Ecological Pioneers: A Social History of Australian Ecological Thought and Action

by Martin Mulligan , Stuart Hill

• ISBN13: 9780521009560
• ISBN10: 0521009561
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Whenever the history of ecological thought has been written the contributions of Australian thinkers have been omitted. Yet Australia as a continent of extreme, rare and complex environments has produced a startling group of ecological pioneers. Across a wide range of human endeavour, Australian thinkers and innovators - whether they have thought of themselves as environmentalists or not - have made some truly original contributions to ecological thought. Ecological Pioneers traces the emergence of ecological understandings in Australia. By constructing a social history with chapters focusing on different fields in the arts, sciences, politics and public life, the authors bring to life the work of significant individuals. Some of the ecological pioneers featured include Joseph Banks, Russell Drysdale, Judith Wright, Myles Dunphy, Philip Crosbie Morrison, Vincent Serventy, Francis Ratcliffe, the Gurindji and Yolngu peoples, Bill Mollison, Jack Mundey, Val Plumwood, Michael Leunig, and many more.

Author Biography

Martin Mulligan lectures in the School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning at the University of Western Sydney Stuart Hill holds the Foundation Chair of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
List of Illustrations	viii
Introduction	1	(15)
The Colonisation of Australian Nature and Early Ecological Thought	16	(18)
Seeing the Land in a New Light: People and Landscapes in Australian Art	34	(38)
Of Drovers' Wives and a Timeless Land: Land and Identity in Australian Literature	72	(40)
Taking Nature to the Public: Journalists, Broadcasters and Writers as Educators	112	(24)
Towards a Conservation Ethic: Birth of the Conservation Movement	136	(28)
Working in the Borderlands: Australian Innovations in Ecological Science	164	(27)
Thinking Like an Ecosystem: Australian Innovations in Land and Resource Management	191	(25)
Challenging terra nullius Views: The Aboriginal Land Rights Movement	216	(27)
Green Politics in the Wide Brown Land: Wilderness Politics and Social Justice Agendas	243	(31)
Towards a Communicative Ethic: Australian Contributions to Ecophilosophy	274	(27)
Conclusions	301	(14)
Notes	315	(7)
Bibliography	322	(7)
Index	329