28.2 Interaction between Society and Environment: Conceptual Frameworks in the Social Sciences
417
of society. A temperate climate, for example,
was said to stimulate cultural development. This
discredited view emerged as an early attempt to
explain different social and economic circumstances around the globe. It was used to justify
colonialism as a God-given basis for the "superior" nations of Europe and North America to
seize hegemony over ''backward'' areas of Africa,
Asia, and Latin America (Peet, 1985; Peet and
Thrift, 1989).
3. Cultural and human ecology emerged as popular frameworks in the 1950s and continue to be
developed. These express the interaction of economic, demographic, and cultural aspects of society with the environment as one in which people both adapt and adapt to the environment to
create their land-use systems. Two volumes capture the progression of these ideas in the past 50
years, Thomas (1956) and Turner et al. (1993a).
4. Approaches that assess the proposition that increasing human numbers are the primary cause
of environmental problems. Neo-Malthusians
following the writings of Malthus (1973), including (Hardin, 1968, 1974, 1993; Hardin and
Baden, 1977) and Ehrlich and Ehrlich (1987,
1990), argue that there are finite limits to the
ability of Earth's resources to support the demands of a large population. Disasters such as
famine, disease, and war may represent nature's
way of bringing the number of people back into
balance with their resource base. Proponents often apply the concept of carrying capacity from
ecology to human production systems and argue
that policy should recognize the "tragedy of the
commons" (Hardin, 1968).
Opposing views, such as those of Boserup (1965)
and Simon (1986, 1992), present humans' search
for means of overcoming shortages as the source
of innovation that allows society to meet its resource needs. Boserup, for example, describes a
common process of agricultural intensification that
occurs as increasing population densities stimulate
adoption of new technologies. The application of
carrying capacity to humans has been criticized for
its failure to take account of the complexity of human society. For example, food consumption in an
area is affected by agricultural technology, trade,
and the population's ability to purchase food, as determined by its wealth. Each of these factors reflects the interaction of the local population with
the broader community, the local and national economic and political system, and the distribution of
wealth within the local population. The "tragedy of
the commons" perspective has been assessed by
those who argue that "common property regimes"
are far more complicated in their application than
portrayed in the "tragedy" literature. They do include mechanisms to protect against mismanagement (Fratkin, 1997), and the heterogeneity and dynamics of society determine their effectiveness
(Bromley, 1992).
These opposing arguments have given rise to a
prolific and contentious literature. Other contributors have argued that none of the preceding frameworks sufficiently considered that societies are economically and otherwise heterogeneous and that
political and economic power affects resource allocation and use. A more radical perspective places
the society-resource discussion in the context of
the wider political economy (Harvey, 1974, 1996;
Ecological Economics, 1995).
Political ecology is one framework that examines societal and biophysical processes (Blaikie,
1985, 1994; Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987). This
approach encompasses "interactive effects, the contribution of different geographic scales and hierarchies of socioeconomic organizations (e.g. person,
household, village, region, state, world) and the
contradictions between social and environmental
changes through time" (Blaikie and Brookfield,
1987, p. 17). Campbell and Olson (1991) provide
a heuristic approach to applying political ecology.
These latter ideas can be linked to those that recognize that environmental problems are often associated with social injustice (Harvey, 1996). This
perspective promotes the move from sterile intellectual debate to contribute directly to political action. For example, Peet and Watts (1996, p. 37) argue that the intention of "liberation ecology" is "not
simply to add politics to political ecology, but to
raise the emancipatory potential of environmental
ideas and engage directly with the larger landscape
of debates over modernity, its institutions, and its
knowledge." This activist perspective also posits
the importance of recognizing the diversity of perspectives that exist within society, including those
of women (Rocheleau et al., 1996). An effective
representation of this diversity is found in works
that examine situations through the experiences of
different actors, using approaches such as narratives and analysis of the discourse, the vocabulary
used by different actors (Brink, 1982; Rocheleau et
al., 1994).
