Crisis of the wasteful nation : empire and conservation in Theodore Roosevelt's America / Ian Tyrrell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tyrrell, Ian R., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conservation of natural resources--United States--History.

Conservation of natural resources.

United States.

History.

Conservation of natural resources--Government policy--United States.

Conservation of natural resources--Government policy.

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919--Knowledge and learning--Conservation of natural resources.

Roosevelt, Theodore.

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.

Physical Description:

xii, 351 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Summary:

Long before people were "going green" and toting reusable bags, the Progressive generation of the early 1900s was calling for the conservation of resources, sustainable foresting practices, and restrictions on hunting. Industrial commodities such as wood, water, soil, coal, and oil, as well as improvements in human health and the protection of "nature" in an aesthetic sense, were collectively seen for the first time as central to the country's economic well-being, moral integrity, and international power. One of the key drivers in the rise of the conservation movement was Theodore Roosevelt, who, even as he slaughtered animals as a hunter, fought to protect the country's natural resources. In Crisis of the Wasteful Nation, Ian Tyrrell gives us �a cohesive picture of Roosevelt's engagement with the natural world along with a compelling portrait of how Americans used, wasted, and worried about natural resources in a time of burgeoning empire. Countering traditional narratives that cast conservation as a purely domestic issue, Tyrrell shows that the movement had global significance, playing a key role in domestic security and in defining American interests around the world. Tyrrell goes beyond Roosevelt to encompass other conservation advocates and policy makers, particularly those engaged with shaping the nation's economic and social policies-policies built on an understanding of the importance of crucial natural resources. Crisis of the Wasteful Nation is a sweeping transnational work that blends environmental, economic, and imperial history into a cohesive tale of America's fraught relationships with raw materials, other countries, and the animal kingdom.

Contents:

The origins of alarm.

Alarmism and the wasteful nation

American conservation and the "world movement": networks, personnel, and the international context

The new empire and the rise of conservation.

Colonies, natural resources, and geopolitical thought in the new empire

Encountering the tropical world: the impact of empire

Energy and empire: shadows of the fossil fuel revolution

Dynamic geography: irrigation, waterways, and the inland empire

The problem of the soils and the problem of the toilers

Conservation, scenery, and the sustainability of nature

Lessons for living: Irving Fisher, national vitality, and human conservation

The global vision of Theodore Roosevelt and its fate.

To the halls of Europe: the African safari and Roosevelt's campaign to conserve nature (while killing it)

Something big: Theodore Roosevelt and global conservation

"A senseless and mischievous fad?": from alarm to sobriety as a nation takes stock

Epilogue. The present, the future, and the power of contingency in human life.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226197760

022619776X

OCLC:

871670487