Arcadia
“Citizens of a Watershed”: The Colorado River Compact and the Exigencies of Drought
The premises of water allocation legislation came under harsh scrutiny in the early 2000s as severe drought plagued the American Southwest.
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Perspectives Article
Neurogeology: The Anthropocene’s Inspirational Power
This article argues that Planet Earth has entered a period of “neurogeology”: the mental states and resulting actions of individual humans, groups of humans, and the collective mental states of all humans together are creating a new mode of planetary development.
Multimedia | book profile
About the Hearth: Perspectives on the Home, Hearth and Household in the Circumpolar North
Through interdisciplinary work in the circumpolar north, About the Hearth refocuses on issues of material culture and social organization in indigenous and local communities. In the process, it makes some compelling ethnographic and theoretical arguments.
Multimedia | book profile
Coal: A Human History
Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins hundreds of millions of years ago and spans the globe. Coal is a captivating narrative about an ordinary substance with an extraordinary impact on human civilization.
Multimedia | film profile
Sprawling from Grace
This film criticizes America’s suburban sprawl and its dependence on oil as being unsustainable for the future.
Exhibition chapter
The Northwest Passage as a Matter of National Security | The Northwest Passage
Once an environment in which the notion of nations was unheard of, the Arctic region is now a disputed space among superpowers. This is a chapter of the virtual exhibition “The Northwest Passage: Myth, Environment, and Resources”—written and curated by historian Elena Baldassarri.
Arcadia
“What a Change When the Tide had Ebbed!”: Rivers, Empire, and a Scottish Transport Company in Colonial Malawi
Historic transportation reliant on unpredictable rivers and underfunded railways contributed to the long-term economic fortunes of Malawi.
Multimedia | journal article
"Editorial Note: 'Pasts and Futures of Water'"
This editorial note introduces the four major conference themes of the 5th International Water History Association (IWHA) Conference ‘Pasts and Futures of Water’ in June 2007: (i) water, health and sanitation; (ii) water, food and economy; (iii) water and the city; and (iv) water governance and policy.
Exhibition chapter
Natural Resources | The Northwest Passage
Apart from a diverse and previously unknown fauna, explorations and receding ice caps have uncovered a sought-after abundance of natural resources in the Arctic region. Historian Elena Baldassarri argues that the exploitation of these resources not only constitutes a threat to the non-human world, but also to the Inuit people. This is a chapter of the virtual exhibition “The Northwest Passage: Myth, Environment, and Resources.”
Multimedia | film profile
Bay of All Saints
This award-winning film examines the realities of urban poverty through the experiences of a community living in Brazil’s palafitas: shacks built over the water and supported by stilts.