General Overview
There are several texts that provide us with the general introductions and insights that build the field of blue history. Grounded in the broader field of blue humanities, Mentz 2024 presents important key concepts of blue humanities. He offers a broader analytical scope that examines the human relationships with not only the ocean but also with various bodies of water. Abulafia 2019 contributes to this discourse by presenting a comprehensive historical narrative of human relationships with the oceans that emphasizes how maritime trade, exploration, and colonial expansion have influenced society development across the globe. While the book edited by Braverman and Johnson 2020 delves into legalities and governance surrounding oceans on a global scale throughout history. Drawing the attention to the United States, Roberts 2021 provides an insightful writing which reimagines the U.S. as an archipelagic nation by exploring its extensive water boundaries and the diverse histories and representations shaped by these borders. Focusing specifically on North America, Melosi 2022 details water’s multifaceted roles across North America, exploring cultural, economic, and environmental themes by compiling an extensive number of scholarships. Similarly, Pisani 2000 also explores the role of water in American history specifically east of the 100th Meridian.
Shifting to the west of the 100th Meridian, Holleman 2018 offers an insightful account of the Dust Bowls, framing it as a significant historical and ecological event in the history of U.S. that helps to understand the contemporary socio-ecological problems, such as climate change and soil erosion, which stemmed from historical patterns of exploitation. Worster 1992 narrates the history of water management in the American West, arguing that large-scale irrigation projects influenced the region’s development by transforming arid regions into productive agricultural lands, giving to the technological elite. While Monaco 2024 examines the role of water from a literary studies perspective, especially in the Anthropocene. Using literary works, he argues for a reconnection between humans and nonhumans, by examining the connections between natural ecosystems and humanity using water as a central focus. These works offer diverse views on water and its connection to human activities and ecological events, which often become one of the driving forces behind climate change. This leads to McNeill and Engelke 2014‘s introduction to the various elements and drivers of climate change and environmental impacts of the global events in the past century.
Books
In this extensive work, Abulafia examines the relationship between humanity and the world’s oceans, primarily the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic. Covering a vast timeline from 176,000 BC to AD 2000, the book illustrates how the sea has facilitated connections between human societies, shaping cultures and civilizations through interactions, migrations, and trade over the millennia.
A compilation of contributions that examine the legal complexities of global oceans, such as how governance and law interact with ecological, technological, and geopolitical issues in oceanic spaces. The book does so by addressing how existing legal frameworks are often not good enough while asking for new approaches toward ocean governance that fully reflect the unique character of the ocean.
Holleman critiques existing narratives that simplify the causes and consequences of the Dust Bowl. Instead, she suggests a more integrated approach that would consider the roles of imperialism, colonialism, and systemic inequalities in influencing environmental crises.
Since 1945, human impact on Earth’s systems has accelerated rapidly, a phenomenon known as the “Great Acceleration.” While this rapid change may slow down due to resource limits, human influence on the planet will likely continue for a long time, influencing the future in unpredictable ways. Drawing on environmental history, the book touches on a range of topics that drive changes in the Anthropocene, such as energy and population, climate and biodiversity, cities and the economy, and the Cold War and the rise of environmentalism.
This book compiles extensive research to explore various “episodes” of water history across North America. Building on urban environmental history, blue humanities, and envirotech approaches, the book explores various water-related topics, including ancient waterways, Indigenous irrigation systems, urban water supply, and environmental challenges.
This book provides valuable insights by exploring the way seas, oceans, rivers, and other waters significantly contribute to being cultural and historical reference points in studying humanity, blending literature, philosophy, and maritime histories across the globe. Using figures like seafarers, sailors and mermaids, the book draws the connections between humans and water, while introducing novel ways of viewing and writing about bodies of water. This book is a good entryway for people who would like to venture into the field of blue humanities.
The first portion of the book examines the social, political, and economic effects of two opposing water-related events: flooding and drought and scarcity. The second half of the book touches on wetlands and sea waters, which emphasises their importance in environmental narratives, especially in the context of colonialism and climate change.
Roberts uses the concept of “archipelagos” and “borderwaters” to describe the watery boundaries between nations. He challenges the traditional geographical and cultural narratives that view the United States as a continental nation. Instead, he contends that the U.S. claims more water space than land, and argues that the country should be conceptualized as an archipelagic nation which shares intimate historical and cultural connections with other archipelagic territories.
In this book, Worster traces the evolution of the “hydraulic society,” exploring how the American West’s economy became dependent on water manipulation, making comparisons to water-controlling empires in history. Worster examines how these massive-scale projects created a coercive, hierarchical system, where government and corporate with aligned interests maintain power, which in turns undermines the prospect of universal access to water.
Articles
Bringing the focus to the east of 100th Meridian, Pisani argues that the challenges of water management in the humid eastern United States are as significant as those faced in the arid West. He foregrounds the issues surrounding water management such as the fragmented local control over waterways, and the reclamation of wetlands in the U.S. that prioritized economic gain for large landowners.