The Relationship Between Human and Nature: Research Analysis
The study of Canadian environmental history is one that is constantly evolving relationship between human and nature as well as human interaction with the environment which alters it and vice versa. The essay “Knowing Nature Through History” by Liza Piper takes a look back in history to see how various factors (social, political, economic, etc.) have played a role in constructing how people understand nature. Piper draws on the works of numerous scholars such as Bordo, MacLaren, Pyne, etc., to help in supporting her overall argument that Canadian Environmental historiography places an emphasis on the interconnection between both humans and nature. This research essay illuminates the importance of this human and nature relation as despite being independent actors, one cannot prosper without the other as they both help in shaping the environment and understanding its past in how it came to be what it is today.
The Relationship Between Human and Nature: Research Essay Analysis
Throughout her research, Piper identifies four themes in this field of study that essentially make up her main arguments. The first being wilderness and how it was achieved – Piper emphasizes how 'ilderness' is only possible when humans are removed from areas and are replaced with forestry; making it “central to Canada’s national identity” as humans are the driving forces to this change of environment. Piper’s second argument revolves around the idea of exclusion where socioeconomic and political factors drew Aboriginal’s away from their reserves to advance settler society; whilst using exclusion as a basis for preserving certain areas across the country for the conservation of wilderness. Her third argument touches on the notion of the state and how the different levels of government helped in shaping the environment through the introduction of policies and practices. The state allows for urbanization to take place which in turn changes the environment to meet the “demands of urban society”; also taking responsibility for the environment as its effects are relative to the relation between human and nature. Her final argument emphasizes the significance of science and technology as it demonstrates the interaction between nature and humans, how certain sentiments of the environment were discovered in early scientific works, and how science and technology both explain the consequences relative to how humans impact the environment when shaping it.
Liza Piper consistently uses a number of scholars to back up her four arguments throughout this research essay which is imperative to demonstrating the success of her overall argument of how human’s connection with nature impacts the environment and deepens our overall understanding of nature. For every argument, she mentions at least two scholars which help in both expanding and explaining her ideas. For instance, on her exclusion argument, she brings up the work of Cole Harris to further expand on how Aboriginal’s fisheries were given up on as priority was given to commercial fisheries in settler society, as well as touching on the work of MacEachern and Rudin who discussed how Aboriginal land was taken and later preserved for parks, thus displacing relationships between human and nature. Utilizing the works of other scholars allows for readers to gain a greater grasp of the material as it provides evidence and examples to support the arguments.
Whilst Piper includes a plethora of examples to support her argument(s), her own ideas get lost in the mixture. By relying on the works of other scholars, she fails to provide her own genuine insight or research that could have made the research more interesting and unique to her own experience. That is not to say that her evidence from other scholars was unsuccessful (because it was quite helpful as a reader to better understand the material), but throughout the research it seemed as though Piper was just providing constant examples of different situations to simply fill in the gaps where she could not provide her own insight; she would provide an example and then give an explanation as to how it relates to her argument, but I find that it would have been more useful for her to provide her own examples from her own research. Though all of her examples of other scholars were useful, they all dealt with different situations (Aboriginals and their land, the government and policies, science, etc.) which can be difficult for a reader to keep up with.
Final Thoughts
Nevertheless, this research essay can help in shaping discussion in this course as it ties in a lot of big ideas that make up Canada’s environmental history – from the government and their impact on shaping the environment, to how this relation between human and nature is relative evolving one’s overall understanding of nature. Liza Piper’s perspective has the potential to enhance one’s understanding of this field as she provides insight on specific situations in the past that has shaped how ‘nature’ is now perceived; more so with how human’s relation to nature creates a shift in the environment that allows for past events to help explain why our world now experiences certain consequences.
