Nature, business, and community in North Carolina's Green Swamp
By: Tycho de Boer.
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Gainesville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
ISBN-13: 9780813032481
Subjects: Forests and forestry -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Capitalism -- Environmental aspects -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Longleaf pine -- Economic aspects -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Land use -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Human ecology -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Community life -- North Carolina -- Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County) -- History; Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County, N.C.) -- Environmental conditions; Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County, N.C.) -- Economic conditions; Green Swamp (Brunswick County and Columbus County, N.C.) -- Social conditions
Description: "Over the last three centuries, the Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina has served as home to many communities and industries. It is also home to tremendous biodiversity and rare species, including the highest concentration of insectivorous plants in the world and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker." "The modern industrial incarnations of what have historically been two of the Lower Cape Fear's staple economic activities - forest industries and hog farming - have come under increased fire from environmentalist groups that decry the ongoing transformation of the area at the hands of large corporations. While communal values and practices at times mitigate the environmental and human ravages of capitalist economic development, the communities' cultural identities are nevertheless imagined, constructed, and maintained in ways that facilitate capitalist enterprise and direct the use and transformation of nature and community in accordance with the ideological premises of the capitalist worldview." "In this fascinating case study, Tycho de Boer highlights the complex relationship between the swamp, local inhabitants, and outside entrepreneurs as the community becomes aware of the competing goals of conservation and competition on the global market. Tracing the growth of agriculture and the turpentine and lumber industries from the mid-seventeenth century to the present, this work examines their impact, including the destruction of longleaf pine forests. In what at first appears to be counter-intuitive, this study also reveals how businesses in this region took a leading role in managing the environment. What emerges is an understanding of the uneasy balance between conservation and commerce."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.