A review of 'Environmentalism: A Global History'

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 18^th and 19^th 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 20^th 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 20^th 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 19^th 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.