What is Environmental History?

JANUARY 3, 2005 / K. JAN OOSTHOEK / COMMENTS OFFON WHAT IS

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY?

1. Origins

Environmental history is a rather new discipline that came into being during the
1960’s and 1970’s. It was a direct consequence of the growing awareness of
worldwide environmental problems such as pollution of water and air by
pesticides, depletion of the ozone layer and the enhanced greenhouse effect
caused by human activity. In this development historians started to look for the
origins of the contemporary problems, drawing upon the knowledge of a whole
field of scientific disciplines and specialisms which had been developed during
the preceding century (Thoen 1996: 1; Worster 1988: 190; Verstegen & van
Zanden 1993: 11). We can distinguish two important 19th century origins of
environmental history: ecology and geography. In modern environmental
history, ecological concepts are used to analyse past environments and
geography used to study the ever-changing face of the earth. The surface of the
earth is constantly changing and reshaping under geological, climatic, biological
and human forces. At the beginning of the twentieth century geographers
stressed the influence of the physical environment on the development of human
society. The idea of the impact of the physical environment on civilisations was
first adapted by historians of the Annales school to describe the long term
developments that shape human history (Bramwell 1989: 40-41; Worster 1988:
306; Burke 1991: 14-15).
Two other roots of environmental history are the archaeology and anthropology
of which the latter introduced ecology into the human sciences. The emergence
of world history, with works by McNeill and Thomas (McNeill: 1967; Thomas
1956) among others, introduced interdisciplinary and continental wide, even
world scale studies into history. Ecology and the interdisciplinary method
became later two important features of environmental history (Thoen 1996: 2).

These were the foundations on which environmental history was founded in the
1960’s. Rodrick Nash coined the term environmental history in an article about
the impact of past human societies on the environment published in the Pacific
Historical Review in 19721. Nash’s writings were initially unilateral: he studied
the impact of human society on the natural environment. Thanks to the work of
Worster, Pfister, Brimblecombe, Ponting and others, environmental history
became matured, what means less unilateral and influenced by political motives
(Worster, 1988; Pfister & Brimblecombe, 1992; Ponting, 1991). At the present
day environmental history is an international and interdisciplinary undertaking.

2. What is environmental history?

Environmental history is always about human interaction with the natural world
or, to put it in another way, it studies the interaction between culture and nature.
The principal goal of environmental history is to deepen our understanding of
how humans has been affected by the natural environment in the past and also
how they have affected that environment and with what results. This is called
the bilateral approach of environmental history (Smout 1993: xiii.; Verstegen &
van Zanden 1993: 11). The most common definition of environmental history is
as follows: environmental history is studying the interaction between humans
and the environment in the past. To study the relationships between humans and
the surrounding world, we must try to understand how the interaction between
the two works.

Donald Worster has recognised three clusters of issues to be addressed by

environmental historians (1988: 289-308). The first cluster deals with the
human intellectual realm consisting of perceptions, ethics, laws, myth and the
other mental constructions related to the natural world. Ideas about the world
around us influence the way we deal with the natural environment. Here we
enter the second level of issues to be studied: the level of the socio-economic
realm. Ideas have an impact on politics, policies and the economy through
which ideas materialise in the natural world.

But the world is not static, so it reacts on our actions to influence the material
world. With the impact of human actions the natural world we enter the third
level of environmental history. This level deals with understanding nature itself,
the natural realm. In the case of woodland history it is the way forest
ecosystems have been working in the past and how they were changed by
human actions. The impact of human actions on the natural world is causing a
feedback that changes our ideas, policies, economy etc. In this way the natural
world defines the limits of what we can do, and what not. Within this
framework we try to change reactions we do not like and continue practices
which, in our view, are successful. This model of the interaction between man
and the environment depicts the concept of the separation between humans and
nature. Although this division between the human and the natural realms is an
artificial one, it can be a useful tool for the environmental historian in
identifying important questions, the sources that might be able to answer the
questions and the methods used to study these sources.
 Model of the interaction between human culture and the natural environment.

The fields of study in environmental history includes analysis of data on tides,

winds, ocean currents, the position of continents in relation to each other and
geology and includes the history of climate and weather and the pattern of
diseases. Environmental history is also the story of human exploitation of the
natural world. It is about the impact of agriculture on soil and landscape, the
history of forests, the effects of hunting and grazing; but also about the
environmental impact of mining, transportation, urbanisation and
industrialisation. And last, but not least, environmental history is about
unmasking myths and distorted perceptions of the past. Myths and false
perceptions are not based on historical facts and can be highly influential, even
in government en scientific circles. It is an important task of environmental
history to correct these misconceptions of the past. It can help to understand our
current problems better and to make proper decisions to deal with these
problems, now and in the future (Smout 1993: xiii-xv).

