Delving into over two hundred
years of literature, policy and philosophy, Ramachandra Guha’s book
‘Environmentalism: A Global History’ succinctly follows the trajectory of
environmental thought across the world. By segregating the history of
environmentalism into two broad stages – the first encompassing ideas of
scientific conservation, wilderness and returning back-to-the-land, and the
second speaking of the transition of thought and criticism to movements and
debates – Guha places thinkers, scientists, governments and environmental
movements into chronological and political categories. This is one of the key
characteristics of his book that makes it a welcoming textbook of international
environmentalism, providing a basic background required to understand the
philosophies of conservation today.
This book makes for an
interesting read not only because of its broadened outlook towards the world of
environmentalism, but also because of the author behind it. Guha, an
award-winning historian, is the first Indian to have attempted to document the
history of environmental thought spanning both space and time. His commendable
effort to synthesize a world of literature began as an idea when he was first
exposed to different kinds of environmentalism at Yale University in the
1980’s. As he broadened his own horizons in nations apart from his own, he
discovered that environmentalism began with the advent of industrialization
among the thinkers, novelists and poets of the 18th and 19th
centuries. This period marks the beginning of his book, wherein he gives new
life to the long-written words of John Ruskin, John Clare, MK Gandhi, Charles
Dickens, William Wordsworth and others. By interweaving his own writing with
excerpts from these personalities’ works, he illustrates how, ironically,
industrialization was the ‘generator’ of environmentalism, kickstarting what
would become a whole new field in the centuries to come.
Guha separates the two stages
within his book by talking about three misfits who were, perhaps, before their
time in the journey of environmentalism. Patrick Geddes, Lewis Mumford and
Radhakamal Mukherjee were the first of many to come who looked at growing
industrial and economic issues from the perspective of tomorrow, rather than
yesterday. By looking into the future rather than an abstract past like the
thinkers who preceded them, Guha suggests that their pragmatic outlook towards
the environment and the people who constituted it were too radical to gain
momentum at the start of the 20th century. Their modern, yet
unappreciated ideologies remained in the side lines, making way for the ‘age of
innocence’, which continued until the 1970’s. Guha strategically calls the
readers’ attention to these milestones, and the years following them up to
2014, when the book was last revised, unfold captivatingly.
The age of innocence, which overlapped
with the blind technological advancements during the second World War, led to an
‘age of affluence’, when Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent Spring’ marked, as stated
by Guha, the most pivotal time for environmentalist action across the globe in
1962. The affluent society began rallying for the environment, despite the fact
that it was their effluents that were contributing to its constant degradation.
An outburst of activism in Denmark by its enraged youth in 1969 has been
documented in this book as the turning point in the history of
environmentalism, after which every rung of society – across genders, ages and
classes – became intimately involved in the cause. With his eloquent narrative
of events and episodes, Guha grips his readers though the latter half of the 20th
century as the environmental movement transcended boundaries of religion and
nations.
After having read this book, I’ve
come to realize that environmentalism is a vast umbrella, under which an
evolution of attitudes and ideologies nests. By describing various schools of
thought, movements and events, Guha helps understand that there is no set
definition for what environmentalism is, nor does he attempt to explain it at
any point. Environmentalism has blossomed, along with industrial development, from
a romanticized and often unattainable desire for the natural world to a
holistic mentality that takes both peoples’ and the environment’s needs into
consideration. It has transitioned from being the naïve, albeit powerful, voice
of the literate elite to the rustic, oft desperate, cries of all society.
Taking cues from feminism, socialism and nationalism, environmentalism has
grown into what can only be called a belief system, whose community is
ever-expanding.
Although this book is replete,
cover to cover, with events and personalities from this world’s ecological
history, it proves to be an easy read, devoid of unexplained terminology or
indecipherable language. While it is heavy in its content, the manner in which
it has been written allows the reader to absorb it entirely, without losing
track of what the author is conveying. In addition, he has incorporated the
writings of other authors, poets and politicians into his book seamlessly,
making it seem as though several great minds have worked in unison to create
this historical account of environmentalism. This book is thus, undoubtedly, a
comprehensive, compelling yet concise read. It provides a gamut of information
to anyone embarking upon this field for the first time, and insight to those
who are environmentalists themselves.
In his book, Ramachandra Guha has
done what any good historian ought to; without nudging the reader towards
either side of the environmental argument, he has instigated thought and
inquisitiveness by simply laying out the facts as they panned out in history.
Having a clear image about the occurrences of any given time period against the
context of its economic and political situation allows the reader to understand
the workings of the environmental movement for themselves. For example, Guha
provides a comparison of environmentalism in developed versus developing
countries implicitly, simply by categorising them in different stages of his
book. I’ve begun to realize now that the onslaught of environmentalism as a
response to development in countries like India and Brazil was more effective
than that of the 19th century in Europe, simply because they had the
knowledge of the destruction that comes with industrialization, and of how
passive indignation did little good as retaliation, before delving into it
themselves. It is, in that respect, truly a global history, where nations have
constantly been learning from each other and building upon existent ideas –
both to perfect the notion of environmentalism and keep up with corresponding
developments in the world of economics.
This also lends itself to the
realization that environmentalism is a global phenomenon as no nation or region
functions in isolation without influencing or being influenced by the
happenings of the world surrounding it. Changes in environmentalism cascade
through time and geography, and, could even occur simultaneously, co-evolving
under similar circumstances. Environmentalism is global in its history and in
its present uproar that is more synchronous than sequential. Perhaps the next
edition of this historical account should be titled ‘International
Environmentalism’ to better represent the intricacies of the book.
Compiling a history as colourful
and heterogenous as this is nothing short of ambitious, especially when
envisioned at a global scale. Ramachandra Guha has succeeded in his bold
venture with admirable eloquence and clarity. This praise, though, also forms
my only strong criticism of his book. For all the literature and records that
he combed through in order to produce this book, I feel cheated out of finer
details and deeper information. This book has definite scope to be richer in
the knowledge it disseminates, making it a tad more than a quick read, yet more
welcoming than a historical textbook. Were this book more extensive in its
discourse, a reader would scarce need to look elsewhere.
