论自然环境对人类社会发展作用方式

自然环境对人类社会发展的控制是一种可能性控制,这种控制的具体方式有四:一是经由自然稀缺性控制人类社会的持续发展;二是经由空间差异性控制人类社会的空间分化和区域发展;三是经由其时间上的变化控制人类社会发展的波动与周期;四是经由其使用价值的多样性控制资源与环境利用的社会选择范围与方向。作者对前两种方式做了重点论述。     

地理环境与人类历史的关系——如何思考环境的制约问题

人定胜天的自信感是机器时代的产物,是人类心智进步的一个表征。但是,在地理环境与人类社会的关系问题上,这种乐观情绪也影响了许多人的思考方式。他们断言,生产力水平越低,人类受地理环境的制约作用越大,反之,人类生产力水平越高,受环境的制约也就越小。这种见解所含的思路,在普列汉诺夫那儿可以看得更清楚。他说:“地理环境对于社会人类的影响,是一种可变的量。被地理环境的特性所决定的生产力的发展,增加了人类控制自然的权力,因而使人类对于周围的地理环境发生了一种新的关系。”很明显,普列汉诺夫已注意从人类与地理环境的相互作用以及变动     

环境营造:中国历史上人类活动对全球变化的贡献

在古代-近现代中国,历时数千年人类活动展开所具有的时空条件、土地面积和经营方式、人口规模和质量、社会组织形式、社会形态延续条件等基本内容,在世界各国中是难有其比的。国外许多科学家将加大力度利用丰富的历史文献(中文为主),用于研究和解释人类活动对地球环境变化可能具有的作用和影响份额的希望,寄托在中国科学家和历史学家身上,是有充足理由的。本文认为,发挥国情和历史地理专业优势,现阶段可以视为全球变化研究框架中的重要内容是(1)土地利用与土地覆盖格局的变化;(2)流域生命-文化环境的构成及其成长;(3)河湖海系统的演变;(4)制度和政策因素怎样调节人类的社会经济行为;(5)提取和整理对地球环境有重大影响的自然、人文事件。为了对人类活动引起环境变化的影响和作用作出较为准确的判断,研究中需要做好的事项有(1)排查文献资料中的人为主观撰述因素;(2)核实人类活动可以影响的范围或方面;(3)分析人类活动本身包含的复杂性因素;(4)充分估计自然本身的力量;(5)尊重和学习其它专业的研究方法及其实验结果。时至今日,科学事业发展的形势,已经将历史学加入自然科学研究计划的工作提到了研究时间表上。     

论可持续发展的观念创新

可持续发展观作为一种新的社会发展理论,已引起了人们的普遍关注。然而,人类要真正实现可持续发展,必须做出切实的努力,其中重要的一点,就是实现可持续发展必须以观念的创新为基本前提。这种创新以自然现、实践观、进步观的创新为核心,可持续发展现本质上是一种创新发展观。一、人类自然观的创新：人与自然共生可以说,确立人与自然共生态势,克服人与自然的分离、对峙,是实现可持续发展的自然基础。马克思指出：“人直接地是自然的存在物。”因而,论到可持续发展,就必须反思人类存在的自然基础,寻求人类可持续发展的自然基础,亦…     

龙门石窟——一笔珍贵的世界文化遗产

地球是一切生命起源、更新和变化的摇篮。地球在漫长的进化中形成如今的地貌外形 ,也就是我们人类生活的环境 ,这对人类来说 ,是天造地设最为完美的一个环境。然而近百年来 ,人类耗用和破坏地球资源的负面影响也越来越大。为此1972年 11月 16日 ,联合国教科文组织发表《保护世界文化和自然遗产公约》 ,面对世界上的文化遗产和自然遗产日趋受到破坏和威胁 ,号召人们行动起来 ,保护这类罕见的、无法替代的财产。保护世界文化和自然遗产 ,也是联合国教科文组织开展的一项意义重大、影响深远的国际合作活动 ,其宗旨是保护那些因工业化进程加剧、…     

