Environmental Histories

This chapter is but a small sampling of the cutting-edge research in environmental history. Environmental history is an outgrowth of the environmental movement. One of the overriding themes in environmental history since the inception of the field has been a focus on the management of nature. Closely allied with research on environmental management and governance is the literature on the history of environmental politics. The idea of hybridity is most evident in the vibrant environmental-history literature on disease and bodies. The new environmental history of bodies and landscapes has sought to unite histories of health and environment through geographical analyses of landscapes, bodies, disease, and toxins. Urban political ecology also addresses the role of nature in the city. Urban political ecologists employ social theory to frame their studies, relying on insights from Marxist-informed political economy, actor-network theory, and psychoanalytic theory.