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    Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World
    Unavailable
    Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World
    Unavailable
    Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World
    Ebook476 pages9 hours

    Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World

    By Paul Josephson

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The construction of the Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River. The transformation of the Amazon into a site for huge cattle ranches and aluminum smelters. The developmof Nevada's Yucca Mountain into a repository for nuclear waste. The extensive irrigation networks of the Grand Coulee and Kuibyshev Dams. On the face of it, these massive projects are wonders of engineering, financial prowess, and our seldom-questioned ability to modify nature to suit our immediate needs. For nearly a century we have relied increasingly on science and technology to harness natural forces, but at what environmental and social cost?In Industrialized Nature, historian Paul R. Josephson provides an original examination of the ways in which science, engineering, policy, finance, and hubris have come together, often with unforeseen consequences, to perpetuate what he calls "brute-force technologies"—the large-scale systems created to manage water, forest, and fish resources. Throughout the twentieth century, nations with quite differpolitical systems and economic orientations all pursued this same technological subjugation of nature. Josephson compares the Soviet Union's heavy-handed efforts at resource managemto similar projects undertaken in the United States, Norway, Brazil, and China. He argues that brute-force technologies require brute-force politics to operate. He shows how irresponsible—or well-intentioned but misguided—large-scale manipulation of nature has resulted in resource loss and severe environmental degradation.Josephson explores the ongoing industrialization of nature that is happening in our own backyards and around the world. Both a cautionary tale and a call to action, Industrialized Nature urges us to consider how to develop a future for succeeding generations that avoids the pitfalls of brute-force technologies.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIsland Press
    Release dateFeb 22, 2013
    ISBN9781597261982
    Unavailable
    Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World

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    Reviews for Industrialized Nature

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    • 4/5
      Although published in 2005 this is still interesting as a historical account of many of the initiatives of Bruce Babbitt to push land-use planning at the federal level. Of particular interest to me was his account of the negotiations to set aside land in Orange County, California after the endangered-species listing of the gnatcatcher. He tries to draw lessons of what worked, and although we know now that many of the projects didn't last, many of them did. This was a short and easy read and I thought it was well worth my time even if it is a bit dated.
    • 5/5
      Bruce Babbitt was the former Secretary of the Interior. He makes the compelling point that in order to protect our natural habitats from unintelligent destruction by haphazard development, it would be wise to create broad sweeping land use plans. Something that, in many cases, the federal government is in the most apt position to handle. There are many areas that cross various 'borders', such as state lines, that are in peril from short-sighted interests. By taking a larger view of a region, the human needs can be accomplished without devastating our national treasures.I appreciated the tone of the author. He takes us along on his own journey of discovery.