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Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature

William Cronon (Editor)

4.16 · Rating details · 685 ratings · 23 reviews

In a lead essay that powerfully states the broad argument of the book, William Cronon writes that the environmentalist goal of wilderness preservation is conceptually and politically wrongheaded. Among the ironies and entanglements resulting from this goal are the sale of nature in our malls through the Nature Company, and the disputes between working people and ...more

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Paperback, 560 pages

Published October 17th 1996 by W. W. Norton Company (first published 1995)

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Lists with This Book

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Oct 02, 2007 Alissa rated it it was amazing

Thought-provoking set of essays by great thinkers, including William Cronon as the editor. Cronon was writing and innovating in American environmental history before folks like Jared Diamond entered the scene and (in my opinion) repackaged some of the thinking of writers like Cronon and Crosby in a way that reached the masses. But Cronon was trying to reinsert the environment in our understanding of history long before it was a popular theme -- he was booed off of academic stages before his ...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Sean rated it really liked it

Shelves: nature

Collection of great essays on "nature" by folks representing a diverse array of disciplines: plant biology, history, landscape architecture, culture and communications, feminist theory, literature, geography, etc. The "nature" the essayists address includes everything from the well-managed tourist-oriented wilderness (e.g., Yosemite, Mt. Rushmore); commercial nature (The Nature Company); landscape architecture (Frederick Law Olmsted); Amazonia; the very pricey real estate along the cliffs of ...more

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Apr 16, 2013 David Bates rated it it was amazing

In 1995 Cronon edited a collected series of essays published under the title Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, which strongly criticized the Environmental Movement for aspects of its worldview drawn from a misplaced emphasis on Nature as something set apart from society. “The work of literary scholars, anthropologists, cultural historians, and critical theorists over the past several decades has yielded abundant evidence,” Cronon noted, “that ‘nature’ is not nearly so In 1995 Cronon edited a collected series of essays published under the title Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, which strongly criticized the Environmental Movement for aspects of its worldview drawn from a misplaced emphasis on Nature as something set apart from society. “The work of literary scholars, anthropologists, cultural historians, and critical theorists over the past several decades has yielded abundant evidence,” Cronon noted, “that ‘nature’ is not nearly so natural as it seems. Instead, it is a profoundly human construction.” The invocation of nature as a critique of corrupt civilization was a theme rooted in the Enlightenment, and the infusion of nature with aspects of the divine an artifact of nineteenth century Romanticism. “That Thoreau in 1862 could declare wildness to be the preservation of the world suggests the sea change that was going on. Wilderness had once been the antithesis of all that was orderly and good . . .” By grounding their moral authority and activism in a mistaken view of Nature environmentalists had not only pursued the wrong issues, they had shut down dialogue, failed to consider alternative views and become dogmatic. Multiple essay authors referred to the bitter controversy over preservation of spotted owl habitat at the expense of loggers which had recently occurred in the Pacific Northwest as an example. As Carolyn Merchant pointed out in her essay “Reinventing Eden”, western culture was infused by a recovery narrative grounded in the redemption of original sin and the fallen world. It was a cultural theme that had underwritten the “redemption” of the North American wilderness by European settlement. The pivot of Romanticism had changed the attitude toward wilderness, but the redemption narrative was alive and well in environmental thought. The experience of divinity through nature, the Romantic ideal of the sublime, suffused both the creation of the first national parks and, as Candace Slater pointed out, contemporary attitudes toward the Brazilian rainforest as an ecological Eden.

These problematic constructions of nature had disturbing racial and class valences. In her essay “Nature as Community” Giovanna Di Chiro pointed out the cost that the conceptual division between pristine wilderness and corrupt civilization had for urban minority communities. “Mainstream environmentalism generally describes the city as being in opposition to nature” she wrote, “many organizations, such as the Wilderness Society, the Nature Conservancy, and Not Yet New York, portray the large, modern, industrial city as a menacing, noxious sprawl of humanity representing the major threat to the survival of the natural world.” While more than half of all African American, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander were located in areas with one or more uncontrolled toxic waste sites, groups such as the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense fund had refused appeals, describing these issues as “community health” rather than environmental. “It is no accident that these supposedly inconsequential environmental problems affect mainly poor people, for the long affiliation between wilderness and wealth means that the only poor people who count when wilderness is the issue are hunter-gatherers” as Cronon put it. Their construction of nature encouraged environmental advocates to conceive of issues as struggles between the ethical and enlightened who valued the non-human and those who were not and did not, inviting not only disinterest in the urban environment, but indigenous peoples and those who work in rural areas.

