Environmental History and Public History: Perspectives for (re)igniting the dialogue in Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Environmental History and Public History were institutionalized in the 1970s. However, the dialogue between the two still lacks a greater understanding by Brazilian historiography. In this article, I discuss the intricacies and consequences of this lack of systematization. I start assuming that historiographical analyses of Environmental History in Brazil lead to an overlap: although Public History is present as a practice within the works of environmental historians, it is still examined through the lenses of Social History and Oral History. Divided into three sections, the article first maps the dialogue between Public History and Environmental History. Then, it addresses how concerns inherent to Public History entered Brazilian environmental historiography. Finally, it investigates perspectives opened by the idea of Environmental History as a way of thinking, of Public History as a means of shared action and Oral History as a tool.