Environmental determinism

Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular development trajectories. Nineteenth century approaches held that climate and terrain largely determined human activity, especially in less centralized societies.^[1] Many scholars underscore that this approach supported colonialism and eurocentrism, and devalued human agency in non-Western societies. Jared Diamond, Jeffrey Herbst, and other theorists sparked a revival of the theory during the late twentieth century. Neo-environmental determinism examines how geographic and ecological forces influence state-building, economic development, and institutions.

History of environmental determinism

Classical and medieval periods

Early theories of environmental determinism in Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome suggested that environmental features completely determined the physical and intellectual qualities of whole societies. Guan Zhong (720-645 BC) held that the qualities of major rivers shaped the character of surrounding peoples. Swift and twisting rivers made people "greedy, uncouth, and warlike."^[2] The ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates wrote a similar account in his treatise "Airs, Waters, Places."^[3]

Writers in the medieval Middle East also produced theories of environmental determinism. The Afro-Arab writer al-Jahiz argued that the skin color of people and livestock is determined by the water, soil, and heat of their environs. He compared the color of black basalt in the northern Najd to the skin color of the peoples living there to support his theory.^[4]

Ibn Khaldun, the Arab sociologist and polymath, similarly linked skin color to environmental factors. In his Muqaddimah (1377), he wrote that black skin was due to the hot climate of sub-Saharan Africa and not due to African lineage. He thereby challenged Hamitic theories of race that held that the sons of Ham (son of Noah) were cursed with black skin.^[5] Many writings of Ibn Khaldun were translated during the colonial era in order to fit the colonial propaganda machine.^[6]

Ibn Khaldun believed that the physical environment influenced non-physical factors in addition to skin color. He explained the differences between different peoples, whether nomadic or sedentary peoples, including their customs and institutions, in terms of their "physical environment-habitat, climate, soil, food, and the different ways in which they are forced to satisfy their needs and obtain a living." His writings may have influenced the later writings of Montesquieu during the 18th century through the traveller Jean Chardin, who travelled to Persia and described theories resembling those of Ibn Khaldun.^[7]

Western imperialism and colonization

Environmental determinism has been widely criticized as a tool to legitimize colonialism, racism, and imperialism in Africa, North America, South America, and Asia.^[8]

Many writers, including Thomas Jefferson, supported and legitimized African colonization by arguing that tropical climates made peoples uncivilized. Jefferson argued that tropical climates encouraged laziness, relaxed attitudes, promiscuity and generally degenerative societies, while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle and northern latitudes led to stronger work ethics and thus civilized societies.

Scientific considerations were increasingly used as justification for colonial enterprises, often complimenting religious motives and in some cases superseding them during the late 19th century. Campbell and Livingstone argued that belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, based on Lamarckian scientific principles, fueled colonial expansion.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s inheritance of acquired characteristics is a now-disproven evolutionary mechanism preceding Darwin’s natural selection, which states that any mutation of an organism forced upon it by environmental changes (acclimatization) or through frequent use of body parts/organs is preserved by reproduction and directly passed on to offspring without the need for the offspring to develop the trait in the same manner as its predecessors.^[9] Campbell and Livingstone wrote, "Acclimatization attracted greater scientific attention towards the close of the nineteenth century with European and American imperial expansion in the tropics and sub-tropics," and particularly note Neo-Lamarckism and acclimatization’s role as vindication and support of the doctrines of American manifest destiny.^[10] Gilmartin wrote of geographical societies such as the Royal Geographical society in London and the Société de Géographie of Paris supporting and reinforcing the imperatives of colonialism and imperialism by providing financial support to explorers and other proponents of colonial enterprises.^[11] Similar societies offered the same kinds of supports for colonialism, but in a much stronger scientific vein. Acclimatization societies, such as the Societé Zoologique d’Aclimatation in Paris (founded in 1854 as the first and largest acclimatization society of Europe) directly supported these enterprises and enjoyed their benefits, and Osborne noted not only that "the writings of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck . . . provided theoretical backing for the acclimatization doctrine" of which these societies were based, but also that the Societé Zoologique d’Aclimatation was largely founded by Isadore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire—son of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, a close colleague and supporter of Lamarck.^[12]

