The Gardens of their Dreams : Desertification and Culture in World History

Table of Contents

• The Gardens of Their Dreams 1
• About the Cover 2
• The Gardens of Their Dreams 3
• Fernwood Publishing Zed Books 3
• Contents 5
• Tables Figures and Maps 7
• Prologue 8
• Chapter 1 10
• Cultural Consequences of Desertification 10
• The Wastelands Refugees 10
• Social Costs of Environmental Destruction 11
• The Different Histories of Major and Minor Deserts 13
• The Deserts Wisdom for the Future 14
• Europe N. Africa Egypt Middle East South Asia East Asia mainly India mainly China 16
• Chapter 2 18
• The End of the Green Sahara 18
• Factors of Human Error 19
• The Burden of Hope 21
• Chapter 3 23
• Womens Place in the Desert 23
• Womens Ways of Production Dry Up 23
• Women in a Herdsmans World 28
• Womens Rights in Arid Lands 29
• Control of Womens One Remaining Power 33
• Costs of Devaluing Women 39
• Womens Value in the Desert Market Economy 41
• Problems of the Past or the Future 43
• Chapter 4 44
• The Devils Environment 44
• The Realm of Fear 45
• Dead Earth and Holy Heaven 48
• Anthropocentric Culture in an Inanimate World 51
• Salvation in the God-forsaken Lands 54
• Chapter 5 59
• Warlords and the Politics of Scarcity 59
• Virtues Appropriate to Scarcity 59
• The Receding Agricultural Frontier 62
• The Barbarians beyond the Walls 63
• Amazons and the Male Elite 67
• Rulers of the Arid Zone 72
• Chapter 6 77
• Tribes without Nature in Common 77
• The Community as Everything 77
• The True Social Contract 82
• The Day of Judgment 101
• The Common Earth in Other Lands 102
• Chapter 7 103
• Desertification and Culture in Ancient Egypt 103
• The Saharan Diaspora 104
• Women of Old Egypt 108
• The Nature Observatory 110
• Creation and Enslavement of Agricultural Egypt 115
• Erasure of Heretical Learning 121
• Chapter 8 126
• South Asias Desert and Forest Heritage 126
• The Conquerors Women 130
• The Submersion of Dravidian Pakistan 135
• The Aryan Waves 139
• Resurgence of Aboriginal Religion 145
• Hindustans Shrinking Domain 148
• South Asian Ecology in the Age of Development 157
• Chapter 9 167
• The Impact of Desiccation on China 167
• Chinas Heritage of Warlord Rulers 167
• The Desert at the Barbarians Backs 175
• The Barbarians Answers to Poverty 178
• The Warlords Women 181
• Village Chinas Age of the Goddess 186
• Partnership and Dominator Forms of Chinese Religion 190
• Modern Chinas Assault on the Desert 200
• Chapter 10 211
• Locusts and Desert Saints in North Africa 211
• Moroccos Migrants from the Sahara 211
• The Ancient Economy of North Africa 215
• Romes Breadbasket 217
• The Island of Rebels 220
• Political Evolution of Islamic North Africa 225
• Possible Diversification of the Desert Economy 236
• Chapter 11 241
• Ancient Europes Encounters with Desert Civilizations 241
• Desert Influence from Two Directions 241
• The Backdrop of Old Europe 242
• The Advancing Steppe and Its People 245
• Indo-European Culture 251
• The Forced Marriage of Gods and Goddesses in Greece 254
• The Mediterraneans Great Military Empires 263
• Chapter 12 280
• The Age of Desert Civilization in Europe 280
• Climatic Factors in the Great Migrations 280
• The Volkerwanderung 281
• The Near Eastern Cultural Conquest of Europe 285
• Europes Women in a Desert Civilization 297
• Chapter 13 311
• From the Book of Desert Wisdom to the Book of Nature 311
• Fruitful Dilemmas of Medieval Christian Philosophy 311
• The Recollection of Classical Thought 313
• The Rebirth of Natural Science 316
• The Crisis of Near Eastern-Style Authority 319
• The Learning Economy 323
• Chapter 14 331
• The Dominator Backlash in Modern Europe 331
• The Resurgence of Aryan Identity 332
• The Master Race 337
• Chapter 15 340
• The Possible Ecological Age 340
• Story 1 Natures Dot Matrix in the American Desert 343
• Story 2 Mama Ndolos Women 345
• Bibliography 346
• Index 358