基于哲学视角审视环境保护

自人类产生以来,就同身边的自然环境息息相关。人类自远古至今的活动无不践行着改造自然、利用自然,甚至想要掌握自然。特别是科学技术突飞猛进的今天,人类生长的地球已经用“村”来形容,人类依靠科技的发展已将探索领域不断延伸到外太空。但是,不可否认的是科学技术在指导人类认识自然、利用自然、改造自然的同时,也在一定程度上毁坏着我们赖以生存的地球。     

汉文化的辐射与侗族文化的变迁

人类一出现,就在两种背景中生存和发展,一是自然,一是文化。文化是人创造的,而人又是文化的产物。在这种互动的关系中,人类在发展着。衡量人类进步的标志就是人类的文明,人类的文化。文化是人类能力的体现。人类凭藉文化,从自然中走来,和自然比肩而立。人类的强人,不在于体质的壮大,而在于它的文化,而在于它的文化体现出来的力量。从广义方面来说,文化就是人类生活的诸方面,包括工具、衣服、装饰品、建筑、制度、语言、艺术形式、宗教信仰习俗等,是人类的生存样式系统,是人类为适应自然而创造的一种机制。文化是发展的,是一…     

对生产力和生产关系有关问题的再思考

生产力和生产关系是政治经济学中的基本范畴。对于二者及二者的关系有许多人进行了多方面探讨和研究,可谓硕果累累。笔者这里又做了一些思考,供大家参考,不足之处请予以批评指正。一、什么是生产力什么是生产力,传统的定义是：“生产力是人们生产物质资料的能力,它表示人们改造自然和征服自然的水平,反映了人和自然界的关系。”①对此,笔者认为这种以人类征服自然的信念为基础的生产力定义已经过时,必须赋于生产力以新的涵义。人类不仅仅是改造自然和征服自然,更重要的是要充分认识到人类与自然和谐的重要性。新的生产力定义应是：…     

人类行为还是环境变迁?——小珠山贝丘遗址动物考古学研究新思考

人类获取动物资源的方式由渔猎向家畜饲养转化的动因何在?广鹿岛上小珠山贝丘遗址动物考古学研究为该问题的解读提供了实证材料,有助于我们更加深刻地理解人类行为、自然环境与生业方式之间存在的复杂关系。以小珠山遗址为研究对象,我们通过分析野生和家养动物在广鹿岛的出现及原因、人类获取动物资源方式转变与动物种群结构变化之间的内在关系,认为随着距今7000年前史前居民登陆广鹿岛,人类行为(狩猎和家畜饲养方式)对岛内动物种群造成深刻的影响,这种影响远非环境变迁所能解释。     

论自然环境对河洛地区史前文化发展的影响

自然环境是人类赖以生存的物质基础.人类社会的发展在一定程度上受自然地理环境的制约,同时气候条件也会对社会的发展产生较大影响.自然环境对人类文化形成与发展的制约作用,时代愈早表现得愈明显.河洛地区史前文化的形成与发展以及不同考古学文化生产和生活方式的异同,与自然环境有着密切的关系.人类只有适应自然、按自然规律办事,才能够去改造自然,并在一定程度上战胜自然,从而使人类文化持续地向前发展.     

Assessing the impact of mid-to-late Holocene ENSO-driven climate change on toxic Macrozamia seed use: a 5000 year record from eastern Australia

Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data indicate that during the mid-to-late Holocene eastern Australia became significantly drier and experienced more intense and more frequent droughts. These changes, driven by the re-emergence and intensification of the ENSO climate phenomena, have been argued to have had considerable impact on Aboriginal societies, although there is uncertainty as to the exact nature, timing and magnitude of this impact. This paper analyses changes in the utilisation of toxic Macrozamia (cycad) seeds at seven archaeological sites in eastern Australia, identifying an extremely close correlation between the intensity of seed use and two proxy ENSO datasets, and a weaker correlation with a third ENSO dataset. Given the ecological attributes and resource potential of these plants, it is argued that these correlations are best explained as an intensified exploitation of a lower-ranked resource in direct response to the increased subsistence risks and lower productivity created by ENSO-driven climatic conditions. It also suggests that by 3000 BP the intensification of the ENSO system was driving changes in human subsistence behaviour on a sufficient scale to have considerable impact on other aspects of the wider cultural systems.     

