In recent months, I have noticed a spate of ‘positive’ headlines popping up in my news feeds and on social media about the health and well-being of polar bears. Whilst some might call me a cynic, I couldn’t help but temper my optimism.
Environmental History Now.
A Platform on Representation, Engagement, and Community
Whim, Negligence, and Socio-Ecological Harm: The Culling of Escobar’s Hippo Descendants
The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development activated a plan to curb the spread of the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Colombia. These are descendants of the animals that Pablo Escobar brought to his private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles in Antioquia.
Rethinking Incomplete Metaphors for the Earth System
We often hear about the Anthropocene, but what if it’s not the only way to understand our impact on Earth? Ideas like the noosphere and technosphere offer striking new ways to see humanity’s role on Earth.
A Future with Non-Kins: The Rape of a Wallaby
In Aotearoa New Zealand, wallabies are invasive pests. In a world of “multispecies” relationship, what does it mean to be an invader? What forms of care, cruelty, and gendered violence emerge in the name of ecological protection?
This is Fine: Studying Intersectional US Environmental History While it Burns Around Us
It is really hard to focus on the work in front of you when your field is burning around you.
Sex Is a History: A Review of Performance all the Way Down by Richard O. Prum
As environmental historians, we can use this example to reaffirm the centrality of embodied humans at the centre of our narratives.
Fieldwork In-between: Walking and Cutting Grass in Japan’s Post-Mining Landscape
Walking through Ashio’s scarred mountains (Japan) and cutting grass along the Watarase River, fieldwork turns out to be less about gathering data and more about learning to sense how toxicity and care coexist.
Counting What Counts: Preserving Environmental Activism History
When the flyers, posters, and participants are lost or forgotten, so too is our understanding about how our shared environmental history has been shaped by activism.
The Impact Assessment as Archive: Historical Approaches to Regulatory Documents from Alberta’s Oil Sands
Canada’s recent embrace of Indigenous rights looks transformative on paper, but in the Alberta oil sands, a different story unfolds.