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The Resource The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment, David Zierler

The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment, David Zierler

Creator
Summary
As the public increasingly questioned the war in Vietnam, a group of American scientists deeply concerned about the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides started a movement to ban what they called "ecocide." David Zierler traces this movement, starting in the 1940s, when weed killer was developed in agricultural circles and theories of counterinsurgency were studied by the military. These two trajectories converged in 1961 with Operation Ranch Hand, the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese mission to use herbicidal warfare as a means to defoliate large areas of enemy territory. Driven by the idea that humans were altering the world's ecology for the worse, a group of scientists relentlessly challenged Pentagon assurances of safety, citing possible long-term environmental and health effects. It wasn't until 1970 that the scientists gained access to sprayed zones confirming that a major ecological disaster had occurred. Their findings convinced the U.S. government to renounce first use of herbicides in future wars and, Zierler argues, fundamentally reoriented thinking about warfare and environmental security in the next forty years. Incorporating in-depth interviews, unique archival collections, and recently declassified national security documents, Zierler examines the movement to ban ecocide as it played out amid the rise of a global environmental consciousness and growing disillusionment with the containment policies of the cold war era. -- Publisher's website
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 245 pages)
Contents
  • Introduction
  • An etymology of ecocide
  • Agent Orange before Vietnam
  • Gadgets and guerrillas
  • Herbicidal warfare
  • Science, ethics, and dissent
  • Surveying a catastrope
  • Against protocol
  • Conclusion: ecocide and international security
Isbn
9780820339788
Instance
Label
The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment
Title
The invention of ecocide
Title remainder
agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment
Statement of responsibility
David Zierler
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
As the public increasingly questioned the war in Vietnam, a group of American scientists deeply concerned about the use of Agent Orange and other herbicides started a movement to ban what they called "ecocide." David Zierler traces this movement, starting in the 1940s, when weed killer was developed in agricultural circles and theories of counterinsurgency were studied by the military. These two trajectories converged in 1961 with Operation Ranch Hand, the joint U.S.-South Vietnamese mission to use herbicidal warfare as a means to defoliate large areas of enemy territory. Driven by the idea that humans were altering the world's ecology for the worse, a group of scientists relentlessly challenged Pentagon assurances of safety, citing possible long-term environmental and health effects. It wasn't until 1970 that the scientists gained access to sprayed zones confirming that a major ecological disaster had occurred. Their findings convinced the U.S. government to renounce first use of herbicides in future wars and, Zierler argues, fundamentally reoriented thinking about warfare and environmental security in the next forty years. Incorporating in-depth interviews, unique archival collections, and recently declassified national security documents, Zierler examines the movement to ban ecocide as it played out amid the rise of a global environmental consciousness and growing disillusionment with the containment policies of the cold war era. -- Publisher's website
Member of
Cataloging source
N$T
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1979-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Zierler, David
Dewey number
576.8/4
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
Language note
English
LC call number
GF75
LC item number
.Z54 2011eb
Literary form
non fiction
NAL call number
GF75
NAL item number
.Z54 2011
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Nature
  • Extinction (Biology)
  • Agent Orange
  • Agent Orange
  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • SCIENCE
  • HISTORY
  • Agent Orange
  • Agent Orange
  • Chemical warfare
  • Extinction (Biology)
  • Nature
Label
The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment, David Zierler
Instantiates
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-232) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction -- An etymology of ecocide -- Agent Orange before Vietnam -- Gadgets and guerrillas -- Herbicidal warfare -- Science, ethics, and dissent -- Surveying a catastrope -- Against protocol -- Conclusion: ecocide and international security
Control code
724045797
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 245 pages)
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780820339788
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 22573/ctt3q522v
  • 4ad2e936-4c47-441a-9a83-abf3b2805a1f
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)724045797
Label
The invention of ecocide : agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment, David Zierler
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-232) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction -- An etymology of ecocide -- Agent Orange before Vietnam -- Gadgets and guerrillas -- Herbicidal warfare -- Science, ethics, and dissent -- Surveying a catastrope -- Against protocol -- Conclusion: ecocide and international security
Control code
724045797
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 245 pages)
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780820339788
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
  • 22573/ctt3q522v
  • 4ad2e936-4c47-441a-9a83-abf3b2805a1f
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)724045797

Subject

Member of

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      38.710138 -90.311107

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