Conservation's Roots: Managing for Sustainability in Preindustrial Europe, 1100-1800

The ideas and practices that comprise “conservation” are often assumed to have arisen within the last two centuries. However, while conservation today has been undeniably entwined with processes of modernity, its historical roots run much deeper. Considering a variety of preindustrial European settings, this book assembles case studies from the medieval and early modern eras to demonstrate that practices like those advocated by modern conservationists were far more widespread and intentional than is widely acknowledged. As the first book-length treatment of the subject, Conservation’s Roots provides broad social, historical, and environmental context for the emergence of the nineteenth-century conservation movement.

Abigail P. Dowling is an Assistant Professor of History at Mercer University.

Richard Keyser is a Senior Lecturer in the Legal Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.