Overview

Cultural Ecologies of the Land is a radical and challenging reassessment of the way we relate to the land and to infrastructure. There was a time when the land defined us. Now, with each passing year, we are increasingly detached from it. It was once the centre stage of humanity; now it is the setting for a technological drama. What has happened, and why does it matter? This book is a multi-layered account of people and environment shaping each other through cumulative, moment-to-moment, day-to-day change, and a template for thinking about place, locality, belonging, and identity. Cultural Ecologies of the Land presents the existential crisis that many believe we now face as a systemic problem, arising from social institutions and forms of behaviour that have been marginalised with our dependency on modern infrastructure. It explains the part people have played in contributing to the crisis, and how regenerating relationships with the land offers a route towards alleviating it. This is not only about acknowledging our impact on Earth but also about understanding ourselves in relation to it, how we engage with our surroundings, make sense of them, live and work in them, and create narratives that connect and sustain us.

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9781032975610

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Reviews

“Cultural Ecologies of the Land offers richly textured engagements with communities, ecologies, landscapes and places, drawing on a lifetime of conversations, fieldwork, scholarship, teaching and travel. Simultaneously accessible, profound and wide-ranging, it spans disciplines and genres.” - Professor James D Sidaway, National University of Singapore. “In Cultural Ecologies of the Land, Patrick Dillon returns to, and reworks, with interesting case-studies, historically grounded understandings of the indissoluble link between culture and ecology. These broadening perspectives are urgent in our rapidly changing world.” - Emeritus Professor Barbara Bender, anthropologist. “Cultural Ecologies of the Land is a book we have been waiting for, but had not imagined. In relating culture to place as a counterpoint to infrastructure, it is both a masterly interrogation of the relationships, and a source of hope for the future.” - Emeritus Professor Robert Cameron, Evolutionary Ecologist. “Through accessible prose and compelling examples, Patrick Dillon’s Cultural Ecologies of the Land masterfully explores the ever changing dynamic between human actions and the natural world. This fresh perspective invites reflection and a deeper understanding of sustainability.” - Georgia Liarakou, Professor of Environment and Sustainability Education, National Kapodistrian University of Athens. “In Cultural Ecologies of the Land, Patrick Dillon focuses on the intricate connections between humans, the land, and infrastructure, culminating in the importance of regeneration. His writing style is captivating, blending diverse academic methodologies, cross-disciplinary research, storytelling, and personal anecdotes.” - Professor Dawid Bunikowski, State University of Applied Sciences Wloclawek, Poland. “Cultural Ecologies of the land is a persuasive account of how an explicitly historical approach can be used to develop more sustainable uses of the land. Its thoughtful use of concepts and well-chosen case-studies will make it a valuable text for courses dealing with sustainability.” - Emeritus Professor Robert Dodgshon, Aberystwyth.

Author Information

Patrick J. Dillon is Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Exeter, UK, and for ten years was Professor in the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Eastern Finland.

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