Human Ecology As Behavior

Bol Partner

Human interaction with the physical environment has a dual character. By turning increasing quantities of natural substances and other living species into "natural resources," human beings might be said to have freed themselves from the constraints of the natural world. However, this "freedom" has resulted in population increases and environmental damage that make human beings ever more dependent on nature. In Human Ecology as Human Behavior, John W. Bennett, one of the few anthropologists concerned with contemporary environmental issues, goes to the heart of this paradox to provide a wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary inquiry into the behavioral aspects of environmental problems and economic development.Bennett's essays are headed by an exposition of basic theory, followed by presentations of his major field studies of resource management. In the theoretical chapters he defines the behavioral and social processes whereby human beings realize their ability to shape nature to their own ends, for better or for worse. These chapters have an underlying pessimism: if human behavior toward the physical environment is the distinctive cause of environmental abuse, then reform of current management practices offers only temporary relief; that is, conservatism, like democracy, must be continually reaffirmed.The research project chapters show how these ideas were put to work in studies of Japanese forest management, water allocation in the North American West, and the management of communal agricultural resources and property among the Hutterian Brethren viewed from the standpoint of the "sustainability" issue in development studies.Finally, in a third and concluding section, Bennett reviews recent literature on the environmental movement and resource management. and in the last chapter surveys the rise of ecological philosophies that reject the centrality of human beings in nature and advocate the rights of other species. Clearly presented and free of jargon, Human Ecology as Human Behavior will be of interest to anthropologists, economists, and environmentalists.

Bol

Human interaction with the natural environment has a dual character Human interaction with the natural environment has a dual character. By turning increasing quantities of natural substances into physical resources, human beings might be said to have freed themselves from the constraints of low-technology survival pressures. However, the process has generated a new dependence on nature in the form of complex "socionatural systems," as Bennett calls them, in which human society and behavior are so interlocked with the management of the environment that small changes in the systems can lead to disaster. Bennett's essays cover a wide range: from the philosophy of environmentalism to the ecology of economic development; from the human impact on semi-arid lands to the ecology of Japanese forest management. This expanded paperback edition includes a new chapter on the role of anthropology in economic development. Bennett's essays exhibit an underlying pessimism: if human behavior toward the physical environment is the distinctive cause of environmental abuse, then reform of current management practices offers only temporary relief; that is, conservationism, like democracy, must be continually reaffirmed. Clearly presented and free of jargon, Human Ecology as Human Behavior will be of interest to anthropologists, economists, and environmentalists.