In an essay titled for a bumper sticker printed during the spotted owl controversy, “Are You an Environmentalist or Do You Work for a Living?” Richard White examined attitudes toward work and the environment. Most environmentalists had come to associate work in nature, especially physical blue-collar work, with environmental degradation. In effect environmentalist advocacy had reinforced the idea that the appropriate way to know nature was through leisure activities such as hiking and kayaking, and this had an obvious class bias. Identifying nature with the play of leisured humans, a place to visit but not to work and live, had led directly to a negative perception of environmentalists as self-righteous, privileged and arrogant, “an ecological Immigration and Naturalization Service, border agents in a socially dubious, morally ambiguous, and ultimately hopeless cause.” Against this attitude White emphasized that people had always known nature through work, not simply leisured appreciation, and that environmentalists should have regard for that knowledge. Returning to Cronon’s theme of the disguising nature of capitalist connections between the economy and the environment, White argued that all work is done in nature, whether the hydroelectric dam, the logging site and the farm are immediately visible as a connection or not. If environmentalists focused “on our work rather than on our leisure, then a whole series of fruitful new angles on the world might be possible” that unmasked our connections with the natural world. ...more

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Nov 20, 2008 Anjuli rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Nature lovers and historians.

Recommended to Anjuli by: Reiko Hillyer

Cronon promotes a nuanced understanding of historical environmentalism and how it has influenced the movement today. After reading this book, I felt less guilty as a human in nature and ready to redefine my place as part of an ecosystem.

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Dec 17, 2019 Terrie rated it liked it

This was a collection of essays and some of them were really good and others were absolutely dull. Some of the information was a bit dated but overall the book made me rethink my opinions on the environmental movement.

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Nov 14, 2019 Rhys rated it liked it

An interesting collection of essays exploring the boundaries of nature.

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Feb 08, 2019 Ian rated it liked it

Shelves: read-for-my-mfa

"The Trouble with Wilderness"

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Sep 11, 2016 Brad Austin rated it liked it

Overall, I liked the book and the concept behind it. Some of the essays were a real struggle to get through because of the author's discipline. I wonder if the book is somewhat dated, which still adds to its value for historiography. It would be a good book for class.

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Sep 25, 2016 Luke Coffey rated it it was ok

I was extremely excited to start this book and after reading Cronon's contributions, even more so. However, it didn't fulfill my expectations. Some of the articles are now dated and some irrelevant. And in some the naïveté of agenda was too blatant and overshadowing of the original purpose. There are a handful that are certainly worth reading. My suggestion is to check out of the local library and pick and choose the articles best suited to your interest.

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Jun 27, 2007 Pierre rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Environmentalists

A series of essays that provide a well rounded assessment of how humans interact with nature. Environmentalists often perceive their view of nature and "preservation" as morally superior to other uses and needs that we rely upon from Mother Nature. One particular essay, titled, "Are you and environmentalist or do you work for a living" gets at the crux of this issue of how we can sustainably grow and develop societally and enhance our valuation and care for our environment.

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Mar 15, 2013 Erin rated it it was ok

The first third of this book excited me with poignant questions and observations. The middle third fell flat and the last third was an absolute struggle to get through. The first third is entirely worth it though and just pick those essays you want to read from the rest. Nature continues to be more culture than we acknowledge or discuss even though almost two decades have passed since this book was complied.

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Feb 05, 2009 Dustin rated it it was amazing

Really good book, full of fascinating stuff. The essay about Simulation alone will blow your mind, and once you throw in all the other stuff, you're going to be sucking up your brain drippings with a wet-vac. But, seriously, this book lays down an expansive challenge to what we think of as "natural" and how we consider our "stewardship" of the planet.

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Sep 11, 2009 Jennifer DeJonghe rated it it was amazing

Some good essays about rethinking our views on wilderness and what constitutes as "natural". Some of the essays were better than others - Cronon's piece was particularly good and has influenced a lot of subsequent writings about nature.

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Jun 17, 2015 John Vanek rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history

Four stars for the totality of the essays--many are very good, a few are ok. Cronon's introduction alone is worth the fifth star. It's absolutely necessary reading for anyone who wants to think about his/her own place in the natural world.

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Oct 14, 2008 Burgersub rated it really liked it

Generally interesting geography/environmentalist essays. Not as impenetrably philosophical as the other book I had to read for this class, "Human Geography: an Essential Anthology."

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Sep 22, 2007 Doina rated it liked it

Shelves: food-for-thought

a collection of essays looking at nature and the role of humanity in today's world as well as historical and cultural relationships between man and nature.

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May 12, 2014 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, natural-history

A powerful book.

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Dec 01, 2014 Jen marked it as to-read

Shelves: anth-soc, landscapes

GE195 .U53 1995, SSAH

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Mar 16, 2014 Christy added it

I rated and reviewed this book on LibraryThing:

http://www.librarything.com/profile_r...

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Apr 16, 2010 Melissa rated it really liked it

A collection of essays resulting from a special sponsored project by UC-Irvine bringing together thinkers from different disciplines working to get at the meaning of "nature" in American life.

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May 12, 2011 Molly rated it really liked it

Very interesting and VERY dense.

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About William Cronon

William Cronon

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William "Bill" Cronon is a noted environmental historian, and the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was president of the American Historical Association (AHA) in 2012.