Rethinking the origins of global environmental politics: the contributions of Derwent Whittlesey and Hannah Arendt

Abstract

This article challenges the traditional narrative that situates the emergence of global environmental politics studies in the 1960s and 1970s. In order to do this, it examines two significant contributions to this field made before 1960, focusing specifically on the work of Derwent Whittlesey and Hannah Arendt. The main objective is to demonstrate that the roots of global environmental politics extend further back than commonly believed, thereby enriching our understanding of the field's intellectual history.

The approach of this research is based on Brian Schmidt's internal discourse method in International Relations, which emphasizes the importance of examining the intellectual and institutional influences on the development of a particular author's thought. The article adopts a historical-revisionist perspective, critically examining conventional disciplinary narratives and seeking to recover Whittlesey’s and Arendt’s contributions in their own particular contexts.

The article is divided into two main parts, each dedicated to one of the analysed authors. Each part is further subdivided into three sections: the first introduces the author's intellectual life, highlighting the relationship between their studies and environmental issues, and International Relations (IR); the second presents an analysis of the intellectual influences that shaped their thinking; and the third recovers their contributions to the field of global environmental politics.

Derwent Whittlesey (1890-1956) was a political geographer whose contributions with international perspective to the environment have been insufficiently recognised in IR. Whittlesey explored the complex relationship between the environment and humanity, demonstrating that warnings about the effects that international society was causing to its ecosystem already existed before the 1960s. His intellectual life began at the University of Chicago, where he initially studied History before developing an interest in Geography. His early works, such as "Some Significant Elements in the Commercial Geography of Chicago" (1921) and "Geographic Factors in Relations of the U.S. and Cuba" (1922), already showed an interest in how geographic factors influence economic development and international relations. A significant work that more closely aligns Whittlesey with political geography and international analyses is An Introduction to Economic Geography (1925), co-written with geographer Wellington D. Jones. This text was a response to the eruption of World War I and the new financial and trade needs of international society.

Whittlesey's thought was significantly influenced by Ellen C. Semple, a pioneer in Anglo-American geography who adapted Friedrich Ratzel's geopolitical methods to the American context. Semple's work on the connection between human geography and the geographic environment in the development of societies was fundamental to Whittlesey's work. Another important influence was Harlan H. Barrows, who contributed to the development of human and cultural geography with his concept of human ecology.

His contributions to the study of global environmental politics are manifold. His concept of Sequential Occupance, introduced in Sequent Occupance (1929), describes the process of transformation of natural resources in a specific geographic area or region over time. This term highlights how human settlements and their respective land use directly influence the environment, often leading to environmental degradation. In The Earth and the State (1939), Whittlesey delves into the relationship between physical geography and the political organization of states, analysing the influence of geographical characteristics on political structures. He also addresses the issue of borders, arguing that the growth of central authority impacts border regions and changes the relationship with the natural environment within the state.

Whittlesey's work is relevant to IR and particularly to the field of global environmental politics because it considers the behavior of states with respect to nature and the influence of civilizations on their territory. His perspective takes into account the relationship between humanity and its natural habitat, recognising that as society changes over time, the environment also suffers changes.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), on the other hand, was a key thinker and pioneer in environmental studies who linked the material and biological conditions of humanity with the political conditions of human freedom, directly contributing to environmental studies from an international perspective. Her intellectual life was marked by her experiences as a German-Jewish refugee and her education in philosophy and theology. Her work spans a wide range of topics, including totalitarianism, revolution, and the human condition. Although not primarily known for her environmental thought, Arendt's work contains important insights into the relationship between humanity and nature.

Arendt was influenced by a variety of thinkers, including Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, and Walter Benjamin. Her unique perspective on the human condition and its relationship to the natural world was shaped by her engagement with phenomenology, existentialism, and critical theory.

Arendt's contributions to environmental thought are most evident in The Human Condition (1958). In this book, she develops the concept of "earth alienation," which describes the growing detachment of humanity from its natural environment due to technological and scientific progress. This concept anticipates many of the concerns of modern environmentalism, including the dangers of environmental degradation and the need for a more sustainable relationship with nature. Moreover, Arendt also explores the idea of "worldlessness," which refers to the loss of a shared, stable world that can serve as a context for human action and meaning. This concept has implications for environmental thought, as it suggests that environmental degradation not only threatens our physical survival but also our ability to create and maintain a meaningful human world. Further, Arendt's critique of the modern emphasis on labour and consumption at the expense of political action and contemplation may also have relevance for environmental politics. She argues that this shift has led to a society focused on endless production and consumption, which has significant environmental consequences.

In conclusion, by examining the work of Derwent Whittlesey and Hannah Arendt, this article seeks to demonstrate that significant contributions to the field of global environmental politics were made before the 1960s. Whittlesey's work in political geography highlighted the complex interactions between human societies and their natural environments on a global scale, while Arendt's philosophical insights anticipated many of the concerns of modern environmentalism.

This historical-revisionist approach challenges us to reconsider the origins of global environmental politics and encourages a deeper engagement with the intellectual history of the field. It also opens up new avenues for research, suggesting that other thinkers and institutions may have made important contributions on the environment from an international perspective before 1960. This article thus not only contributes to a more accurate history of the field, in which neglected voices are recovered, but also aims to stimulate further research into the international environmental thought of other figures or institutions that may have contributed to the area before 1960.