description Piers Blaikie Overview
Piers Blaikie is a British geographer whose work helped establish political ecology as a field linking environmental change to political and economic structures. His book The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries (1985) argued that land degradation cannot be understood solely as a technical or local problem. He also co-authored Land Degradation and Society, a major study of how social relations, poverty, and policy shape environmental outcomes.
help Piers Blaikie FAQ
What argument did Piers Blaikie make about soil erosion?
Blaikie argued that soil erosion cannot be explained solely by local farming practices or physical geography. In The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries, published in 1985, he connected land degradation to poverty, unequal access to resources, and wider political and economic pressures.
Why is Piers Blaikie important to political ecology?
Blaikie helped establish political ecology as a field that studies environmental problems through questions of power, ownership, and inequality. His work challenged explanations that blamed environmental degradation primarily on poor rural communities.
What is the difference between Blaikie's soil erosion book and Land Degradation and Society?
The 1985 soil erosion book developed Blaikie's political-economic explanation of degradation in developing countries. Land Degradation and Society, written with Harold Brookfield and published in 1987, expanded that framework through the concept of regional political ecology.
Did Piers Blaikie also study Nepal and the Himalayas?
Yes. Blaikie co-authored Nepal in Crisis with John Cameron and David Seddon, examining poverty and development in Nepal rather than treating Himalayan environmental change as a purely natural process.
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