Social science theory/explanation and land use

There is no overarching theory of the human-environment relationship although individual scholars adhere strongly to certain explanations - this makes consensus and modeling difficult

There is an important relationship between theory, hypotheses, data, analysis, policy and politics of land use

References : People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science (National Academy Press, 1999). Available on the web at:

http://books.nap.edu/books/0309064082/html/index.html

Liverman, D.M. 1994. "Modeling Social Systems and Their Interaction with the Environment: A View from Geography," in P.M. Groffman and G.E. Likens, eds., Integrated Regional Models: Interactions Between Humans and Their Environment. Chapman and Hall. (On course Website)

General Social science theory/explanation and environment

Human-Environment

• Nature controls people (environmental determinism)

• People control nature (possibilism, technological optimism, anthropocentrism)

• People are part of nature (ecosystems, ecocentrism)

Human-human

• People act as rational individuals in a free system (neoclassical economics)

• People act in accordance with individual psychological characteristics and/or their socioeconomic and family status (behavioral)

• Some people control others through institutions and structures of power and ideology (political economy,marxism, feminism)

• People are subjective, unique (humanism, postmodernism)

The Valley of Oaxaca (near Etla)

Etla (located at #3)

Alternative Explanations for land use in picture• Environmental determinism - the use of the land is determined by

the climate, soils and topography of the area (Huntington)• Possibilism - human ingenuity and technology allow anything

(bananas, wheat, flowers) to be grown • Cultural ecology - people have adapted to the physical

environmental constraints through the use of technologies (plant breeding, irrigation, terraces) and social organization (sharing surplus and maintenance of irrigation systems (Denevan, Turner)

• Economic - people use the land for maximum profit determined by balance of supply and demand, cost of transport to market (e.g. Von Thunen land use models)

• Behavioral - the individual socioeconomic/psychological characteristics of individuals (age, education) influence how they use the land (e.g. Wolpert)

• Humanistic/cultural - land use expresses deep cultural, religious and aesthetic traditions (Tuan)

• Malthusian and Biological explanations - human activity and behavior responds to basic biological drivers (physiology, reproduction) and population pressure is exceeding the carrying capacity of this landscape

• Demographic explanations - Boserup and Chayanov• Marxist/Political Economy/Dependency theory - land use is controlled

by capitalism/power in the interests of the few by exploiting both poor people and nature

• Political ecology - land use decisions are influenced by nature, economic and structural constraints, and by characteristics or agency of individuals

• Postmodern - this landscape is a “text” replete with symbols and multiple meanings

• Feminist - this is a highly gendered landscape with divisions of labor and uneven benefits from harvests between men and women

• Statistical-empirical - current landscape predicted from past trajectory or random conversion based on previous condition