Synopses & Reviews
Forests are in decline, and the threats these outposts of nature faceand#151;including deforestation, degradation, and fragmentationand#151;are the result of human culture. Or are they? This volume calls these assumptions into question, revealing forestsand#8217; past, present, and future conditions to be the joint products of a host of natural and cultural forces. Moreover, in many cases the coalescence of these forcesand#151;from local ecologies to competing knowledge systemsand#151;has masked a significant contemporary trend of woodland resurgence, even in the forests of the tropics.
Focusing on the history and current use of woodlands from India to the Amazon, The Social Lives of Forests attempts to build a coherent view of forests sited at the nexus of nature, culture, and development. With chapters covering the effects of human activities on succession patterns in now-protected Costa Rican forests; the intersection of gender and knowledge in African shea nut tree markets; and even the unexpectedly rich urban woodlands of Chicago, this book explores forests as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that have transformed these landscapes in the past and continue to shape them today. From rain forests to timber farms, the face of forestsand#151;how we define, understand, and maintain themand#151;is changing.
Review
and#8220;The Social Lives of Forests offers sophisticated, positive perspectives on forests around the world. The authorsand#8217; stimulating ideas address important questions of forest dynamics and management. They also apply to the creation of working landscapes that offer space for people and nature everywhere.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;The Social Lives of Forests should have a strong and positive influence on the fields of ecology, conservation, environmental history, and many social sciences. A clear message emerges that established views and conservation approaches based on seeing people as separate from natureand#8212;or viewing the land as divided into the pristine and wild versus the humanized and despoiledand#8212;are erroneous and doomed to generateand#160;unsuccessful policiesand#160;and approaches to stewardship. These are not novel ideas, but this volume is unusual and valuable in making a forceful case for their validity based on work from many different landscapes and cultures and a great diversity of environmental and historical conditions.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Forests are complex ecological entities, but they are also cultural, historical, political, and social, all at once. Above all, say the contributors to this excellent volume, forests are working landscapes with multiple lives and livelihoods. The Social Lives of Forests brings together a posse of the worldand#8217;s leading scholars of forests who challenge us to think about trees and people in entirely new ways. This book is an exhilarating and intellectually capacious exploration of forests as biomes and as artifacts. A bravura piece of social science scholarship.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Very engaging. The Social Lives of Forests offers a must-read, highly interdisciplinary perspective yielding fresh, rich insight and incisive accounts of a global swath of sustainability issues and politics surrounding forests and their current and future management, markets, policies, cultures, and conservation along with their incredible past histories. A joy.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;An all-too-uncommon union of the hard and social sciences, The Social Lives of Forests is a groundbreaking work that reframes both the history of the worldand#8217;s forest lands and the debate over their future. Stressing the centuries-long human role in the creation and maintenance of wooded landscapes, and their relation to both rural and urban life in the globalized world of today and in the past, the articles in this book collectively provide a new way to think about forest ecosystems and their inhabitants. This is a book that will surprise and inform historians, ecologists, foresters, environmentalistsand#8212;and anyone who cares about the forests around us.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A common thread in The Social Lives of Forests is a criticism of nature set-asides as the default conservation model. . . . More people doesnand#8217;t necessarily mean less forest and never has. . . . These are contentious, even radical, arguments.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A new book of essays, by academics from several nations, . . . attempts to reverse the conventional wisdom about the state of the worldand#8217;s forests. The Social Lives of Forests . . . captures an emergent trend in research: that while deforestation does occur, there is roughly as much reforestation occurring. While the writers say more work needs to be done, they say that so far, the evidence either for or against net deforestation is inconclusive. This, of course, has implications for forestry and agricultural policy.