Ecology, Conservation and Culture

In this module we look at the various ideas and practices associated with the term ‘ecology’, sociologically, historically and culturally. We explore how the very idea of ecology has multiple roots: it can be seen as a set of natural relationships, as a model for nature–culture relationships within society, or as a political movement.

We learn how to trace these ideas within different discourses, representations, and practices – including via a field trip to the Freshwater Biological Association on the banks of Lake Windermere. We examine how ecology as a science is both ‘social’ and ‘political’, and has influenced ways of knowing – and of directing action upon – the natural and social world.

By looking at the history and culture of ecology, this module gives you the chance to see this science as a product of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and as shaped by changing societal concerns. It therefore gives you critical tools with which to think through the ways in which ecology and associated practices such as ‘conservation’ reflect particular preoccupations and concerns about the orderings of nature and society.