Twenty years ago, Walter Johnson warned historians not to rely on a concept that let both user and audience alike feel better without doing better. The concept in question was agency. Down the metaphorical hall and many a literal one, environmental historians were also talking about agency. The proximity is not surprising: the new social history Johnson addressed in 2003 came up alongside environmental history.

中文翻译：

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论环境史的代理


二十年前，沃尔特·约翰逊 (Walter Johnson) 警告历史学家不要依赖这样一种概念，即让用户和观众都感觉更好而不做得更好。所讨论的概念是代理。在隐喻大厅和许多字面大厅中，环境历史学家也在谈论代理。这种接近并不奇怪：约翰逊在 2003 年谈到的新社会史与环境史同时出现。