13 Facts About Environmental determinism

Environmental determinism is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular development trajectories.

Environmental determinism compared the color of black basalt in the northern Najd to the skin color of the peoples living there to support his theory.

Environmental determinism thereby challenged Hamitic theories of race that held that the sons of Ham were cursed with black skin.

Environmental determinism argued that soil, climate, and food determined whether people were nomadic or sedentary, and what customs and ceremonies they held.

Environmental determinism has been widely criticized as a tool to legitimize colonialism, racism, and imperialism in Africa, The Americas, and Asia.

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Environmental determinism enabled geographers to scientifically justify the supremacy of white European races and the naturalness of imperialism.

Ellen Churchill Semple, a prominent environmental determinism scholar, applied her theories in a case study which focused on the Philippines, where she mapped civilization and wildness onto the topography of the islands.

Environmental determinism argues that Huntington undermined geography as a science by attributing all human activity to physical influences so that he might classify civilizations hierarchically – favoring those civilizations he considered best.

Environmental determinism was revived in the late-twentieth century as neo-environmental determinism, a new term coined by the social scientist and critic Andrew Sluyter.

Environmental determinism's theory cited the natural environment and raw materials a civilization was blessed with as factors for success, instead of popular century old claims of racial and cultural superiority.

Environmental determinism argues that the Europeans took advantage of their environment to build large and complex states complete with advanced technology and weapons.

Environmental determinism'storians have noted population densities seem to concentrate on coastlines and that states with large coasts benefit from higher average incomes compared to those in landlocked countries.

Climatic Environmental determinism, otherwise referred to as the equatorial paradox, is an aspect of economic geography.