Problemas de métodos en la historia ambiental de América Latina

Abstract

A literature review of Latin American environmental history shows that. on one hand. environmental history challenges traditional spatial scale of historical research, and in particular Nation-State and its administrative units. Instead. it refers to biogeographical regions. hydrological basins, agro-ecosystems, arcas of plague diffusion, among others. On the other hand, it al so challenges the type of sources History long used and the kind of questions historians usually make. The essay proposes a taxonomy: written and visual sources, oral sources. evidence from fieldwork, and it quotes instructive examples of each kind. The aim of this discussion is to contribute to the construction of a specific methodology for environmental history and to the on-going debate about the epistemology and methodology of this field.