Customary Legal Empowerment in Namibia and Ghana? Lessons about Access,Power and Participation in Non‐state Justice Systems

Since the early 2000s, legal development cooperation has displayed an increasing willingness to engage with customary justice systems. However, this engagement is frequently problematic. External actors often lack knowledge about the different versions of customary law, the negotiable nature of customary justice and the power differentials involved in defining customary law. In customary justice systems, norms are defined and negotiated in administrative structures and dispute‐settlement institutions. Inclusion in these fora is therefore of paramount importance to improve the position of vulnerable groups. To illustrate the point, this article analyses two case studies of customary justice reform, respectively focusing on gender dimensions in northern Namibia and land management in Ghana. These case studies demonstrate that when programming ignores issues of power and empowerment, it will not have the hoped‐for positive impact on vulnerable groups.     

The influence of poorly interconnected fault zone flow paths on spring geochemistry

Thermal springs commonly occur along faults because of the enhanced vertical permeability afforded by fracture zones. Field and laboratory studies of fault zone materials document substantial heterogeneities in fracture permeabilities. Modeling and field studies of springs suggest that spatial variations in permeability strongly influence spring locations, discharge rates and temperatures. The impact of heterogeneous permeability on spring geochemistry, however, is poorly documented. We present stable isotope and water chemistry data from a series of closely spaced thermal springs associated with the Hayward Fault, California. We suggest that substantial spatial variations observed in δ¹⁸O and chloride values reflect subsurface fluid transport through a poorly connected fracture network in which mixing of subsurface waters remains limited. Our measurements provide insight into the effect of fracture zone heterogeneities on spring geochemistry, offer an additional tool to intuit the nature of tectonically induced changes in fault zone plumbing, and highlight the need to consider local variations when characterizing fracture zone fluid geochemistry from spring systems with multiple discharge sites.     

Would North American Paleoindians have Noticed Younger Dryas Age Climate Changes?

Paleoindian groups occupied North America throughout the Younger Dryas Chronozone. It is often assumed that cooling temperatures during this interval, and the impact these would have had on biotic communities, posed significant adaptive challenges to those groups. That assessment of the nature, severity and abruptness of Younger Dryas changes is largely based on ice core records from the Greenland ice sheet where changes were indeed dramatic. This paper reviews climatic and environmental records from this time period in continental North America. We conclude that, on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains, conditions were in reality less extreme. It therefore follows that conditions during the Younger Dryas interval may not have measurably added to the challenge routinely faced by Paleoindian groups who, during this interval, successfully (and perhaps rapidly) dispersed across the diverse habitats of Late Glacial North America.     

Neither a Discipline nor a Colony: Renaissance and Re-imagination in Economic History

After years in the wilderness, economic history is becoming fashionable once more. Intellectual shifts by its parent disciplines of history and economics, the failed experiment of economic history as a separate discipline, and the impact of major economic events have conspired to produce a renaissance in the field of study in the last decade and a half. We explain these changes and show that economic history derives its main strength from its role as an interdisciplinary research field that draws upon and integrates with its closest disciplines. We analyse the nature and recent progress of economic history in Australia and offer a prospective for its future role.     

A MANAGERIAL MODEL OF THE EFFECT OF PRODUCT MARKET STRUCTURE ON FIRM LOCATION*

ABSTRACT. This paper develops a model of firm location choice based on managerial theory of discretionary behavior. Specifically, it is assumed that the management of the firm maximizes a utility function which incorporates profits and location-specific amenities. As the firm moves from one prospective location to another, it faces a profit-amenity constraint imposed by market conditions. The optimal location decision is derived by maximizing the utility function subject to this market-imposed constraint. After examining the properties of the optimal solution, the impact of various changes in product market structure (including changes from a contestible markets perspective) on the location decision is investigated. A major finding is that the impact of a change in market structure depends upon the nature of the structure change and upon the substitution and income effects induced by the structural change.     

