New Books in Political Science Garrett Hardin’s Tragic Environmentalism
Oct 27, 2025
Peter Staudenmaier, a historian of environmental and political movements, dives into the controversial legacy of Garrett Hardin. They explore how Hardin's grim view on population and resources prompted drastic measures against capitalism and overconsumption. The conversation touches on Hardin's connections to eugenics, his anti-immigrant rhetoric, and how his theories, especially the 'Tragedy of the Commons,' influenced environmentalism across the political spectrum. Staudenmaier warns that Hardin's ideas still resonate with today's eco-right movements.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Commons As Inevitable Failure
- Garrett Hardin's 'Tragedy of the Commons' framed environmental damage as an inevitable outcome of human nature and unchecked use of shared resources.
- That framing made his ideas widely appealing across political lines because it offered a simple structural explanation for pollution and overconsumption.
Farm Childhood Shaped Worldview
- Young Garrett Hardin cared for hundreds of chickens and killed one daily for lunch on his family farm, shaping a bleak view of population limits.
- His uncle called surplus animals 'superfluous cats,' a metaphor Hardin later applied to human populations.
Biology Models Applied To Humanity
- Hardin applied biological models like carrying capacity and competitive exclusion to humans, treating populations as subject to 'iron laws.'
- This led him to conclude technological fixes couldn't avoid overshoot and that coercive measures might be necessary.