Critics claim that environmental determinism allowed for geographers to create "scientific justification for the supremacy of white European races and the naturalness of imperialism".^[13] A prominent member in the study of environmental determinism, Ellen Churchill Semple, chose to apply her theories in a case study which focused on the Philippines, where she, "sought to map the distributions of 'wild', 'civilized', and 'Negrito' peoples on the topography of the islands".^[13] From Semple's works, other members within the field of study were able to find reasonable evidence to suggest that, "the climate and topography of a given environment" would cause specific character traits to appear in a given population, "leading geographers to feel confident on pronouncing on the racial characteristics of given populations."^[13] The use of environmental determinism allowed for states to rationalize colonization, by claiming that the peoples within the given land were "morally inferior", therefore legitimizing exploitation.^[14] Consequently, the use of this theory in explaining, rationalizing and legitimizing racism, ethnocentrism and development, has been strongly criticized, and in recent years, has become mostly obsolete."^[15]

Shift to neo-environmental determinism

Following the works of early scholars such as Ellen Churchill Semple and Ellsworth Huntington, environmental determinist theory was revived in the late 20th century as neo-environmental determinism. These theories grew out of concerns due to the study of social order and collapse, and have led to the emergence of neo-environmentalist perspectives and a contemporary climate zeitgeist due to fears surrounding the effects of modern climate change.^[16]

Jared Diamond was influential in the resurgence of environmental determist theory due to the popularity of his high profile work in Guns, Germs, and Steel.^[17] Economic historians such as Jeffrey Sachs and John Luke Gallup have popularized the theory that the environment still effects society today, since diseases present in warmer climates can be an economic disadvantage that leads to reduction in tourism and capital investment in equatorial states.^[18] Others such as Kamer Daron Acemoğlu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson, also follow Neo-determinist theory under a historical model.^[19] They believe that the environment has the ability to impact states, but the greatest effects on society happened during early state formation. Professor David Herbst added his theories to the literature in States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. His work examines the influence that the environment had on African state formation, and compares his findings to the challenges and variables faced by European states in an attempt to discover the why the stark differences in wealth exist today.^[20] Economic historians Stanley Engerman and Kenneth Sokoloff have contributed to neo-environmental determinist theories by focusing their work on the effects that natural factor endowments may have had on the growth of institutions in early colonial development.^[21]

There has also a been a resurgence of the study of the climate may impact states. Diamond's work in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed draws similarities between the changing climate conditions that brought down the Easter Island civilization and modern climate change.^[22] These ideas have also resonated with the palaeoenvironmental community, as authors such as Alan Kolata and Charles Ortloff, and Gerald Huag, cite the collapse of the Tiwanaku and Mayan states being caused by climate effects such as drought.^[23][24] Others such as Peter deMonecal write that societal collapse due to climate change is still possible today due to anthropogenic change of the environment.^[25]

These neo-environmental determinist theories have been heavily criticized by Andrew Sluyter and others, who see them as pseudoscience.^[26]

Ecological and geographic impacts on early state formation

Diamond's account of early state formation

In the Pulitzer Prize winning Guns, Germs, and Steel (1999), author Jared Diamond points to geography as the answer to why certain states were able to grow and develop faster and stronger than others. His theory cited the natural environment and raw materials a civilization was blessed with as factors for success, instead of popular century old claims of racial and cultural superiority. Diamond says that these natural endowments began with the dawn of man, and favored Eurasian civilizations due to their location along similar latitudes, suitable farming climate, and early animal domestication.^[17]

Diamond argues that early states located along the same latitude lines were uniquely suited to take advantage of similar climates, making it easier for crops, livestock, and farming techniques to spread. States located in areas suited for crops such as wheat and barely that were simple to grow and easy to harvest, led to high population densities and the growth of early cities. The ability to domesticate herd animals that had no natural fear of humans, high birth rates, and a hierarchy within themselves gave some civilizations the advantage of free labor, fertilizers, and war animals. The East-West orientation of Eurasia allowed for knowledge capital to spread quickly, as writing systems to keep track of advanced farming techniques gave people the ability to store and build upon a knowledge base across generations. Crafts grew as a surplus of food from farming allowed some groups the freedom to explore and create, leading to the development of metallurgy and advances in technology. While the advantageous geography helped to cultivate early states, the close proximity in which humans and their animals lived led to the spread of disease across Eurasia over several centuries which decimated populations, but ultimately led to disease resistant communities. Diamond argues that these chains of causation lead to European and Asian civilizations dominant place in the world today.^[17]

Diamond uses the Spanish conquistador's conquering of the Americas as a case study for his theory. He argues that the European's took advantage of their environment to build large and complex states complete with the best technology and weapons. The Incans and other native groups were not as blessed, suffering from a North-South orientation that prevented the flow of goods and knowledge across the continent. The Americas also lacked the animals, metals, and writing complex writing systems of Eurasia which prevented them from achieving the military or biological protections needed to fight off the European threat.^[17]

