In this collection of essays, A.A. den Otter explores the meaning of the concepts "civilizing" and "wilderness" within an 1850s Euro-British North American context. At the time, den Otter argues, these concepts meant something quite different than they do today. Through careful readings and researches of a variety of lesser known individuals and events, den Otter teases out the striking dichotomy between "civilizing" and "wilderness," leading readers to a new understanding of the relationship between newcomers and Native peoples, and the very lands they inhabited. Historians and non-specialists with an interest in western Canadian native, settler, and environmental-economic history will be deeply rewarded by reading Civilizing the Wilderness.

Eleven essays explore the dichotomy of "civilizing" and "wilderness" in 1850s Euro-British North America.

This is a spirited history of the settlement of the Old Southwest, the area that today includes primarily Mississippi and Alabama.

"In this age of heightened sensitivity to environmental problems, the popular press inundates us with the issues of the moment. We hear of the immediate threats to our groundwater supply, to the rain forest, to the ozone. Yet nowhere do we find coverage of the fundamental issues of environmentalism, those elements such as philosophy and history that, though less dramatic, constitute the foundation from which we can reverse ecological breakdown." "This vital collection of essays by some of the environmental movement's preeminent thinkers addresses these deeper, neglected issues. Written from a broad range of perspectives, the authors explore the dynamic tension between wild nature and civilization, offering insights into why the relationship has become so conflicted and suggesting creative means for reconciliation." "Introducing the concept of the wilderness condition, the essays probe the effects of history, psychology, culture, and philosophy on the environment. Included is commentary from Gary Snyder, award-winning author of Turtle Island, who discusses how our prevailing assumptions about "nature" and "wilderness" impede conservation. Paul Shepard, author of Man in the Landscape, presents his compelling, controversial theory that the seeds of our current ecological crisis were planted in the New Stone Age. And George Sessions explains how the two major schools of thought in the environmental movement differ on its most basic issues, again thwarting opportunities for change." "Other essays discuss how Western philosophy has erroneously divorced humankind from nature; why Sierra Club founder John Muir's early writings remain eminently relevant; and how elements of Eastern philosophy may hold the key to successful change." "The contributors eloquently demonstrate why we can no longer take nature for granted, or assume that its existence is somehow second to humankind's. They argue convincingly that no amount of technology will ever displace our primal connection to nature. But rather than simply deploring the prevailing attitudes toward our imperiled environment, the essayists offer fresh, realistic, and inspiring ideas for alleviating the crisis." "Three themes unify the collection: the essayists, though they represent different traditions, share an evolutionary perspective that confirms why humankind and nature are by necessity interdependent; sensitive to language, the writers reveal how the words we choose when we consider environmental issues reflect our sometimes naive understanding of them; and most important, the essayists share the conviction that all is not lost--and that we can initiate a worldwide trend toward recognizing the environment as a vital entity in its own right, thereby preserving its integrity."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

National parks are one of the most important and successful institutions in global environmentalism. Since their first designation in the United States in the 1860s and 1870s they have become a global phenomenon. The development of these ecological and political systems cannot be understood as a simple reaction to mounting environmental problems, nor can it be explained by the spread of environmental sensibilities. Shifting the focus from the usual emphasis on national parks in the United States, this volume adopts an historical and transnational perspective on the global geography of protected areas and its changes over time. It focuses especially on the actors, networks, mechanisms, arenas, and institutions responsible for the global spread of the national park and the associated utilization and mobilization of asymmetrical relationships of power and knowledge, contributing to scholarly discussions of globalization and the emergence of global environmental institutions and governance.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: sehr gut (1,0), University of Leipzig (Institut für Amerikanistik), course: Wilderness and Civilization in American Fiction, language: English, abstract: The writing of this paper was initiated by a seminar on the concepts and implications of civilization and wilderness in American fiction. When Frederick Jackson Turner analyzed the significance of the Frontier in American history, he claimed that the true American character was not influenced by Europe, but built by the constant, strenuous interaction with and the heroically endured hardships of nature’s wildness, which presented itself to the pioneers along the frontier line up until 1890, when the frontier was considered officially closed (Turner 1893). Accordingly, nature and wilderness play an important role in American history, character, and literature. Wilderness visualized as trees or the woods in general, symbolizes a lawless place and, thus, not only allowing for the idea of beasts but also of criminals living there. The uncanny in this picture is obvious and allows for mystifications quite a lot. Besides symbolizing a place of evil, wilderness has also been a space for the individual, most evident in the Puritan idea of expelling non-conformist people, sinners, from the community and sending them to exile into the woods. In this regard, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter and its adulterous protagonist Hester Prynne serve as a perfect example from literature. In this instant it becomes clear, that wilderness and civilization serve as binary oppositions, that have been primarily favored as neatly separated categories in the Puritan thinking. Civilization has been praised as the ideal, refining, and humane state, which can only be realized in the community and its democratic institutions. The missionary thought of bringing civilization to the continent and, thus, taming the wilderness, evoked a new idea: that of Manifest Destiny. Pioneers turn into the chosen people, bringing light into the darkness of the wild continent. The author would like to note that the following pages were attempted to be structured according to those concepts. Trying to do so, however, the subject of the paper, Stewart O’Nan’s novel A Prayer for the Dying, proved itself to be challenging for such a proceeding. The concepts of civilization and wilderness can be found throughout the novel and to a certain degree can be deconstructed nonetheless, but they present themselves not in an exclusive, absolute, and categorical but rather in a confused and intertwined manner.