Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries

Economic history: agriculture, natural resources, and environment (JEL N5) covers the history of primary sectors.

Scope

It includes agricultural history, land and resources, and environmental history of economies.

Sub-topics

• General, International, or Comparative
• U.S. • Canada: Pre-1913
• U.S. • Canada: 1913–
• Europe: Pre-1913
• Europe: 1913–
• Asia including Middle East
• Latin America • Caribbean
• Africa • Oceania

Core questions

• How did agriculture and resource use evolve historically?
• What was the role of land?
• How did economies use the environment over time?

Key concepts

• Agricultural history
• Land tenure history
• Resource history
• Environmental history
• Enclosure

Frequently asked questions

Why study agricultural history?

Because agriculture dominated pre-industrial economies, and its transformation underpinned growth and industrialization.