On Biotic and Geomic Factors in the Formation of the Natural Enviornment

The author, a landscape scientist, defends the view that inert nature, which he calls geoma, exerts a far more powerful impact on the formation of the natural environment than living nature, or the biota. In his view the total environment is shaped by biotic modification of the basic geomic environment. Most biotic modifications are unstable and reversible and last only as long as the biological plant and animal community that produces them. However, some biotic modifications are irreversible and leave a trace even after the disappearance of the biocenosis. Both reversible modifications (microclimate, snow cover, runoff, etc) and irreversible changes (rock weathering, the formation of hardpan, some soil elements) are discussed with particular reference to the impact of a forest community on the geomic environment.     

Film policy under globalization: the case of Mexico

The changing economic and technological conditions often referred to as ‘globalization’ have had a deep impact on the very nature of the state, and thus on the aims, objectives and implementation of cultural policy, including film policy. In this paper, I discuss the main changes in film policy there have been in Mexico, comparing the time when the welfare state regarded cinema as crucial to the construction of national identity, and actively supported national cinema at the production, distribution and exhibition levels (about 1920–1980), and the recent onset of neoliberal policies, during which the industry was privatized and globalized. I argue that the result has been a transformation of film production, from the properly ‘national’ cinema it was during the welfare state – that is, having a role in nation building, democratization processes and being an important part of the public sphere – into a kind of genre, catering to a very small niche audience both domestically and internationally. However, exhibition and digital distribution have been strengthened, perhaps pointing towards a more meaningful post-national cinema.     

Russia and China: converging responses to globalization

This article compares the impact of globalization on the political systems and political economy of Russia and China since the beginning of their respective reform periods. Overall, it argues that both should now be viewed within the paradigm of ‘developmental states’. The article first presents some comparative economic statistics on the changes that have taken place. Second, it looks at the converging attitudes of the two regimes towards industrial restructuring and privatization, highlighting the continued role that they both reserve for state direction. This includes an orientation towards national industrial champions. Third, the evolution of policies of both states towards guided democratization are discussed leading to an assessment of the importance of nationalism in their responses to globalization, particularly in the recent doctrine of ‘sovereign democracy’ of Putin's United Russia party. Finally, the article argues that a greater wariness towards western recipes for political and economic development will frame the efforts of both states to construct a more cooperative bilateral relationship.     

THE PROBABILITY OF THE IMPROBABLE: SOCIETY–NATURE COEVOLUTION

This article aims to show how evolutionary theory, social‐metabolism and sociological systems theory can be utilized to develop a concept of society–nature coevolution. The article begins with a conception of industrialization as a socio‐metabolic transition, that is, a major transformation in the energetic and consequently material basis of society. This transition to industrial metabolism was essential for the emergence and maintenance of industrial societies and is at the same time the main cause of global environmental change. The article proceeds by asking what the notion of society–nature coevolution can potentially contribute to understanding environmental sustainability problems. An elaborated concept of coevolution hinges on (1) a more precise and sociologically more meaningful concept of cultural evolution and (2) understanding how cultural evolution is linked to the environment. Next I briefly outline major lines of thought and controversies surrounding the idea of cultural evolution. The direction proposed here commences with an abstract version of Darwinian evolution, which is then re‐specified for social systems, understood as communication systems, as developed by Luhmann. The re‐specification implies three important changes in the theoretical outline of cultural evolution: first, shifting from the human population to the communication system as the unit of cultural evolution and to single communications as the unit of cultural variation; second, shifting from transmission or inheritance to reproduction as necessary condition for evolution; and third, shifting from purely internal (communicative) forces of selection towards including also environmental selection. Adopting elements from the work of Hägerstrand and Boserup, the primary environmental selective force in cultural evolution is conceptualized as the historically variable constraints in human time–space occupation. In the conclusions I tie the argument back to its beginning, by arguing that the most radical changes in human time–space occupation have been enabled by major socio‐metabolic transitions in the energy system.