Ecological Consciousness Into Western History: The Research On Western History By Donald Worster

Western history is the traditional and important part in American history researchsystem. Since Turner created western historiography at the end of nineteenth Century,the scholars have been improving and developing the study of western history. But itdidn’t form a new western historiography with revisionism until the1980s. Donaldhaving dual identity of Environmental historian and new Western historians with asolid academic research, promoted the transformation of Western history and the birthof the new western historiography, and enhanced the association betweenenvironmental history and the western history.In this paper, we will carding and analyze Donald’s research about Americanwestern history, and then we can conclude the characteristics and value of Worsterhistorical study. In this way it will be clear to find the skeleton development andrelationship between American west history and environmental history.This thesis consists of six parts, and the content is listed as following:The introduction part mainly discusses the research status on the history ofWorcester Worsted’s life, academic background, social background and the domesticand foreign scholars. In view of the domestic and foreign scholars have not madesystematic research of Worcester western historiography, the author hopes to furtherimprove the study of Western history of Wooster.From the macroscopic aspect, the first chapter discusses about capitalism’scritique of natural view. This chapter from the theory with practice discusses theinfluence of western capitalist nature on the west environment and society. In addition,the author takes Marx’s nature view and the Frankfurt school nature view as the frameof reference, and tries to conclude all the views of critical natural view on capitalism.Finally, the author concludes a number of characteristics of Welt’s nature view.The second chapter discusses how to borrow from John Wesley Powell, WalterPrescott Webb, Carle Augurs G and Weitev whose theories are about drought, waterconservancy and social structure, which build a Water Conservancy Society theorybasing on the America western natural and social interaction relationship. Based onthis, this chapter analyzes how did the water conservancy society and California modern water conservancy society come into being and develop. This chapter alsoaims at giving a specific interpretation on natural view on capitalism.In the third chapter, taking the pattern of western agricultural production and the"ecological agriculture" which generated by as the clue, we talk about the westerncapitalism of agriculture and ecological disaster and the guide of social powerstructure. This chapter is also the representation what Worster specifically criticizesthe nature view of capitalism.The fourth chapter, the author tries to sum up the characteristics of Worster studyof the western history, and points out the research value and deficiency, and cardingsome characteristics of the new western history from the historical research of wastand finally draws the outline of the western environmental history from the macroaspect.In the conclusion part, the author tries to make analysis and summarization aboutthe structure and contents, by that the main arguments were refined again and theauthor‘s suggestions were proposed.