In today’s blog, Tor A. Benjaminsen and Pierre Hiernaux introduce the subject of their article, ‘From Desiccation to Global Climate Change: A History of the Desertification Narrative in the West African Sahel, 1900–2018’ in Global Environment, part of a Special Issue on Deserts in Environmental History (Spring 2019). While the Sahel has become greener since the … More The long and successful life of ‘desertification’ in the Sahel

In today’s blog, Dr Christine J. Winter of the University of Sydney, whose paper ‘Decolonising Dignity for Inclusive Democracy‘ is forthcoming in Environmental Values (28.1, February 2019) explains how the landmark legal conferring of personhood on three [Aoteraroa] New Zealand geo-regions has opened up an opportunity to re-evaluate the concept of dignity in a way … More Decolonising Dignity

In today’s blog Rune Svarverud, whose article ‘Ventilation for the Nation: Fresh Air, Sunshine, and the Warfare on Germs in China’s National Quest for Hygienic Modernity, 1849–1949′ has just been published ‘online first’ in Environment and History (subscription access / paywall ), zooms in on the micro-level, exploring questions, problems and perceptions of air quality in … More Polluting smoke or fragrant fumes: The dilemma of a Chinese rural kitchen

In this blog, Matthew Holmes takes a long view on the role – and risks – of agricultural pesticides in the delicate balance between food security and environmental conservation. His article ‘Melancholy Consequences: Britain’s Long Relationship with Agricultural Chemicals since the Mid-eighteenth Century’ has been published ‘online-first’ in Environment and History. The market for organic food … More Agricultural Arsenic: Uncovering a Nineteenth-Century Pesticide Scare

In today’s blog, Thomas van Goethem, whose article with Jan Luiten van Zanden ‘Who is Afraid of Biodiversity? Proposal for a Research Agenda for Environmental History’ was recently published ‘online first’ in Environment and History, considers the role of historians in understanding the drivers of biodiversity loss and calls for historians’ engagement in  tackling the problem. Headlines … More Ecological Armageddon?! What can historians do to help?

The first issue of Environmental Values in 2019 (Vol. 28) will be a Special Issue on Ecological Democracy. Marit Hammond’s article ‘A Cultural Account of Ecological Democracy’, can be previewed here. In today’s blog, adapted with thanks from cusp.ac.uk she asks: are sustainability and democracy in conflict? Some argue saving the planet cannot be left … More A Cultural Shift towards an Ecological Democracy

In today’s blog, part of our occasional series with NiCHE, Gregory Kennedy (professeur agrégé en histoire et directeur scientifique de l’Institut d’études acadiennes, Université de Moncton, Canada) introduces his co-written article in the latest issue of Global Environment (GE 11.2) on adaptive capacity and strategies in the face of environmental change. We continue to witness … More Agency, Adaptive Capacity and Hope across Seven Research Sites

Esme Murdock’s article Unsettling Reconciliation: Decolonial Methods for Transforming Social-Ecological Systems. is just published in Environmental Values (27.5 October 2018). In today’s blog she explains the article’s genesis and motivation. This blog is part of an occasional series in collaboration with NiCHE. How do we talk about the painful, violent distance between ourselves and the … More Unsettling Reconciliation: towards decolonising land and rights relations in Canada

In this blog John Morgan reports on last week’s inaugural Environmental History Workshop which we followed with great interest and with which we plan next year to establish a formal engagement. Last week, the Institute of Historical Research in London was host to the inaugural Environmental History Workshop. Sponsored by the Royal Historical Society, the … More Environmental History Workshop: intersections across space and time