Dust Bowls Down Under: An Environmental History of Wind Erosion in the South-East of Australia, 1929–1945/46

Abstract

The thesis analyses the phenomenon of wind erosion in the three south-eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia in the period from roughly 1929 to 1945/46. Starting from the observation that a public communication about the menacing nature of such erosion occurred in the period from ca. 1930-1945, the thesis sets out to shed light in a general way on the fundamental dialectic of the interrelationship between humans and nature. The thesis follows a multi-level approach: It shows how the occurrence of wind erosion changed the daily routines of those living in the affected regions and how the physical experience of wind erosion resulted in scientific research as well as in cultural constructions on the phenomenon, most importantly that of an "ecological visison". These scientific and cultural concepts were in turn influential for how Australians responded to the perceived crisis, namely by passing soil conservation legislation.