A plague of sheep : environmental consequences of the conquest of Mexico / Elinor G.K. Melville.

Author
Melville, Elinor G. K. [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Description
xiii, 203 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Availability

Available Online

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks SF375.5.M6 M45 1994 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Series
    Studies in environment and history [More in this series]
    Summary note
    • This book is about the biological conquest of the New World. It explores the idea that the transformation of the biological regime associated with the introduction of Old World species into New World ecosystems enabled the conquest of indigenous populations and the domination of vast areas of rural space. It uses the sixteenth-century history of a region of highland central Mexico as a case study and focuses on the changes associated with the introduction of Old World grazing animals. The study spells out in detail the processes that enabled the Spanish takeover of land, and clarifies the role of environmental change in the evolution of colonial society; it is suggested that the formation of a stable colonial regime constituted the conquest process.
    • Deterioration of the soil-water regime, marginalization of the indigenous majority, and the formation of latifundia were reflected in the formation of an archetypically New World landscape that has mystified the history both of the land and its inhabitants, and led to policies that treat the symptoms of environmental degradation rather than the cause.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-196) and index.
    Contents
    • Introduction
    • Alien landscapes
    • The Australian experience
    • The Mexican case
    • The conquest process
    • The colonial regime.
    ISBN
    • 052142061X ((hardback))
    • 9780521420617 ((hardback))
    • 052157448X
    • 9780521574488
    LCCN
    93010662
    OCLC
    28021497
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