ENVIRONMENTALISM

in the social sciences, any theory that emphasizes the importance of environmental factors in the development of culture and society. The theory of environmental determinism states that the physical milieu of a people, including natural resources, climate, and geography, is the major determining factor in the formation of their culture. Determinism thereby rejects history and tradition, social and economic factors, and other aspects of culture as explanations of social development. Environmental possibilism, an opposing doctrine, suggests that habitat acts only to create possibilities from which people may choose. Contemporary environmentalists recognize that physical surroundings are only part of a total environment that includes social and economic factors, cultural tradition, and reciprocal influences between societies and their environment.