Books and special issues
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020
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Minding Nature, 2020
What happens when a coronavirus pandemic breaks out in the middle of a Cornell University undergr... more What happens when a coronavirus pandemic breaks out in the middle of a Cornell University undergraduate course in environmental ethics? This collection is the beautiful, extraordinary result of both tragedy and hope.
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Journal of Energy History / Revue d'Histoire de l'Énergie , 2019
In this special issue, we argue that light(s) and darkness(es) should be understood in their mult... more In this special issue, we argue that light(s) and darkness(es) should be understood in their multiplicity, and that they constitute two aspects of the same phenomenon. They should, therefore, be studied in relation to each other. The complex dynamics of light and dark are more integral to the history of art than other fields, thus offering models for a relational approach to empirical studies beyond this discipline. Drawing on this work, this special issue aims to challenge reductionist frameworks that focus on light alone, without reference to darkness. It explores some of the nuances of light/darkness created by candle, kerosene, oil, gas, and electricity, teasing out the diverse, sometimes contradictory meanings and experiences of light(s) and darkness(es) in the past. It thus aims to study the juxta-position of light and dark, placing this seeming contrast in dialogue with broader conversations in the history of energy, environmental history, the history of science and technology, as well as the history of representations. Acknowledgments We would like to thank the authors, the members of the journal's editorial board (especially Alain Beltran, Léonard Laborie, and Céline Berrier-Lucas), and the anonymous reviewers for their support of this special issue.
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Environment and Planning A, 2016
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University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013
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Harvard University Press, 2011
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Articles and book chapters
The night has historically been neglected in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. To... more The night has historically been neglected in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. To some extent, this is not surprising, given the diurnal bias of human researchers, and the difficulty of performing work at night. The night is, however, a critical element of biological, chemical, physical, and social systems on Earth. Moreover, research into social issues such as inequality, demographic changes, and the transition to a sustainable economy will be compromised if night is not considered. Recent years, however, have seen a surge in research into the night. We argue that “night studies” is on the cusp of coming into its own as an interdisciplinary field, and when it does, the field will consider questions that disciplinary researchers haven’t yet thought to ask.
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Minding Nature, 2020
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Journal of Energy History / Revue d'Histoire de l'Énergie, 2019
This personal essay describes light(s) and darkness(es) in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Norway) during... more This personal essay describes light(s) and darkness(es) in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Norway) during polar night in January 2019. Drawing on autoethnographic methods, I also seek to describe how I experienced the remarkable lightscapes and darkscapes of the far north during winter. I suggest how the history of energy in Longyearbyen has both shaped and been shaped by the "extreme" light/ dark cycle of the high Arctic. In the process, I develop the concept of "endscape" to characterize vestiges of a landscape that has been, and will continue to be, transformed by global climate change, and will eventually disappear. This recent experience illustrates the potential of experi-ential, reflexive ways of contending with light/dark. It also draws attention to tensions in the academic study of light/ dark and the history of energy, and how they play out in practice, in the context of a conference held in a remote location that requires scholars to contribute to the continued extraction of fossil fuels-something that most would otherwise decry. I suggest that Longyearbyen is a useful case study for other endscapes in the early 21st C.
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Journal of Energy History / Revue d’histoire de l’énergie, 2019
In this special issue, we argue that light(s) and darkness(es) should be understood in their mult... more In this special issue, we argue that light(s) and darkness(es) should be understood in their multiplicity, and that they constitute two aspects of the same phenomenon. They should, therefore, be studied in relation to each other. The complex dynamics of light and dark are more integral to the history of art than other fields, thus offering models for a relational approach to empirical studies beyond this discipline. Drawing on this work, this special issue aims to challenge reductionist frameworks that focus on light alone, without reference to darkness. It explores some of the nuances of light/darkness created by candle, kerosene, oil, gas, and electricity, teasing out the diverse, sometimes contradictory meanings and experiences of light(s) and darkness(es) in the past. It thus aims to study the juxta-position of light and dark, placing this seeming contrast in dialogue with broader conversations in the history of energy, environmental history, the history of science and technology, as well as the history of representations. Acknowledgments We would like to thank the authors, the members of the journal's editorial board (especially Alain Beltran, Léonard Laborie, and Céline Berrier-Lucas), and the anonymous reviewers for their support of this special issue.
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Environmental History, 2017
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Environment and Planning A, 2016
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The Oxford Handbook of Environmental History, 2014
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Nature, 2014
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Japan at Nature's Edge, 2013
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Environmental History, 2012
This essay uses literatures and concepts from environmental history, the history of technology, a... more This essay uses literatures and concepts from environmental history, the history of technology, and disaster studies to analyze what took place at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station on March 11, 2011, and all that has transpired in the months since. In particular, it considers Charles Perrow's “normal accidents” and Thomas Parke Hughes's “technological systems,” emphasizing the contributions and limits of these frameworks. It then uses the notion of envirotechnical systems, a blending of ecological and technological systems, to analyze the normal operating procedures at Fukushima as well as the emergency measures taken during the actual crisis. It argues that environmental factors such as radioactive elements, water, air, and also human bodies are critical to understanding how the events at Fukushima unfolded. Yet there is a risk in naturalizing the disaster. Ultimately, a complex, dynamic, porous, and inextricable configuration of nature, technology, and politics helps us understand all that “Fukushima” now signifies.
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Social Studies of Science, 2012
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Conservation Biology, 2012
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Environmental History, 2005
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