Diamond's theory has not gone without criticism, as it was notably attacked for not providing enough detail regarding causation of environmental variables and leaving logical gaps in reasoning. Anthropologist Andrew Sluyter argued that Diamond was just as ignorant as the racists of the 19th century since Diamond's theory seems to suggest that environmental conditions lead to gene selection, which then lead to wealth and power for certain civilizations. Sluyter also attacks environmental determinism since it is so highly studied and popular today, while he believes it is really just Diamond's "quick and dirty" combination of natural and social sciences.^[27] Diamond's work was also heavily criticized in Why Nations Fail by Kamer Daron Acemoğlu and James A. Robinson. They argue that the theory is outdated and can not effectively explain differences in economic growth after 1500, or the reasons why states that are geographically close can exhibit vast differences in wealth. They instead favor an institutional approach in which a societies success or failure is based on the underlying strength and health of its institutions. ^[28]

Effects on early African state-building

Jeffrey Herbst discusses how geography shaped the African state-building experience in his book States and Power in Africa.

The effect of the Tsetse fly on African development

Dr. Marcella Alsan argues the prevalence of the tsetse fly hampered early state formation in Africa in her 2012 article.^[29] The tsetse virus was lethal to cows and horses. It prevented communities from stockpiling agricultural surplus, working the land, or eating meat. The availability of livestock animals enabled European societies to form centralized institutions, develop advanced technologies, and create an agricultural network.^[30]

Alsan uses population growth models, physiological data, and ethnographic data to examine pre-colonial agricultural practices and isolate the effects of the fly. Her results substantiate that the fly had a statistically significant impact on pre-colonial Africa. Because systemic conditions did not favor centralized farming communities, early African societies resembled small hunter-gatherer groups and not centralized states. Communities could not rely on the agricultural benefits provided by herds of livestock. European states, by contrast, could rely on their livestock to reduce the need for manual labor. Livestock also diminished the economic advantage of owning slaves. African societies relied on the use of rival tribesman as slave labor where the fly was prevalent, which impeded long-term societal cooperation.^[29]

Alsan argues that her findings support the view of Kenneth Sokoloff and Stanley Engerman that factor endowments shape state institutions.^[29]

Drect effects of geography on economic development

Climate and Economic Development

Examines correlations between climate (ecozones), water navigability, and economic development and GDP per capita.^[31]

The impact that geography and nature have on economic growth and development was studied by notable scholars including Paul Krugman, Jared Diamond, and Jeffrey Sachs. By using variables to measure environmental determinism such as: climate, land composition, latitude, and the presence of infectious disease, they account for trends in worldwide economic development on local, regional and global scales. To do so, they measure economic growth with GDP per capita adjusted to purchasing power parity (PPP), while also taking into consideration population density and labor productivity .^[32]

Economic historians have found societies in the northern hemisphere experience higher standards of living, better opportunities to input resources, and that as latitude increases north or south from the equator, levels of real GDP per capita increases. Climate is closely correlated with agricultural production since without ideal weather conditions, agriculture will not produce the surplus supply needed to build and maintain economies. Locations with hot tropical climates suffer underdevelopment due to low fertility of soils, excessive plant respiration, ecological conditions favoring infectious diseases, and unreliable water supply which can lead to tropics suffering a 30% to 50% decrease in productivity relative to temperate climate zones.^[32][33] Tropical infectious disease that thrive in hot and moist equatorial climates causes thousands of deaths and are an economic drain on society due to extreme medical costs, and the unwillingness of foreign capital to invest in a sickly state. Because infectious diseases like malaria often need a warm ecology for growth, states in the Mid-High latitudes are naturally protected from the devastating effects.^[32]

Historians have also noted population densities seem to concentrate on coastlines and that states with large coasts benefit from higher average incomes compared to those in landlocked countries. Coastal living has proven to be advantageous for centuries as people became dependent on the coastline and waterways for trade, irrigation, and as a food source.^[32] Conversely, countries with without coastlines or navigable waterways are often less urbanized and have less growth potential due to the slow movement of knowledge capital, technological advances and people. They also have to rely on costly and time consuming over land trade which usually results in lack of access to regional and international markets, further hindering growth. Additionally, interior locations tend to have both lower population densities and labour-productivity levels. However, factors including fertile soil, nearby rivers, and ecological systems promoting of rice or wheat cultivation can give way to dense inland populations.

