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Famines: At the Interface of Nature and Society

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Famines During the ʻLittle Ice Ageʼ (1300-1800)

Abstract

Famines have re-entered public consciousness. While most research focuses on modern and future crises, the past offers a rich and largely untapped archive of societies that have already faced similar challenges. However, current research is characterized by antagonisms of the natural sciences and the humanities. In this paper we argue for an integration of the ‘archives of nature’ and the ‘archives of man’. We survey emerging interdisciplinary research designs (vulnerability studies, social ecology, disaster studies) that facilitate such an approach and contend that due to their unique scope, famines constitute an excellent ‘boundary object’ to study socionatural entanglements. Examining the famines of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (1300–1800) can therefore overcome socially or environmentally determinist models of human-environment interaction. As a result, the research approach presented here, can advance our understanding of how past societies dealt with natural challenges and improve the basis for future decision making.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heidelberg Center for the Environment, Heidelberg, Germany

    Dominik Collet & Maximilian Schuh

  2. Historisches Seminar, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Dominik Collet & Maximilian Schuh

Authors
  1. Dominik Collet
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  2. Maximilian Schuh
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Correspondence to Maximilian Schuh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Heidelberg Center for the Environment, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Dominik Collet

  2. Heidelberg Center for the Environment, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Maximilian Schuh

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Collet, D., Schuh, M. (2018). Famines: At the Interface of Nature and Society. In: Collet, D., Schuh, M. (eds) Famines During the ʻLittle Ice Ageʼ (1300-1800). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54337-6_1

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