This anthology convenes 53 foundational readings that showcase the rich history of socio-environmental research from the late 1700s onwards. The introduction orients readers to the topic and how it has evolved and describes how to best use Foundations of Socio-Environmental Research. The original readings are organised into six sections, documenting the emergence of socio-environmental research, first as a shared concern and then as a topic of specific interest to anthropology and geography; economics, sociology and political science; ecology; ethics, religious studies, and history; and technology, energy, and materials. A noted scholar introduces each section, putting the readings into historical and intellectual context. The conclusion links the legacy readings to contemporary approaches to socio-environmental research and discusses how these links can enrich the reader's understanding and work. Invaluable to students, instructors and researchers alike, this canonical reference illuminates underappreciated linkages across research domains and creates a shared basis for dialogue and collaboration.
Introduction
Foundations of socio-environmental research / Simone Pulver, William R. Burnside, Steven M. Alexander, Meghan L. Avolio, and Kathryn J. Fiorella
Part I. Early Classics of Socio-Environmental Research / Richard York
1. Hong Liangji (1793)
2. Thomas Robert Malthus (1798)
3. Alexander von Humboldt (1814)
4. David Ricardo (1817)
5. Charles Darwin (1859)
6. George Perkins Marsh (1864)
7. William Stanley Jevons (1865)
8. Karl Marx (1867)
Part II. The Roots of Socio-Environmental Research in Geography and Anthropology / Emilio F. Moran
9. Ellen Churchill Semple (1911)
10. V. Gordon Childe (1936)
11. Franz Boas (1938)
12. Gilbert Fowler White (1942)
13. Lewis Mumford (1956)
14. Roy A. Rappaport (1967)
15. Marshall Sahlins (1972)
16. Emilio F. Moran (1981)
17. Piers Blaikie and Harold Brookfield (1987)
18. Robert Chambers and Gordon R. Conway (1992)
Part III. Socio-Environmental Research in Economics, Sociology and Political Science / Richard B. Norgaard
19. Karl Polanyi (1944)
20. H. Scott Gordon (1954)
21. Garrett Hardin (1968)
22. Herman E. Daly (1974)
23. William R. Catton, Jr. and Riley E. Dunlap (1978)
24. Amartya Sen (1981)
25. Robert D. Bullard (1990)
26. Elinor Ostrom (1990)
27. Sharachchandra M. Lélé (1991)
28. Richard Norgaard (1994)
Part IV. Socio-Environmental Research in Ecology / Patricia Balvanera
29. G. E. Hutchinson (1948)
30. Rachel Carson (1962)
31. Eugene P. Odum (1969)
32. C. S. Holling (1973)
33. Paul R. Ehrlich and Harold A. Mooney (1983)
34. James E. Ellis and David M. Swift (1988)
35. M. J. McDonnell and S. T. A. Pickett (1990)
36. Madhav Gadgil, Fikret Berkes and Carl Folke (1993)
37. Daniel Pauly (1995)
Part V. Ethical, Religious and Historical Approaches to Socio-Environmental Research / J. Baird Callicott
38. Aldo Leopold (1949)
39. Ping-ti Ho (1959)
40. Lynn White (1967)
41. Vandana Shiva (1988)
42. Elinor G. K. Melville (1990)
43. William Cronon (1992)
44. Arturo Gómez-Pompa and Andrea Kaus (1992)
45. Gregory Cajete (1994)
46. Leonardo Boff (1995)
Part VI. Technology, Energy, Materials and Socio-Environmental Research / Marina Fischer-Kowalski
47. Ester Boserup (1965)
48. Robert U. Ayres and Allen V. Kneese (1969)
49. Paul R. Ehrlich and John P. Holdren (1971)
50. Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and William W. Behrens III (1972)
51. Ulrich Beck (1986)
52. Thomas E. Graedel, Braden R. Allenby, and Peter B. Linhart (1993)
53. Marina Fischer‐Kowalski and Helmut Haberl (1993)
Conclusion
Looking forward: Legacy readings and contemporary socio-environmental research / William R. Burnside, Kathryn J. Fiorella, Meghan L. Avolio, Steven M. Alexander, and Simone Pulver
William R. Burnside is a Senior Editor at Nature Sustainability. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at SESYNC and an editor of environmental science textbooks. As an independent scholar, he is interested in ecology, sustainability science, and interdisciplinary research.
Simone Pulver is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she directs the endowed Environmental Leadership Incubator. Her research investigates the role of business in sustainability.
Kathryn J. Fiorella is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University with a PhD and MPH from the University of California and an AB from Princeton University. Her research investigates how environmental change affects human health, with a focus on food systems and livelihood, food, and nutrition security.
Meghan L. Avolio is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University and an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. She is an ecologist working in grasslands and urban environments investigating anthropogenic impacts on plant populations, communities, and ecosystems.
Steven M. Alexander is a Science Advisor at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment at the University of Waterloo. As an environmental social scientist, his research is centred on natural resource management, community-based conservation, and the interaction between science, policy, and practice.
Contributors:
- Simone Pulver
- William R. Burnside
- Steven M. Alexander
- Meghan L. Avolio
- Richard York
- Emilio F. Moran
- Richard B. Norgaard
- Patricia Balvanera
- J. Baird Callicott
- Marina Fischer-Kowalski
- Kathryn J. Fiorella