In this section, you will learn about the various modes of and factors leading to social and environmental change in the United States. This page will primarily explore the larger social, structural, and environmental forces that caused drastic ecological and social change in New England from precolonial times until the present. It’s important to understand the historical context of social and environmental change in order to gain a deeper understanding of what sustainability and resilience mean, as well as to develop a better-informed pathway towards a sustainable future. The Dauvergne case study, also found in this section, goes more in depth about the history of one socio-environmental issue that continues today — refrigeration.
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This concept map draws on work by Cronon (2003), Blackhawk (2006), Walker and Salt (2006), Lee et al. (2012), Matson et al. (2016), Howarth (2011), Howarth (2012), Neumann (2009), Bassett (2005), Rosenbaum (2005), Dauvergne (2008), and Mainelli and Harris (2014) to exemplify the simultaneous, cyclical, and adaptive processes of social and environmental change in New England beginning in precolonial times, through colonization, and ultimately into our modern neoliberal era, as depicted in the right-hand orange rectangle.
On the left side of this concept map, you can see how various social, biological, and environmental changes brought on by the transition from the precolonial to colonial period, crossed thresholds, spurred ongoing cycles of adaptation (right side), and transformed a resilient system into an un-resilient regime. The map also highlights how differences in power, social norms, and world views – shown in the blue and red call-outs – influence socio-environmental values and processes, and therefore play a large role in shaping the outcomes of large-scale changes.
With these themes in mind, it is clear that the opposing worldviews and values of the Native American communities in New England and the English colonizers were in direct conflict. Following their contact, and ultimate conquest, the English imposed drastic changes onto the pre-existing social organizations, landscapes, and ecosystems, forcing multiscalar regime changes that have produced un-resilient outcomes to this day. Both the longevity of previous and current systems, as well as the rapid regime shift from precolonial to colonial, are due to the positive and negative feedbacks that fuel or reinforce changes, as depicted above. It’s important to note that while this map focuses primarily on historical socio-environmental changes in New England, these patterns and systems hold across spatial and temporal scales and continue to shape human-environment systems today.