Beyond the Organic Machine? New Approaches in River Historiography

Abstract

This article considers the growth of river historiography in environmental history and the influence of foundational works, with a particular focus on Richard White’s The Organic Machine. While environmental historians have increasingly rejected oppositional ontologies and engaged hybrid approaches in their studies of rivers, they have also moved beyond White’s specific concerns and developed a range of new substantive areas of focus while exploring alternative conceptualizations of human relations with rivers. Studies of international rivers have followed flows across borders, seeking to understand them both as transnational subjects and as dynamic geopolitical problems. Urban river historians have posed new questions about the co-evolution of cities and rivers and emphasized the importance of rivers in the making of urban space and of cities in the restructuring of watersheds. Future work must continue to develop comparisons and theoretical engagements and address emerging planetary narratives.