Caroline Ford - Böcker

Challenging the conventional wisdom that French environmentalism can be dated only to the post-1945 period, Caroline Ford argues that a broadly shared environmental consciousness emerged in France much earlier. Natural Interests unearths the distinctive features of French environmentalism, in which a large and varied cast of social actors played a role. Besides scientific advances and colonial expansion, nostalgia for a vanishing pastoral countryside and anxiety over the pressing dangers of environmental degradation were important factors in the success of this movement.Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, war, political upheaval, and natural disasters—especially the devastating floods of 1856 and 1910 in Paris—caused growing worry over the damage wrought by deforestation, urbanization, and industrialization. The natural world took on new value for France’s urban bourgeoisie, as both a site of aesthetic longing and a destination for tourism. Not only naturalists and scientists but politicians, engineers, writers, and painters took up environmental causes.Imperialism and international dialogue were also instrumental in shaping environmental consciousness, as the unfamiliar climates of France’s overseas possessions changed perceptions of the natural world and influenced conservationist policies. By the early twentieth century, France had adopted innovative environmental legislation, created national and urban parks and nature reserves, and called for international cooperation on environmental questions.

Shark attacks and sewage slicks, lifesavers and surfers, amusement parks and beach camps – the beach is Sydney’s most iconic landscape feature.From Palm Beach in the north to Cronulla in the south, Sydney’s coastline teems with life. People from around the city escape to the beaches to swim, surf, play, and lie in the sun. Sydney Beaches tells the story of how Sydneysiders developed their love of the beach, from 19th-century picnickers to the surfing and sun-baking pioneers a century later.But Sydney’s beaches have another lesser-known, intriguing history. Our world-famous beach culture only exists because the first beachgoers demanded important rights. This book is also the story of these battles for the beach.Accompanied by vibrant images of Sydney’s seashore, this expansive and delightful book is the story of how a city developed a relationship with its ocean coast, and how a nation created a culture.