Nationhood and National Parks: Comparative Examples from the Post-Imperial Experience
Author(s)
Carruthers, Jane
Abstract
In terms of international legislation as well as in popular consciousness, a national park was, for more than half a century, the most advanced level of protected area; it encapsulated all that was “good” and “unselfish” in nature conservation. As is well-documented, the first national parks in the United States crystallized the romantic settler frontier experience which had brought within the fold of a self-conscious new nation some of the earth’s most spectacular and monumental scenery. Many works have emphasized the ecological innovation of national parks, but recent research has involved closer and critical scrutiny of its features as a “social invention”.
