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4.	Environmental History
	The environmental movement is a distinct feature on the recent historical landscape. Reacting to resource degradation on a never-seen-before global scale, environmentalists have become famous for speaking out about a grim future rather than looking back into the past. Yet now, as the movement matures and establishes a place for itself on the agendas of nations and corporations, a growth field of intellectual endeavour called environmental history is gaining new favour. These scholars take the long view of resource management. By striving for historical balance, they aim to avoid hyperbole. In a recent DI interview, the editor of the journal Environmental History criticized journalists for romanticizing Amazon rubber tappers into some variant of indigenous–forest-dwellers- at-peace-with-the-forest. The historical record shows that rubber tapping was driven by rubber barons with tight control over rubber trees and labour. Hal Rothman also rejected the tendency of 'eco-romanticists' to assume that native cultures should somehow remain frozen in time, instead of adapting to changing realities and opportunities. As the discipline emerges from the once-solitary confines of academia, some historical themes are hitting strong chords in the wider population. I. Environmental degradation has happened many times before – for example in ancient times in the Mediterranean Basin and the Indian sub-continent, more recently in Europe and North America , and most recently in less industrialized countries like Haiti and Madagascar. II. The global degradation trend is getting worse today, particularly in poorer countries eager to share in the same benefits of resource exploitation as their industrialized counterparts, despite increasing population pressures. Thanks to its systems view across many disciplines and times, environmental history provides a powerful context for understanding current environmental issues. As a result, decision-makers are increasingly looking to the past for the correct historical context to guide their most difficult decisions. [back to the future for valuable environmental insights]
	eco-romanticization n.a brand of historical revisionism that stereotypes groups like 'Indians' and 'forest dwellers' with overly rosy, and often unchanging, behaviour toward the environment political ecology n. environmental history from a political perspective
	Shabecoff, PhilipA New Name for Peace: International Environmentalism, Sustainable Development, and Democracy. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1996. 271p. Cronon, William, ed. Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature.New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. 561p. Grove, Richard H. Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism 1600 –1860. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 540p.
Virtual Ideas	Explore the field of environmental history