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Alfred W. CrosbyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Choose two of the Neo-Europes presented in Ecological Imperialism. How does the Europeanization of these areas align? How does it differ?
Were ecological advantages the main reason European cultures came to dominate the world?
How did the ecological and cultural history of the Middle East contribute to their defenses against European conquerors?
Ecological Imperialism suggests that the advanced cultural development in the Middle East and East Asia contributed to their broadly successful resistance to European invasion. South America was also home to complex, highly technological societies prior to European Invasion. Why did societies like the Inca fall to the Europeans more readily than societies like in Japan?
Alfred Crosby is often referred to as the “father of environmental history,” and Ecological Imperialism was one of the first books dedicated to the topic. Do the arguments made in this early text hold up in light of more modern environmental history research? Why or why not?
The text identifies three main categories of ecological invasion: animals, plants, and diseases. Which of these do you believe was the most influential on a worldwide scale? Why?
The focus of Ecological Imperialism ends at the beginning of the 20th century. Pick one area of the world discussed in Ecological Imperialism and explore how European ecological influence has changed in that area in the years since 1900.
The author of Ecological Imperialism, Alfred Crosby, is an American of European descent. Is the message of the book skewed by the cultural background of the author?
Did New Zealand’s relatively short history of human habitation aid Europeans in their colonial efforts there?
In light of the information presented in Ecological Imperialism, is decolonization possible?