3. The historian and environmental history

Environmental history is an interdisciplinary subject. That means that historians,
scientists and other scholars must look over the boundaries of their own subject.
The historian must be aware that he or she sometimes needs to apply some
principles from the natural sciences, such as ecology, biology and forestry, to
understand what happened in the past. However, this does not mean that the
historian must become a scientist. He is and remains an historian with the task
to master and understand the past as a key to a better understanding of the
present. But to do so he or she must look over the boundaries of history and
even the humanities and acquaint themselves with the nomenclature and
principles of other disciplines, especially the natural sciences. This does not
mean that they have to become experts in these fields, but to use it as a tool to
get a better understanding of historical problems.

However, the contemporary valuation of environmental criteria is different from

those used in the past. To analyse the impact of human action on the natural
world in the past and the changes caused by this, a historian must use the
modern principles of ecology and the environmental sciences. But this poses a
threat to the way we interpret and value the past because notions as
sustainability, equilibrium systems, biodiversity etc. are modern notions.
Environmental historians, like any historian, must be aware that the present and
its problems influence how we perceive the past. The historian is a product of
his own age, and bound to it by the conditions of the times in which he lives.
This can lead to a distorted or even false vision of the past. Therefore we must
recognise the historically defined character of the values and ideas in our
sources. We must try to prevent ourselves from projecting our contemporary
ideas and values on the past (Carr 1991: 21-24). It is to others to judge the
actions of people in the past and try to learn from it.

