Celebrate Earth Day with These Recent Releases

Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. This year, to celebrate, we’ve compiled a recommended reading list of some of our recent Environmental Studies titles for you to enjoy.

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Creatures of Fashion: Animals, Global Markets, and the Transformation of Patagonia by John Soluri

“Soluri’s unusual and interesting history of the region . . . is a lively and well informed contribution to a category of scholarship broadly referred to as Animal Studies, which positions these subjects in academic disciplines that extend well beyond departments of zoology—from environmental history to anthropology and geography—and in which Latin America is rapidly gaining prominence.”—Latin American Review of Books

“A history of animals and fashion that has it all—from seals to sheep and desire to power. This is a stunning read.”—Bathsheba Demuth, Brown University

On The Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice by Ryan Emanuel

“Ryan Emanuel takes you on a fascinating journey through time on his Lumbee homelands, focusing on contemporary tribal environmental protections efforts. The Lumbee tribe’s quest to preserve their natural environment and water is a valuable story of how many tribes try to mitigate the risk of climate change while knowing they’ll bear a greater burden of ecological harm for all of society. Emanuel captures in beautiful detail how tribes use traditional values around caretaking the environment while asserting their sovereignty.”—Karen Diver, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

“This book is an extraordinary study of environmental and Indigenous history. Exhaustively researched and truly captivating.”—Steven Semken, Arizona State University

Captivity’s Collection: Science, Natural History, and the British Transatlantic Slave Trade by Kathleen S. Murphy

“Richly detailed, this book reveals how plants became entangled in the political and economic structures of the British slave trade.”—Londa Schiebinger, author of Secret Cures of Slaves: People, Plants, and Medicine in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World

“Innovative, unflinching, and deeply important—this is a tour de force of historical scholarship and a must-read for anyone interested in the interplay between science, slavery, and colonialism in the eighteenth century.”—Benjamin Breen, author of The Age of Intoxication: Origins of the Global Drug Trade

Empty Fields, Empty Promises: A State-by-State Guide to Understanding and Transforming the Right to Farm By Loka Ashwood, Aimee Imlay, Lindsay Kuehn, Allen Franco, Danielle Diamond

“Empty Fields, Empty Promises challenges the popular notion that right-to-farm’ laws benefit family-sized farming operations and protect their livelihoods. This innovative and thoughtful book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate surrounding the efficacy of these laws and the impact they have on rural communities and family-sized farming operations.”—Susan Schneider, University of Arkansas

“While there is a dearth of material on agricultural law in general, no book tackles the complexities of right-to-farm laws in as much detail as this book. The authors provide a thorough analysis of the laws themselves and the intent behind them, as well as how these laws contribute to a variety of larger political projects. An essential contribution.”—Rick Welsh, Syracuse University

Rendered Obsolete: Energy Culture and the Afterlife of US Whaling by

“Rendered Obsolete provides a compelling perspective on the history of whaling and how we understand energy consumption. The history of the American whaling industry is the history of extractive capitalism, and Jamie Jones’s book is a fascinating account of how Americans came uncritically to affirm the narratives of technological progress promoted by the architects of energy regimes. This book will provide a crucial argument for thinking our way out of such narratives.”—Hester Blum, Penn State University

“Jamie Jones makes a powerful argument against obsolescence, highlighting how outdated or outmoded cultural forms linger and persist long after their demise and, most importantly, continue to perform cultural work. Rendered Obsolete makes a very persuasive case for the ways that whaling culture, despite the prolonged demise of whaling, helped shape our current era of intense fossil fuel consumption.”—Jeffrey Insko, Oakland University