Responses, and Accidents of History
- 12: T. R. Shankar Raman: Expanding Nature Conservation: Considering Wide Landscapes and Deep Histories
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Editors and Contributors
About the author
Gunnel Cederlöf is Professor of History, Centre for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Mahesh Rangarajan is Professor of History and Environmental Studies, Ashoka University, Haryana, India.
Summary
In an epoch when environmental issues make the headlines, this is a work that goes beyond the everyday. Ecologies as diverse as the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean coast, the Negev desert and the former military bases of Vietnam, or the Namib desert and the east African savannah all have in common a long-time human presence and the many ways people have modified nature. With research covering countries from Asia, Africa, and Australia, the authors come together to ask how and why human impacts on nature have grown in scale and pace from a long pre-history.
The chapters in this volume illumine specific patterns and responses across time, going beyond an overt centring of the European experience. The tapestry of life and the human reshaping of environments evoke both concern and hope, making it vital to understand when, why, and how we came to this particular turn in the road. Eschewing easy labels and questioning eurocentrism in today's climate vocabulary, this is a volume that will stimulate rethinking among scholars and citizens alike.
![Gunnel Cederl]of, Gunnel Cederlof, Gunnel Cederlöf, Mahesh Rangarajan - At Nature's Edge - The Global Present and Long-Term History](https://blob.cede.ch/books/194000000/194464000/194464631_17.jpg?v=1)