An Ecological History of Modern China, with Stevan Harrell — Part 1
Jun 20, 2024
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Stevan Harrell, a Professor Emeritus in Anthropology, discusses ecological history in modern China. Topics include resilience theory, social-ecological systems, diversity's role in resilience, the Malthus-Boserup Ratchet, ecological buffers, and periodization of Chinese history.
Scale thinking involves understanding arbitrary and anchored scales for a comprehensive perspective.
Resilience in systems is enhanced by redundancy and diversity to promote adaptability and sustainability.
The Malthus-Boserup ratchet concept highlights cyclical societal progress and the need for adaptive strategies.
Deep dives
Social Ecological Systems and Scale Thinking
Social ecological systems thinking emphasizes the interconnectedness of various elements within a system, illustrating how different variables reciprocally influence each other. This concept underscores the complexity of factors at play and the need to consider different scales of analysis. Scale thinking involves understanding both arbitrary and anchored scales, ensuring a comprehensive perspective that aligns with actors' perceptions and actual influences on the system.
Resilience and Diversity in Systems
Resilience in systems is bolstered by redundancy and diversity, key elements that promote adaptability and sustainability. Redundancy contributes to resilience by offering backup options and safety nets within a system. Diversity, on the other hand, enhances resilience by introducing varied approaches and perspectives that mitigate risks and foster innovation. These concepts are crucial in both natural and human systems, where fostering resilience is essential for long-term viability.
Malthus-Boserup Ratchet and Adaptive Cycles
The Malthus-Boserup ratchet concept highlights the cyclical nature of societal progress, where innovation and increased labor inputs drive productivity but eventually encounter limits. This cyclic dynamic is seen in historical contexts like technological advancements in agriculture and their impact on population growth. Additionally, the adaptive cycle theory explains how systems undergo phases of growth, conservation, collapse, and reorganization, emphasizing the need for adaptive strategies and understanding the interconnectedness of environmental and social factors.
Human Society and Resilience
Social features such as moral codes, frugality, and generational continuity serve as buffers that enhance the resilience of human societies. Concepts like waste not want not, frugality, and long-term thinking contribute to sustainability and resilience by ensuring resources are conserved and passed on for future generations. The podcast highlights examples from cultural anthropology and Chinese ethnographic studies that emphasize the role of moral and ethical values in maintaining social and ecological systems.
Adaptive Cycle and Ecological Systems
The adaptive cycle theory suggests that social-ecological systems progress through phases of growth, conservation, collapse, and reorganization. As human societies incorporate more resources, they transition from a growth phase to a conservation phase, focusing on preserving existing resources and establishing buffers for resilience. The discussion delves into how different ecological zones, like China proper and Zomia, face unique challenges in balancing development and conservation, emphasizing the importance of understanding natural limits and adapting development strategies accordingly.
This week on Sinica, Part 1 of a two-part podcast with Stevan Harrell, Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of Washington. Steve's groundbreaking book An Ecological History of Modern China represents the culmination of a professional lifetime of work in disparate fields. It synthesizes ideas from geography, earth science, biology, anthropology, sociology, political science, and more. It's a book that will make you change the way you think not just about China, but about history more broadly, and about resilience in natural and social systems. In this first part, we focus on some of the core framing concepts of the book and how Steve demarcates China in both space and time. Part 2 is next week!
5:01 How Steve thinks about ecological history and resilience theory/ecology in relation to Chinese history
17:09 Social-ecological systems and the systems approach
24:46 The importance of etic and emic scale
30:15 How diversity contributes to resilience
36:18 The Malthus-Boserup Ratchet
42:43 The importance of buffers
51:24 The adaptive cycle
55:41 Ecological buffers and the threats they face] in the major regions of China: China Proper, Zomia, and Chinese Central Asia
1:06:28 Steve’s periodization of modern Chinese history from the perspective of ecological history
