Ecocide : a short history of mass extinction of species / Franz J. Broswimmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broswimmer, Franz J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Nature.

Extinction (Biology).

Biodiversity conservation--Social aspects.

Biodiversity conservation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; Sterling, Va. : Pluto Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

'Broswimmer's compelling polemic should be required reading for politicians and captains of industry everywhere... (he) points forward to a progressive politics and economics that truly could sustain Earth's bounty while looking after its people.' Charles Secrett, Director Friends of the Earth, UK.'Franz J. Broswimmer's &quote;Ecocide&quote; helps us choose to take collective responsibility. It is essential reading for anybody who cares about the future of humanity and the diversity of species-a diversity on which depend the ecological conditions for our survival. Humanity is at a cross roads-the future will either be an ecological wasteland of extinct species or a rejuvenation of ecological democracy.' Vandana ShivaAt the dawn of the 21st century, it is clear that changes of enormous ecological significance are occuring on our planet. The ozone layer is beginning to disintegrate. Since 1970 the world's forests have almost halved. A quarter of the world's fish have been depleted. We live in an age of ecocide. 70% of biologists believe the world is now in the midst of the fastest mass extinction of species in the planet's 4.5 billion-year history. Biodiversity loss is rated as a more serious environmental problem than the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, or pollution and contamination. How have we come to this, and what can be done to conserve our environment for the future? Ecocide: A Short History of the Mass Extinction of Species examines the facts behind the figures to offer a disturbing account of the ecological impact that the human species has on the planet. Research specialist Franz Broswimmer shows how we are wilfully destroying our world. Highlighting important countermovements who are working for ecological democracy, this unique book is essential for anyone who cares about conserving our environment for the future.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The problem

Why bother?

Etiology of ecocide

Chapter outline

1 The Human Odyssey: From Biological to Cultural Evolution

Beginnings

From Tree Shrews to Primates

Fire Use and Dietary Changes

The Rise of Modern Humans

The Megafauna Extinction

The Pivotal Role of Language

2 Problematic Society-Nature Relations Before the Modern Era

The Neolithic Revolution

Ecological Blunders of Antiquity

3 The Modern Assault on Nature: The Making of Ecocide

The Capitalist System: A Brief Historical and Sociological Overview

The Rise of Scientific and Technological Thinking

The Capitalist Ethos: Ecological and Social Values

Social and Ecological Implications of the Columbian Exchange

The Enslavement of Land and Nature

Early Modern Fur Trade

The Mass Slaughter of the North American Bison

The Rise of Commercial Whaling

4 The Planet as Sacrifice Zone

The Enclosure of the Commons: A Global Phenomenon

The Industrial Revolution

Ecology and Modern Warfare

Ecocide and Modern Warfare

The Planet as National Sacrifice Zone

The Planet as Demographic Sacrifice Zone

5 Ecocide and Globalization

The Impact of Globalism

Poverty and Ecocide

A Terminal Grand Buffet?

Ecocide and the Global Treadmill of Production

The Failure of Environmental Education

The Ideological Turn

The Currents of Ecological Democracy

The Imperatives of Ecological Democracy

Envisioning an Equitable Global Commons

Epilogue Living in the Age of Ecocide

Glossary

Selected bibliography

Notes

Index

absolutism, 56

accountability, TNCs' lack of, 86

acid rain 103

Adams, Robert 37

advertising 176n

Africa 19-20

as origin of Homo sapiens, 19-20

biodiversity hotspots, 84

capita income, 88.

change, 14

change, 16

early hominids in, 13

early hominids in, 145n

megafauna extinction, 24

megafauna extinction, 124

slaves for plantations, 60-1

agency 96

human, 96

human, 104

Agent Orange' 76

agribusiness 87-8

87-8

123

agriculture 61

effect of monocultures, 61

effect of monocultures, 138-9

in New Mexico, 45

intensified, 38

intensified, 55-6

intensified, 84

intensified, 93

intensified, 123

origins of, 30-1

sedentary, 4

sedentary, 9

sedentary, 23

sedentary, 29-32

sedentary, 104

agro-systems 31

agrodiversity 106

Alaska 66

66

68

92

Alcibiades, Athenian general 41

alienation 106

Amazon River valley 2

Americas 60

alien species in, 60

discovery of, 59

early humans in, 22

Pleistocene population, see also

Pleistocene population, 26

Amin, Samir 59

ancient civilizations, causes of decline 32

Andes, tropical 84

Animals 76

destroyed by warfare, 76

destroyed by warfare, 77

domestication of, see also megafauna

domestication of, 30-1

domestication of, 122

domestication of, 123

domestication of, 152nn

anthropocentrism 106

anti-nuclear activism 79

Aotearoa see New Zealand aquaculture, Asia 90

Arendt, Hannah 32

Aridipecus [human predecessors] 12

12

121

144n

145n

Aristotle 40

40

177n

armed forces, greenhouse gas emissions 78

arms race 72

72

73

74

105

and demilitarization, 81

and demilitarization, 84

and demilitarization, 168n

art, representative 21

21

22

artefacts 48

Chaco Anasazi civilization, 48

development of, 9

development of, 17

Asia, Southeast, commercial whaling see also Eurasia

warfare, see also Eurasia

warfare, see also Eurasia.