Climatic determinism and the Equatorial Paradox

Climatic determinism, otherwise referred to as the equatorial paradox, is an aspect of economic geography. According to this theory about 70% of a country's economic development can be predicted by the distance between that country and the equator, and that the further from the equator a country is located, the more developed it tends to be. The theory is the central argument of Philip M. Parker's Physioeconomics: The Basis for Long-Run Economic Growth, in which he argues that since humans originated as tropical mammals, those who relocated to colder climates need to restore their physiological homeostasis through wealth-creation thus producing more food, better housing, heating, warm clothes, etc. Conversely, humans that remained in warmer climates are more physiologically comfortable simply due to temperature, and so have less incentive to work to increase their comfort levels. Therefore, according to Parker GDP is a direct product of the natural compensation of humans to their climate.^[34]

Political geographers have used climatic determinism ideology to attempt to predict and rationalize the history of nations, as well as explain existing or perceived social and cultural divides between peoples. For example, some argue that one of the first attempts geographers used to define the development of human geography across the globe was to relate a country's climate to human development. Using this ideology, many geographers believed they were able "to explain and predict the progress of human societies".^[35] This led to warmer climate zones being "seen as producing less civilized, more degenerate peoples, in need of salvation by western colonial powers."^[36]

Ellsworth Huntington also travelled continental Europe in hopes of better understanding the connection between climate and state success, publishing his findings in The Pulse of Asia, and further elaborating in Civilization and Climate.^[37] Like the political geographers a crucial component of his work was the belief that the climate of North-western Europe was ideal, with areas further north being too cold, and areas further south being too hot, resulting in lazy, laid-back populations.^[37] These ideas were powerful connections to colonialism, and may have played a role in the creation of the 'other' and the literature that many used to justify taking advantage of less advanced nations.^[37] Huntington also argued that climate can lead to the demise of even advanced civilizations through drought, food insecurity, and damages to economic production.^[16]

Critiques of environmental determinism

Scientific method

Between 1920 and 1940, environmental determinism came under repeated attack as its claims were found to be severely flawed. Geographers reacted to this by first developing the softer notion of "environmental possibilism," and later by abandoning the search for theory and causal explanation for many decades. Later, critics charged that determinism served to justify racism and imperialism. The experience of environmental determinism has left a scar on geography, with many geographers reacting negatively to any suggestion of environmental influences on human society. Some believe this rejection has gone too far, and that incorporating environmental factors into explanations of social outcomes is not only useful but necessary.^[38]

The fundamental argument of the environmental determinists was that aspects of physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behaviour and culture of the society that those individuals formed. For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes, promiscuity and generally degenerative societies, while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle latitudes led to more determined and driven work ethics and thus more civilized and 'stronger' societies. Because these environmental influences operate slowly on human biology, it was important to trace the migrations of groups to see what environmental conditions they had evolved under.Charles Darwin observations appeared to support this conclusion as well, he noted the supremacy of northern life forms over those of the tropics and southern latitudes and extrapolated this idea from plant life to people.^[39] However, since evolutionary processes manifest over very long time periods, the ability to adequately correlate human behaviour with any specific environmental condition is speculative at best, and impossible at worst. Key proponents of this notion have included Ellen Churchill Semple, Ellsworth Huntington, Thomas Griffith Taylor, and possibly Jared Diamond or Philip M. Parker. Although Diamond's work does make connections between environmental and climatic conditions and societal development, it is published with the stated intention of disproving racist and eurocentric theories of development.

^[26]

While this accurately reflects the popular belief and perception in the geographic community towards environmental determinism, the debate was overlaid with hues of gray. Rostlund pointed out in his essay in Readings in Cultural Geography: "Environmentalism was not disproved, only disapproved." He also points to the fact that the disapproval was not based on inaccurate findings, but rather a methodological process which stands in contrast to that of science, something the geographers have arguably sought to ascribe themselves to. Carl O. Sauer followed on from this in 1924, when he criticized the premature generalizations resulting from the bias of environmentalism. He pointed out that to define geography as the study of environmental influences is to assume in advance that such influences do operate, and that a science cannot be based upon or committed to a preconception."

A variant of environmental determinism was popular among Marxists, employing the dialectical materialism concept of history. To Marx's basic model of the ideological and cultural superstructure being determined by the economic base, they added the idea that the economic base is determined by environmental conditions. For example, Russian geographer Georgi Plekhanov, argued that the reason his nation was still in the feudal era, rather than having progressed to capitalism and becoming ripe for the revolution into communism, was that the wide plains of Russia allowed class conflicts to be easily diffused. This Marxist environmental determinism was repudiated around the same time as classic environmental determinism.

See also

• factor endowment
• state building
• colonialism

References

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