This book pulls together major critiques of contemporary attempts to explain nature-society
relations in an environmentally deterministic way. After defining key terms it reviews the
history of environmental determinism's rise and fall within geography in the early twentieth
century. It discusses the key reasons for the doctrine's rejection and presents alternative
non-deterministic frameworks developed within geography for analyzing the roles played by the
environment in human affairs. The authors examine the rise in recent decades of
neo-deterministic approaches to such issues as the demarcation of regions the causes of
civilizational collapse in prehistory today's globally uneven patterns of human well-being
and the consequences of human-induced climate change. In each case the authors draw on the
insights and approaches of geography the academic discipline most conversant with the
interactions of society and environment to challenge the widespread acceptance that such
approaches have won. The book will appeal to those working on human-environmental research
international development and global policy initiatives.
