Misreading the African Landscape
Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic
£43.99
Part of African Studies
- Authors:
- James Fairhead, University of London
- Melissa Leach, University of Sussex
- Date Published: October 1996
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521564991
£
43.99
Paperback
Looking for an inspection copy?
This title is not currently available on inspection
-
Islands of dense forest in the savanna of 'forest' Guinea have long been regarded both by scientists and policy-makers as the last relics of a once more extensive forest cover, degraded and degrading fast due to its inhabitants' land use. In this 1996 text, James Fairhead and Melissa Leach question these entrenched assumptions. They show, on the contrary, how people have created forest islands around their villages, and how they have turned fallow vegetation more woody, so that population growth has implied more forest, not less. They also consider the origins, persistence, and consequences of a century of erroneous policy. Interweaving historical, social anthropological and ecological data, this fascinating study advances a novel theoretical framework for ecological anthropology, encouraging a radical re-examination of some central tenets in each of these disciplines.
Read more- Corrects a century of erroneous science and policy concerning Africa's forest margins
- Provides a theoretical framework for ecological anthropology
- Interweaves historical, social anthropological and ecological approaches to force an examination of central tenets in these fields
Reviews & endorsements
'This is a bold and important book, an analytical tour de force. It mounts a forceful attack against the received wisdom on deforestation and the spread of the desert.' Wendy James and Richard P. Werbner Amaury Talbot Prize 1997
See more reviews'Misreading the African Landscape is a powerful and ambitious book which offers a compelling new paradigm of research method and management philosophy.' Journal of African History
'Misreading the African Landscape is a powerful and ambitious book which offers a compelling new paradigm of research method and management philosophy … No doubt Fairhead and Leach seek to inspire an audience of social scientists and policy specialists - they doubtlessly will do so. Yet, more than anyone, I hope historians will be the ones responding to this superb example of environmental research.'
'James Fairhead and Melissa Leach provide a splendid example of the new genre in a thoroughly researched and well-presented case study of the 'islands' of Kissidougou.'
Customer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: October 1996
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521564991
- length: 384 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 154 x 26 mm
- weight: 0.63kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Convictions of forest loss in policy and ecological science
2. Forest gain: historical evidence of vegetation change
3. Settling a landscape: forest islands in regional social and political history
4. Ecology and society in a Kuranko village
5. Ecology and society in a Kissi village
6. Enriching a landscape: working with ecology and deflecting successions
7. Accounting for forest gain: local land use, regional political economy and demography
8. Reading forest history backwards: a century of environmental policy
9. Sustaining reversed histories: the continual production of views of forest loss
10. Towards a new forest-savanna ecology and history.-
General Resources
Find resources associated with this title
Type Name Unlocked * Format Size Showing of
This title is supported by one or more locked resources. Access to locked resources is granted exclusively by Cambridge University Press to lecturers whose faculty status has been verified. To gain access to locked resources, lecturers should sign in to or register for a Cambridge user account.
Please use locked resources responsibly and exercise your professional discretion when choosing how you share these materials with your students. Other lecturers may wish to use locked resources for assessment purposes and their usefulness is undermined when the source files (for example, solution manuals or test banks) are shared online or via social networks.
Supplementary resources are subject to copyright. Lecturers are permitted to view, print or download these resources for use in their teaching, but may not change them or use them for commercial gain.
If you are having problems accessing these resources please contact lecturers@cambridge.org.
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email lecturers@cambridge.org
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×