Forests, Habitats, and Resources: A Conference in World Environmental History—Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, April 30–May 2, 1987

Abstract

Conference Reports FORESTS, HABITATS, AND RESOURCES: A CONFERENCE IN WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY—DUKE UNIVERSITY, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, APRIL 30—MAY 2, 1987 PAMELA E. MACK From April 30 to May 2, 1987, Duke University hosted a major environmental history conference sponsored by the American Society for Environmental History, the Forest History Society, the Duke School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Department of His­ tory and Canadian Studies Center at Duke. Environmental history is a fairly new held that has important connections with history of tech­ nology, and many such connections were evident at the conference. There were 115 papers, as well as a few workshops, so this report can give only a partial picture even of the papers of specific interest to historians of technology. Environmental history includes both the history of how the natural environment has changed, particularly because of the works of human society, and also the history of human awareness of the environment and how that awareness has affected society. Participants, both historians and scientists, dealt with environ­ ments all over the world and time periods from antiquity to the pres­ ent. The conference also included a workshop on the teaching of environmental history, a topic that may be of particular interest to schools building science, technology, and society programs. The papers most obviously related to history of technology dealt with how environmental concerns have affected the development of various technologies and industries. For example, William McGucken (University of Akron) gave a paper on “Fashioning an Acceptable Technology: Biodegradable Synthetic Detergents in the United States,” Joseph M. Petulla (University of San Francisco) spoke on “Industrial Compliance with Environmental Regulations: Typology and Case Dr. Mack is assistant professor of history of technology and science at Clemson University.© 1988 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/88/2902-0005$01.00 281 282 Pamela E. Mack Studies,” and Craig E. Colten (Illinois State Museum) gave a paper on “Industrial Wastes before 1940: A Neglected Dimension of the Hazardous Waste Issue.” Their work should spur historians of tech­ nology to consider more specifically the effect of environmental con­ cerns and regulations on technological change. In addition, a number of papers that dealt with changes in the environment and the development of environmental policy raised issues of interest to historians of technology. To mention just two examples, William H. TeBrake (University of Maine) spoke on “Land Reclamation and the Formation of a Public Environmental Policy in the Rijnland District of Holland, 1200-1450,” and Elisabeth Johann (Vienna) spoke on “The Impact of Industry on Landscape and En­ vironment in Austria from the Second Part of the 19th Century to 1914.” Historians of technology can learn from such studies because environmental policy directly affects technological development and raises political passions that can have a strong indirect effect on tech­ nology policy. Finally, a number of more theoretical papers gave very interesting perspectives on issues of interest to historians of technology. Among others, Elizabeth R. Bird (University ofCalifornia at Santa Cruz) spoke on “The Social Construction of Nature: Theoretical Approaches to the History of Environmental Problems,” and Arthur McEvoy (North­ western University) gave a paper on “Ecology, Production, and Cog­ nition: Toward an Interactive History of Nature and Culture.” These papers dealt with various aspects of the study of human attitudes toward control over nature, a subject that should be central to the historical philosophy of technology. Some of these papers and the resulting discussion took a particularly interesting approach, attempt­ ing to examine human control over nature from the point of view of nature as well as from the point of view of human beings. Forests, Habitats, and Resources: A Conference on World Envi­ ronmental History demonstrated not only that environmental history has close ties with history of technology but also that it has gained maturity as a field, with its own approaches and themes that can stimulate new ideas in history of technology. For those wishing to learn more, the Forest History Society, 701 Vickers Ave., Durham, North Carolina 27701, publishes the Journal of Forest History. The American Society for Environmental History publishes Environmental Review. The address is: History Department, Oregon State University...