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Traditional conservation-based approaches seek to separate humans from the environment, but the authors offer a vision of land management based on an understanding of human and environmental interactions occurring in a rich, interspersed matrix. This understanding has important implications for future forest management that seeks to balance carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and human use. The depth of scholarship and the interdisciplinary approach make this work an important contribution to the subjects of forest management, conservation, ecology, and environmental history. . . . Highly recommended.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;With twenty-eight chapters and 500 pages, this is a dense bookandmdash;and a valuable and welcome one. . . . Compared to many earlier works, this bookandrsquo;s strength and original contribution is about going much deeper on the description and explanation of the human and social forces that lie behind these andlsquo;novel ecosystems.andrsquo; . . . The ecology of disturbed forests is of course a fundamental issue, but here we have a strong, multidisciplinary, multi-focused work which definitely establishes that social forces giving rise to human-modified forests cannot anymore remain a fringe topic in sustainability sciences. This book is a valuable reader for scholars and students interested in political ecology, restoration ecology, land change science, and, more broadly, studies of social-ecological systems.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Through careful editorship, in particular the introductions to each of the bookandrsquo;s five parts, Hecht, Morrison, and Padoch show how a social science approach to forests necessarily covers a large number of issues, from those that are purely theoretical or conceptual, to those that are more policy-orientated. The twenty-eight chapters, all written by authors of leading works on tropical and temperate forests, seek to debunk once and for all a number of popular and scientific myths concerning the relationship between forests and peoples. . . . There is no doubt that this rich volume represents an excellent and lasting introduction to the social lives of forests in the contemporary world.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Reiterates the importance of understanding both manmade and natural changes in forested landscapes before conservation issues can be effectively addressed. . . . An important book for environmental scholars, practicing ecologists, and conservation biologists, especially those who are working on issues at the interface of human society and natural ecosystems. Development practitioners, activists, and policy makers will also find this book useful to broaden their perspectives on human-nature linkages.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Tropical forests play a critical role in global health--they store carbon, shelter amazing biodiversity, keep water clean, control soil erosion, and offer pharmacological and economic benefits.and#160; They also harbor more than two billion people worldwide, some of which live in symbiotic relations with the forests, but even in such ecosystems, the face of forests is changing.and#160; Most discussion of tropical ecosystems today center on their deforestation and degradation--not only historical accounts but also most of the scientific literatures on tropical development forest fragmentation.and#160;Focusing on the history and current use of forest landscapes, the contributors explore these landscapes as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that transformed these areas in the past and shape them today. and#160;
About the Author
Susanna B. Hecht is professor in the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in Topanga, CA.Kathleen D. Morrison is the Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in the College at the University of Chicago. She is the author or editor of several volumes, including Daroji Valley: Landscape History, Place, and the Making of a Dryland Reservoir System. She lives in Chicago.Christine Padoch is the director of livelihoods research at the Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia. She lives in Bogor, Indonesia.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrationsand#160;and#160;
Acknowledgmentsand#160;1and#160;and#160;and#160; From Fragmentation to Forest Resurgence: Paradigms, Representations, and Practices andmiddot;
Susanna B. Hecht, Kathleen D. Morrison, and Christine Padochand#160;
