|
|
Natural history |
Human history |
Integrated history for
the anthropocene? |
| |
|
Domain |
Nature |
Society |
Environment (social-ecological interactions) |
|
Time scale |
Longer time scales |
Shorter time scales |
Integrated time scales |
|
Focus |
Causality |
Human
agency
Contingency |
Causality and agency interacting, envelope of
contingency |
|
Goal |
Interpreting the past from the present |
Interpreting the present from the past |
Integrating past, present, and future |
| |
Looking for origins in terms of natural
laws |
Looking for origins in terms of causal
chains |
Looking for emergence (in the systems sense) to understand
the present and generate a better future |
|
Process |
Description, observation, and experimentation lead to
explanation |
Description, critique, analysis, and interpretation lead to
insight and understanding |
Description is the basis for modeling and understanding
dynamics of the social-ecological system |
|
Tools |
Natural science discourse |
Narrative and statistical discourse |
Multiple discourses |
| |
Palaeoenvironmental sciences, prehistoric
archaeology |
Classical and historic archaeology and documentary
history |
Integrated history of people and the
environment |
| |
Conceptual frameworks |
Case studies as unique trajectories |
Use case studies embedded within conceptual frameworks to
generalize |