4. Environmental history today

During the last 40 years environmental history grew from an interest of some
historians and natural scientists into a full-fledged academic discipline. In the
United States environmental history gained a firm institutionalised base which is
reflected in the fact that the annual meetings of the American Society for
Environmental History, established in 1975, attracts over 500 participants.
Environmental historical research in Europe is fragmented due to different
academic cultures, multiple languages and funding models. However, since the
1980s there have been very promising and successful initiatives, both on the
national and pan-European level. In 1986, the Dutch foundation for the history
of environment and hygiene Net Werk was founded. One of the most important
goals of this foundation was to improve the communication between Dutch
researchers with an interest in environmental history. Up to the early 2000s
the foundation used to publish four newsletters per year.
Since 1995, the White Horse Press in Cambridge (UK) is publishing a journal
with the title Environment and History. As an interdisciplinary journal,
Environment and History aims to bring scholars in the humanities and
biological sciences closer together in constructing long and well-founded
perspectives on present day environmental problems. The same can be said for
the Tijdschrift voor Ecologische Geschiedenis (Journal for Environmental
History), a combined Flemish- Dutch initiative published by the Academia
Press in Gent, Belgium. This journal is mainly dealing with topics in the
Netherlands and Belgium but it also has an interest in European environmental
history. Each issue contains abstracts in English, French and German. In 1999
the Journal was changed into a yearbook for environmental eistory and since
then every year a volume has been published until 2013. In late
2014 the Jaarboek was succeeded by a new open access Journal: The Journal
for the History of Environment and Society (JHES).
The oldest Institute for Environmental History in Europe is based at the
University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This institute plays an important role in
co-ordinating research in Scotland and since its establishment in 1991, the
Institute organised several conferences on woodland and environmental history.
The purpose of the first conference in December 1992 was to demonstrate the
breath and vitality of environmental history in Scotland. One of the spearheads
of research in Scotland is woodland history. With this knowledge it is not
surprising that the second conference held in April 1995 was on Scottish
woodland history. Both conferences resulted in the publication of two books
containing papers presented during the conferences.
In the past 20 years there have been similar initiatives in other European
countries. One of the difficulties is the language barrier that prevents historians
from looking for environmental history books and journals in other European
languages than their own or in English. In April 1999 a meeting was held in
Germany to overcome these problems and to co-ordinate environmental history
in Europe. This meeting resulted in the creation of the European Society for
Environmental History (ESEH). Only two years after it was established, ESEH
held its first international conference in St. Andrews, Scotland. Around 120
scholars attended the meeting and 105 papers were presented on topics covering
the whole spectrum of environmental history. The conference showed that
Environmental History is a viable and lively field in Europe and since then
ESEH has expanded to over 400 members and continues to grow. Since the
inaugural conference in St Andrews ESEH has organised bi-annual international
conferences attracting increasing numbers of scholars in 2003 and 2005, 2007,
2011, 2013 and in 2015.
Also important for the further development of environmental history in Europe
is an increased institutionalised base at University level. In 1999 the Centre for
Environmental History was established at the University of Stirling. Today it
continues as the Centre for Environment, Heritage and Policy (CEHP). The
Centre is mainly a research institute, but also organises seminars and offers
postgraduate training. In addition some history departments at European
universities are now offering introductory courses in environmental history.
A very significant development and broadening of the field was the creation of
the Rachel Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society (RCC) in 2009.
The RCC is a joint initiative of Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and
the Deutsches Museum. The initial focus was on environmental history but at
present the RCC is a research institution for the environmental humanities. This
wider focus of the centre makes sense since it puts environmental history in its
rightful wider context and allows for making links to other research areas and
expertise. The activities of the RCC is diverse and includes a fellowship
program, publishes a journal and book series, hosts a portal for digital resources,
and organizes conferences and workshops. Its goal is to widen the debate about
human societies and the environment and to include perspectives from the
humanities. This means involving historians, anthropologists, social scientists,
theologians, cultural and media specialist and many other disciplines. It also
strives to build bridges to the natural sciences and to provide these scientists
with unique insights from the humanities by looking at the problems and
solutions that our global society has faced in the past as well as now. The RCC
has quickly become the centre for scholars active in environmental history and
the environmental humanities and is part of a worldwide research network.
Besides widening the institutional base, environmental history has also become
a increasingly global undertaking with the creation of new societies and
network. In 2004, the Latina American and Caribbean Society for
Environmental History (Sociedad Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Historia
Ambiental in Spanish and SOLCHA for short) was established. Latin America
has a rich tradition in the study of environmental history but this is not often
recognised as such because it is undertaken in a multitude of disciplines. The
objective of SOLCHA is to overcome this problem and to encourage research,
the debate of ideas, and to promote education in the field of Latin American and
Caribbean Environmental History, through an interdisciplinary perspective.
SOLCHA aims to stimulate the contact among researchers who adopt
the historical perspective that includes the environment.
Environmental history is also developing strong roots in Asia, not in the least in
China. In order to increase the profile of East Asian Environmental History and
to improve communication between researchers world wide the Association for
East Asian Environmental History (AEAEH) was created in 2009. So far
AEAEH has held two bi-annual conferences, in 2011 and 2013, that attracted an
increasing number of scholars and that is set to be repeated at their conference
in 2015.
Environmental History in Australasia is less formal organised but since 1997 the
research community in this part of the world is bound together trough the
informal Australian and New Zealand Environmental History Network. The
Network is an initiative of the Centre for Environmental History at the
Australian National University and aims to “provide a means to communicate
with each other and exchange information about forthcoming events and new
publications in Australia and New Zealand”. The Network centres upon a web
portal with links to organisations in Australia and New Zealand with interests in
environmental history, and to provide a one stop shop to Australia for
international groups with interests in global environmental history. Because of
the large size and relatively small populations of Australia and New Zealand
this web-based informal network is well suited to environmental history
researchers and organisations in this part of the world.
The internationalisation and institutional recognition of environmental history
continues, although it is becoming increasingly part of the emerging
environmental humanities. This is also visible at the attendance of the Wold
Congress of Environmental History, that is held every five years. This large
international meeting is not only attracting humanists and social scientists but
also scholars from any other humanities subject imaginable as well as scientists
from the natural sciences. This development of expansion and broadening has
gone with fits and starts and the future of the field looks bright, particularly if
environmental historians embrace the emergence of the environmental
humanities as an umbrella field.

Notes and bibliography

1
Rodrick Nash published in 1967 Wilderness and the American Mind. In 1972
he introduced the term “environmental history” in an article in the Pacific
Historical Review.
—————————

Bramwell, Anna 1989: Ecology in the 20th Century, a History (New Haven).
Brimblecombe, P and Pfister, C (eds), 1990: The Silent Countdown: Essays in
European Environmental History(Berlin).
Burke, Peter 1990: The French Historical Revolution. The Annales School,
1929-89 (Oxford).
Carr, E.H. 1991: What is History? (Harmondsworth).
McNeill, William H. 1976: Plagues and Peoples (New York).
Ponting, Clive 1991: A Green History of the World (London).
Smout, T.C. (Ed.) 1993: Scotland Since Prehistory. Natural change & Human
Impact (Aberdeen).
Thoen, Erik 1996: ‘Editoriaal’, In: Tijdschrift voor Eologische Geschiedenis, p.
1.
Thomas, William L. 1956: Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the
Earth (Chicago, London).
Verstegen, S.W. & van Zanden, J.L. 1993: Groene Geschiedenis van
Nederland (Utrecht).
Winiwarter, Verena (ed.), ‘Environmental History in Europe from 1994 to 2004:
Enthusiasm and Consolidation’,Environment and History, 10(2004): 501-530.
Worster, Donald 1988: The ends of the earth. Perspectives on Modern
Environmental History (Cambridge).