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RCC Perspectives

The online journal publishes provocative, less formal pieces related to the Rachel Carson Center's environment and society research themes.
Issue 2016/5

Molding the Planet: Human Niche Construction at Work

Edited by Maurits W. Ertsen, Christof Mauch, and Edmund Russell

This volume explores some of the diverse niches created by humans in different times and places. The essays span the globe, from Texas to China, from Scandinavia to Papua New Guinea, exploring agricultural spaces and indoor biomes, human aesthetics, and Anthropocentric perspectives.

Issue 2016/4

Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Politics: Case Studies from Canada and Western Europe

Edited by Jonathan Clapperton and Liza Piper

These essays showcase examples from Canada and Western Europe, offering insights into how different forms of environmental knowledge and environmental politics come to be seen as legitimate or illegitimate.

Issue 2016/3

A Future without Waste? Zero Waste in Theory and Practice

Edited by Christof Mauch

Is a world without waste truly achievable? The essays in this volume of RCC Perspectives discuss zero waste as a vision, as a historical concept, and as an international practice. Going beyond the motto of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” they reflect on the feasibility of creating closed material cycles and explore real-world examples of challenges and successes on the way to zero waste.

Issue 2016/2

Whose Anthropocene? Revisiting Dipesh Chakrabarty’s “Four Theses”

Edited by Robert Emmett and Thomas Lekan

In “The Climate of History: Four Theses,” Dipesh Chakrabarty examined the idea of the Anthropocene—the dawn of a new geological period dominated by human activities—in the context of history and philosophy, raising fundamental questions about how we think historically in an era when human and geological timescales are colliding.This volume of RCC Perspectives offers critiques of these “Four Theses” by scholars of environmental history, political philosophy, religious studies, literary criticism, environmental planning, geography, law, biology, and geology.

Issue 2016/1

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Politics and Culture of Waste

Edited by Christof Mauch

Waste is never completely or permanently “out of sight.” Once discarded, it undergoes transformations, often reappearing elsewhere in new forms. In this volume of RCC Perspectives, scholars from different disciplines—from history and art history, urban geography, environmental studies, and anthropology—investigate the traces waste leaves behind in the course of its travels.

About RCC Perspectives

RCC Perspectives is an open-access publication that exists to record and reflect the activities of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. The journal was rebranded in 2016 as RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society. It provides a forum for examining the interrelationship between environmental and social changes and is designed to inspire new perspectives on humanity and the wider world. RCC Perspectives aims to bridge the gap between scholarly and non-scholarly audiences and encourage international dialogue.

Guidelines for contributors (English)

The Perspectives Team

Published from 2010 to 2020, the series editors of RCC Perspectives were RCC Directors Christof Mauch and Helmuth Trischler. The former editing team consisted of Harriet Windley and Kristy Henderson. Katie Ritson served as co-series editor and managing editor for many years alongside former editors Brenda Black, Stephanie Hood, Hannah Roberson, and Samantha Rothbart.

Contact us
Rachel Carson Center Ludwig Maximilians Universität München Deutsches Museum Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
The Environment & Society Portal is a project of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, an institute founded in 2009 as a joint initiative of LMU Munich and the Deutsches Museum. Read more about the Portal in English and in German.
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