Inescapable Ecologies

Amongthemostfar-reachingeffectsofthemodernenvironmentalmovementwasthewidespreadacknowledgmentthathumanbeingswereinescapablypartofalargerecosystem.Withthisbook,LindaNashgivesusawhollyoriginalandmuchlongerhistoryof"ecological"ideasofthebodyasthathistoryunfoldedinCalifornia'sCentralValley.Takingusfromnineteenth-centuryfearsofmiasmasandfaithinwildernesscurestotherecenteraofchemicalpollutionandcancerclusters,NashchartshowAmericanshaveconnectedtheirdiseasestoraceandplaceaswellasdirtandgerms.Inthisaccount,theriseofgermtheoryandthepushingasideofanearlierenvironmentalapproachtoillnessconstitutednotacleartriumphofmodernbiomedicinebutratherabriefperiodofmodernamnesia.AsNashshowsus,place-basedaccountsofillnessre-emergedinthepostwardecades,galvanizingenvironmentalprotestagainstsmogandtoxicchemicals.Carefullyresearchedandrichlyconceptual,InescapableEcologiesbringscriticallyimportantinsightstothehistoriesofenvironment,culture,andpublichealth,whileofferingaprovocativecommentaryonthehumanrelationshiptothelargerworld.