The Cultivated Forest

"Modern understandings of forest ecology first emerged in the nineteenth century from forestry schools in Europe and North America. Until recently, Asia was sidelined in histories of wood and woodland. To bring Asia's own cultivation of forests into focus, this volume presents scholarship that considers the different roles that wood and woodlands have played in the histories of East and Southeast Asian regions, promising to transform how we understand the broader histories of Asia and the environment. Considering the types of woodlands found in Asia, from the tropical forests of Sumatra to the boreal forests of Manchuria, contributors explore the range of uses for these sites, the dynamics of wood dispute resolution, and the distinctive institutions that emerged from them. Chapter topics include perspectives on human woodland use and modification based on recent archaeological work; changes in the resolution of water and wood resource claims; and how ethnic minorities have claimed their identity as forest people as a way of protecting their lumber market position. By demonstration that across East and Southeast Asia forests were sites of exploitation, contestation, and ritual in Asia just as they were in Europe and America, this volume places them in conversation with world forest history"--