Bibliography
Cronon, W. (1991). Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company.
In this work, William Cronon examines various boundary topics between human environments and ‘nature’. In reality, what today many people think of as natural spaces are really a human-made environments that differ from other human-made environments. For Cronon, Chicago and its markets, driven by the farms of the Midwest and transportation networks formed between them, are simply parts of a larger socio-economic system. “Although this book takes Chicago and the Great West as its immediate focus, its broader ambition is to explore century-old economic and ecological transformations that have continued to affect all of North America and the rest of the world besides” (Cronon, 1991, p. xvi).
The initial incentive to ‘tame’ the land through displacement of indigenous flora, fauna, and people in favor of European style farming was for local economic value. As Chicago began to transform first it’s ports, then the rivers through canal creation, and finally overland transport through a network of railroads, its leaders also increased a financial hold over farmers and competing cities through a number of cooperatives. The Chicago Board of Trade helped solidify definitions of grain quality types and associated monetary values. Similar pricing and quality controls expanded to beef and pork. By becoming the de facto ‘middle man’ between farmers and large markets along the east coast of the US, many of Chicago’s business leaders, and seedier elements as well, grew very wealthy. Tactics such as downgrading quality ratings when paying farmers, then mixing grains to claim higher quality when selling to large markets were common place.
William Cronon’s work is a story of boundary definition. Wilderness and farm, rural and urban, buyer and seller, controller and controlled, these are the sort of boundaries explored in the book. In each case, human invention (technical or sociological) define the metamorphosis from what one might call ‘nature’ to what today is more about ‘human nature’. Cronon calls the former ‘first nature’ and the human created version ‘second nature’.
Cronon, W. (1991). Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company.
In this work, William Cronon examines various boundary topics between human environments and ‘nature’. In reality, what today many people think of as natural spaces are really a human-made environments that differ from other human-made environments. For Cronon, Chicago and its markets, driven by the farms of the Midwest and transportation networks formed between them, are simply parts of a larger socio-economic system. “Although this book takes Chicago and the Great West as its immediate focus, its broader ambition is to explore century-old economic and ecological transformations that have continued to affect all of North America and the rest of the world besides” (Cronon, 1991, p. xvi).
The initial incentive to ‘tame’ the land through displacement of indigenous flora, fauna, and people in favor of European style farming was for local economic value. As Chicago began to transform first it’s ports, then the rivers through canal creation, and finally overland transport through a network of railroads, its leaders also increased a financial hold over farmers and competing cities through a number of cooperatives. The Chicago Board of Trade helped solidify definitions of grain quality types and associated monetary values. Similar pricing and quality controls expanded to beef and pork. By becoming the de facto ‘middle man’ between farmers and large markets along the east coast of the US, many of Chicago’s business leaders, and seedier elements as well, grew very wealthy. Tactics such as downgrading quality ratings when paying farmers, then mixing grains to claim higher quality when selling to large markets were common place.
William Cronon’s work is a story of boundary definition. Wilderness and farm, rural and urban, buyer and seller, controller and controlled, these are the sort of boundaries explored in the book. In each case, human invention (technical or sociological) define the metamorphosis from what one might call ‘nature’ to what today is more about ‘human nature’. Cronon calls the former ‘first nature’ and the human created version ‘second nature’.
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