Social science perspectives on the relationship
between human activity and ecosystems remain
varied and are the subject of productive ongoing
discussions. While the discussions continue, there
is broad agreement that certain concepts are essential to understanding the interaction between soci-
417
of society. A temperate climate, for example,
was said to stimulate cultural development. This
discredited view emerged as an early attempt to
explain different social and economic circumstances around the globe. It was used to justify
colonialism as a God-given basis for the "superior" nations of Europe and North America to
seize hegemony over ''backward'' areas of Africa,
Asia, and Latin America (Peet, 1985; Peet and
Thrift, 1989).
3. Cultural and human ecology emerged as popular frameworks in the 1950s and continue to be
developed. These express the interaction of economic, demographic, and cultural aspects of society with the environment as one in which people both adapt and adapt to the environment to
create their land-use systems. Two volumes capture the progression of these ideas in the past 50
years, Thomas (1956) and Turner et al. (1993a).
4. Approaches that assess the proposition that increasing human numbers are the primary cause
of environmental problems. Neo-Malthusians
following the writings of Malthus (1973), including (Hardin, 1968, 1974, 1993; Hardin and
Baden, 1977) and Ehrlich and Ehrlich (1987,
1990), argue that there are finite limits to the
ability of Earth's resources to support the demands of a large population. Disasters such as
famine, disease, and war may represent nature's
way of bringing the number of people back into
balance with their resource base. Proponents often apply the concept of carrying capacity from
ecology to human production systems and argue
that policy should recognize the "tragedy of the
commons" (Hardin, 1968).
Opposing views, such as those of Boserup (1965)
and Simon (1986, 1992), present humans' search
for means of overcoming shortages as the source
of innovation that allows society to meet its resource needs. Boserup, for example, describes a
common process of agricultural intensification that
occurs as increasing population densities stimulate
adoption of new technologies. The application of
carrying capacity to humans has been criticized for
its failure to take account of the complexity of human society. For example, food consumption in an
area is affected by agricultural technology, trade,
and the population's ability to purchase food, as determined by its wealth. Each of these factors reflects the interaction of the local population with
the broader community, the local and national economic and political system, and the distribution of
wealth within the local population. The "tragedy of
the commons" perspective has been assessed by
those who argue that "common property regimes"
are far more complicated in their application than
portrayed in the "tragedy" literature. They do include mechanisms to protect against mismanagement (Fratkin, 1997), and the heterogeneity and dynamics of society determine their effectiveness
(Bromley, 1992).
These opposing arguments have given rise to a
prolific and contentious literature. Other contributors have argued that none of the preceding frameworks sufficiently considered that societies are economically and otherwise heterogeneous and that
political and economic power affects resource allocation and use. A more radical perspective places
the society-resource discussion in the context of
the wider political economy (Harvey, 1974, 1996;
Ecological Economics, 1995).
Political ecology is one framework that examines societal and biophysical processes (Blaikie,
1985, 1994; Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987). This
approach encompasses "interactive effects, the contribution of different geographic scales and hierarchies of socioeconomic organizations (e.g. person,
household, village, region, state, world) and the
contradictions between social and environmental
changes through time" (Blaikie and Brookfield,
1987, p. 17). Campbell and Olson (1991) provide
a heuristic approach to applying political ecology.
These latter ideas can be linked to those that recognize that environmental problems are often associated with social injustice (Harvey, 1996). This
perspective promotes the move from sterile intellectual debate to contribute directly to political action. For example, Peet and Watts (1996, p. 37) argue that the intention of "liberation ecology" is "not
simply to add politics to political ecology, but to
raise the emancipatory potential of environmental
ideas and engage directly with the larger landscape
of debates over modernity, its institutions, and its
knowledge." This activist perspective also posits
the importance of recognizing the diversity of perspectives that exist within society, including those
of women (Rocheleau et al., 1996). An effective
representation of this diversity is found in works
that examine situations through the experiences of
different actors, using approaches such as narratives and analysis of the discourse, the vocabulary
used by different actors (Brink, 1982; Rocheleau et
al., 1994).
Social science perspectives on the relationship
between human activity and ecosystems remain
varied and are the subject of productive ongoing
discussions. While the discussions continue, there
is broad agreement that certain concepts are essential to understanding the interaction between soci-