PART I. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKSRethinking Social Lives and Forest Transitions: History, Ideologies, Institutions, and the Matrix andmiddot;
Susanna B. Hecht2and#160;and#160;and#160; False Forest History, Complicit Social Analysis: Rethinking Some West African Environmental Narratives andmiddot;
James Fairhead and Melissa Leach3and#160;and#160;and#160; Stories of Natureandrsquo;s Hybridity in Europe: Implications for Forest Conservation in the Global South andmiddot;
Roderick P. Neumann4and#160;and#160;and#160; Adam Smith in the Forest andmiddot;
Fredrik Albritton Jonsson5and#160;and#160;and#160; Jungles, Forests, and the Theatre of Wars: Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, and the Political Forest in Southeast Asia andmiddot;
Nancy Lee Peluso and Peter Vandergeest6and#160;and#160;and#160; Mutant Ecologies: Radioactive Life in Postandndash;Cold War New Mexico andmiddot;
Joseph Masco7and#160;and#160;and#160; Pan-Tropical Perspectives on Forest Resurgence andmiddot;
Alan Grainger8and#160;and#160;and#160; The Social Lives of Forest Transitions and Successions: Theories of Forest Resurgenceand#160;andmiddot;
Susanna B. Hecht9and#160;and#160;and#160; Paradigms Lost: Tropical Conservation under Late Capitalismand#160;andmiddot;
John Vandermeer andIvette Perfecto10and#160;Effects of Human Activities on Successional Pathways: Case Studies from Lowland Wet Forests of Northeastern Costa Ricaand#160;andmiddot;
Robin L. Chazdon, Braulio Vilchez Alvarado, Susan Letcher, Amanda Wendt, and Uzay Sezenand#160;
PART II: HISTORICAL ECOLOGIESHuman-Forest Relationships and the Erasure of Historyand#160;andmiddot;
Kathleen D. Morrison11and#160;Constructing Nature: Socio-Natural Histories of an Indian Forestand#160;andmiddot;
Kathleen D. Morrison and Mark T. Lycett12and#160;Culturing the Rainforest: The Kelabit Highlands of Sarawakand#160;andmiddot;
Monica Janowski, Huw Barton, and Samantha Jones13and#160;Residual Effects of Agroforestry Activities at Dos Hombres, a Classic Period Maya Site in Belizeand#160;andmiddot;
David L. Lentz and Brian Lane14and#160;Forest as Faunal Enclave: Endangerment, Ecology, and Exclusion in Indiaand#160;andmiddot;
Mahesh Rangarajan15and#160;Amazonia: The Historical Ecology of a Domesticated Landscapeand#160;andmiddot;
Clark L. Ericksonand#160;
PART III: MARKET DYNAMICSMarket Dynamics and Regional Changeand#160;andmiddot;
Nicholas K. Menzies16and#160;The Fate of the Branded Forest: Science, Violence, and Seduction in the World of Teakand#160;andmiddot;
Raymond L. Bryant17and#160;Gendered Knowledge and the African Shea-Nut Treeand#160;andmiddot;
Judith Carney and Marlandegrave;ne Elias18and#160;Ancient Forest Tea: How Globalization Turned Backward Minorities into Green Marketing Innovatorsand#160;andmiddot;
Nicholas K. Menzies19and#160;The Production of Forests: Tree Cover Transitions in Northern Thailand, Northern Laos, and Southern Chinaand#160;andmiddot;
Jefferson Fox20and#160;From Swidden to Rubber: Transforming Landscape and Livelihoods in Mountainous Northern Laosand#160;andmiddot;
Yayoi Fujita Lagerqvistand#160;
PART IV: INSTITUTIONSInstitutions: The Secret Lives of Forestsand#160;andmiddot;
Susanna B. Hecht21and#160;A Forest for My Kingdom? andldquo;Forest Rentandrdquo; and the Politics of History in Asante (Ghana)and#160;andmiddot;
Sara Berry22and#160;The Invisible Map: Community Tenure Rightsand#160;andmiddot;
Deborah Barry and Ruth Meinzen-Dick23and#160;Re-Greening the Sahel: Linking Adaptation to Climate Change, Poverty Reduction, and Sustainable Development in Drylandsand#160;andmiddot;
Chris Reijand#160;
PART V: THE URBAN MATRIXUrban Ecologiesand#160;andmiddot;
Christine Padoch24and#160;Amazonia 1492: Pristine Forest or Cultural Parkland?and#160;andmiddot;
Michael J. Heckenberger, Afukaka Kuikuro, Urissapandrsquo;a Tabata Kuikuro, J. Christian Russell, Morgan Schmidt, Carlos Fausto, and Bruna Franchetto25and#160;Urban Residence, Rural Employment, and the Future of Amazonian Forests andmiddot;
Christine Padoch, Angela Steward, Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez, Louis Putzel, and Medardo Miranda Ruiz26and#160;From Fallow Timber to Urban Housing: Family Forestry and
Tablilla Production in Peruand#160;andmiddot;
Robin R. Sears and Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez27and#160;Forest Resources, City Services: Globalization, Household Networks, and Urbanization in the Amazon Estuaryand#160;andmiddot;
Eduardo S. Brondizio, Andrea D. Siqueira, and Nathan Vogt28and#160;Chicago Wilderness: Integrating Biological and Social Diversity in the Urban Gardenand#160;andmiddot;
Peter Crane, Liam Heneghan, Francie Muraski-Stotz, Melinda Pruett-Jones, Laurel Ross, Alaka Wali, and Lynne Westphaland#160;
Notesand#160;and#160;
Referencesand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Contributorsand#160;and#160;
Index