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Labor and the Human Relationship with Nature: The Naturalization of Politics in the Work of Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert George Wells, and William Morris

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Abstract

Historically labor has been central to humaninteractions with the environment, yetenvironmentalists pay it scant attention. Indeed, they have been critical of those whoforeground labor in their politics, socialistsin particular. However, environmentalists havefound the nineteenth-century socialist WilliamMorris appealing despite the fact that he wroteextensively on labor. This paper considers theplace of labor in the relationship betweenhumanity and the natural world in the work ofMorris and two of his contemporaries, theeminent scientist Thomas Henry Huxley, and theFabian socialist Herbert George Wells. Isuggest that Morris's conception of labor hasmuch to recommend it to environmentalists whoare also interested in issues of socialjustice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in the History of Science & Technology, Tate Laboratory of Physics, University of Minnesota, USA

    Piers J. Hale

  2. Department of History, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, LA1 4YG, UK

    Piers J. Hale

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Hale, P.J. Labor and the Human Relationship with Nature: The Naturalization of Politics in the Work of Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert George Wells, and William Morris. Journal of the History of Biology 36, 249–284 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024486021318

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