warfare, 74-5

warfare, 74-5

warfare, 101

asteroid collision, Yucatan peninsula 2

astronomy, Sumerian 36

Athens, ancient 40-1

Atomic Photography Guild 79-80

Attica [ancient Greece], deforestation 34

Australia 22

early humans in, 148n

megafauna extinction, 25

megafauna extinction, 148nn

Australopithecus [human predecessors] 12

106

autonomy, centrality of 58

Aztec empire 34

background extinctions 3

3

Bacon, Francis 56

56

57

Baikal, Lake 79

baleen whale 67

basic needs 100

bear, white 6

beaver, fur for hats 64-5

64-5

162n

Benjamin, Walter 73

Bering Sea, fur seal 66

Bickerton, Derek 27

big game hunting 18-19

18-19

23

24

30

60

147n

biodiversity 1

1

101

107

conservation solutions, 134

economic uses of, 8

economic uses of, 119

expansive threats to, 84

human agency and changes in, 123

intensive risks to, 84

loss of, 11

loss of, 125

mechanisms of loss, 125

biodiversity hotspots 4

4

84

112

128-9

bioinvasion see also invasive species

see also invasive species

biological warfare 73

97

bioregion 107

biosphere 31

31

71

bipedalism 15

birds, extinctions see also dodo

flightless, see also dodo

flightless, 25

flightless, 148n

bison, European 6

North American, 6

North American, 24

North American, 60

North American, 66-7

blue whales 68

69

bombing, Vietnam 76

bonobo chimpanzee, genetic similarity to man 12

13-14

Borgstrom, George 34

bourgeois society 107.

Brazil 88

deforestation, 88

deforestation, 174n

Brecht, Bertolt 1

Bronze Age see also Mesopotamian

see also Mesopotamian

35

Brundtland Report [1987] 98

burial rituals, Neanderthal 20

20

146n

business, responsibilities of 99

calendar, lunar 21-2

Cambodia, ecological warfare 76

Cambrian period 107

cancer, drugs from natural substances 8

Canetti, Elias 7

7

103

capital, global, controls on 99

capitalism, complexity of 58

and systemic nature of exponential growth, 58

and systemic nature of exponential growth, 97

and triangular trade, 61-2

and warfare, 73

early modern, 63

early modern, 123

emergence of, 54-6

globalization of, 4

globalization of, 87-8

capitalist mode of production 10

10

55-6

carbon dioxide 6

6

139

Caribbean, biodiversity hotspot 84

megafauna extinctions, 26

megafauna extinctions, 124

plantations, 60-1

carrying capacity 91-2

91-2

108

115

174n

Carthage, Roman destruction of 74

157n

165n

Cato the Elder 43

Catton, William 91

causality 96

cave paintings 22

146-7n

caves, occupation of 17

Central Asia, nuclear weapons testing 79

Chaco Anasazi civilization, New Mexico 45-8

45-8

158n

Charles I, King of England 64

64

Chauvet [Rhone Valley], cave paintings 22

Chelyabinsk- 40 military city

Chelyabinsk 40 military city

Chelyabinsk 79

chemical warfare 73

chemicals, synthetic 94

Chernobyl disaster [1986] 79

chimpanzees 12

China, environmental degradation in ancient 65

fur trade, 65

Yellow River flooding, 75

chitin, medical use of 8

chlorofluorocarbons 6

78

Chomsky, Noam 95.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius 29

cities, Mayan 48-9

city-states 39-40

Greek, 39-40

Italy, 159

Mesopotamia, 35

civil society 172n

class society 70

and enclosure of commons, 70

capitalist, 54

Chaco Anasazi civilization, 47

proletarianization, 71

Sumerian, 36

climate change 2

and mass extinction, 2

global, 111

ice ages, 16

climate, adaptation to 20

Clovis hunters, North America 45

Club of Rome, The Limits of Growth 74

coastal wetlands 5

Cody, Buffalo Bill 67

Cohen, Mark 9

Cold War 73

79

colonialism 72

87

161n

Columbian Exchange' 59-60

Columbus, Christopher 59

commodification 11

global, 11

global, 80

global, 101-2

conscious intentionality 9

9

17

Conservation International 84

consumption, conspicuous [ancient Rome] 99

and economic growth, 99

and waste, 99

expected growth of, 84

expected growth of, 93

expected growth of, 170n

globalization of, 98

per capita, 82

per capita, 93

per capita, 132

unsustainable, 83

unsustainable, 92-3

continental drift 1-2

1-2

16

contraception 80

80

85

171n

cooking 17-18

17-18

20-1

Corinth 41

corporation see also

see also

160n

Corsica, deforestation 39

crafts, manufacturing 31

critical theory 108

Cro-Magnon man 20

21-2

crops, and genetic diversity 61

monoculture, 61

monoculture, 138-9

Crosby, Alfred 59

Cuba, megafauna extinctions 26

cultural diffusion 64

cultural evolution 10

27-8

culture 58

complexity of capitalist, 58

Mayan, 48-9

rate of development, 27

Dacia, Roman conquest of 42.

Davis, Mike 79.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781783713486

1783713488

9781849641593

1849641595

9780585488851

0585488851