Knowing Nature Through History

Piper, Liza

doi:10.1111/hic3.12113

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This therefore remains an area where History of Medicine needs to be challenged and pushed into unfamiliar territory (Kirk et al., 2019; Woods et al., 2018). Environmental History works as a useful provocation here as its historiography repeatedly and relentlessly questions the apparent divide between the human (animal) and nature (Piper, 2013)—it is no coincidence that one of the most cited ‘formative’ articles of the discipline, William Cronon's 1996 piece “The Trouble with Wilderness”, precisely demonstrates the artificial and culture‐bound concept of a world without us, of a history that assumes human beings are a distinct and separate category. This critical lens on what are both scientific and cultural boundaries has been used within the History of Medicine but in a less visible and systematic way (Cassidy, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Medicine in the field: Growing connections between environmental and medical history

Heggie

2023

History Compass

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This article argues that Environmental History and History of Medicine are disciplines that are natural allies and productive partners; successfully working across the sub‐disciplines will be essential to understanding current and future crises, including climate change and pandemics. While it is relatively easy to find acknowledged intersections between histories of science and/or technology and of the environment, so far these are less systematic and substantial in the history of medicine. Partly this is because there are points of serious methodological and theoretical tension, but I argue that these can function as moments of contact and provocation. Most obviously Environmental History poses challenges to historians of medicine in terms of the scale of our work in both its chronological and conceptual reach, and how we incorporate the non‐human, and even the non‐biotic as historical actors. History of Medicine offers approaches to help environmental historians negotiate their relationships with science, in particular the balance between science as a subject of study or as a source of data. Both disciplines share the struggle of combining focused, heavily contextualised local histories with the pressing need for globalised and ‘big picture’ historical explanations. In this review I will outline the main historiographical challenges to working across these subdisciplines—particularly in terms of scale and focus—and then consider the most productive intersections of these fields before making recommendations for future collaborative work.

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confidence: 99%

Medicine in the field: Growing connections between environmental and medical history

Heggie

2023

History Compass

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“…Another contribution this dissertation makes to the scholarly literature is in the use of micro-physics to address the agency of nature discussions. In the agency of nature debates of Geography, Science and Technology Studies, and Environmental History (FitzSimmons and Goodman 1998;Haraway 1991;Latour 1993;Nash 2005;Piper 2013;Steinberg 2002;Whatmore 2002;Worster 1979) nature has been 'brought back' from being something which is shaped only by human activity to an actor influencing social politics or attached to networks that intersect the human and non-human worlds. When theorists attempt to bridge the natural into the social, one is often given a position of privilege.…”

Section: Normalizing Nature: Larger Implications and Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Squaring Palliser's Triangle: The Normalization of Nature in the Canadian Dry-land Prairies 1860-1940

Stefanik¹

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Located within the Northern Great Plains, with an area that intersects the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Palliser's Triangle is the driest region in the Canadian Prairies. This arid expanse, first reported by early explorers of the North American West and later mapped and confirmed by the Palliser Expedition Report of 1860, holds an important place in Canadian geography. This research asserts that the colonization of Palliser's Triangle was more than simply putting people on land that "should never have been broken" (Gray 1967: 7); it involved the systematic production of normality through multiple political technologies. This critical analysis unsettles Palliser's Triangle through an investigation of nature's normalization. I employ Foucault's conception of normalization and its hallmark, homogenization through individualization, to re-politicize Palliser's Triangle's colonization and settlement. Normalization, I argue, was produced through the individualization of nature, a shift of the spotlight from a delineated problem region to illuminate identifiable and locatable problematic farms and individuals. In doing so, individual parcels of land and the character of male farmers who managed them were made increasingly visible, strategically shifting attention away from the larger political economy of dry-land settlement. The triangulated "micro-physics" (Foucault 1977: 26) of the 'soul,' space, and the norm in Palliser's Triangle settlement pitted the multiple forces of individualization against myriad forces that resisted being individualized including various Aboriginal peoples, male farmers, women farmers, soils, climate factors, weather patterns, flora, and fauna. This research illuminates the exercises of power that enabled and maintained a precarious settlement in the dry-land prairies despite nature's resistance. I wish to thank my supervisors Fiona Mackenzie and Simon Dalby for their continued support, patience, and inspiration. While their paths took them away from Ottawa to other locations, they have continued to assist me in my endeavours. Committee member Michel Hogue has also been invaluable to this process and has offered much guidance and encouragement. I would like to thank the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies for the funding and teaching opportunities it has provided me over the years. If I had not been accepted as a qualifying-year Master's student, or PhD fast-tracked, I would not be where I am today. I would like to thank the administrative staff of DGES Carleton, and especially Natalie Pressburger, who has always given me excellent help, guidance, and support in navigating rules and procedures of graduate studies. In terms of financial support, I would like to than the Government of Ontario for providing me with years of financial assistance through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program. Finally, this research is dedicated to my wife Karin and my daughter Sigrid. Without their love and confidence I could never have accomplished this immense task. Karin p...

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Dispossessing the Wilderness: Contesting Canada’s National Park Narrative

Valadares

2018

Cultural Contestation

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Knowing Nature Through History

Cited by 4 publications

References 43 publications

Medicine in the field: Growing connections between environmental and medical history

Medicine in the field: Growing connections between environmental and medical history

Squaring Palliser's Triangle: The Normalization of Nature in the Canadian Dry-land Prairies 1860-1940

Dispossessing the Wilderness: Contesting Canada’s National Park Narrative

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