Our relationship with water is one of the major themes in environmental history. Water is both a crucial resource and a threat to human society. This is particularly true of the fertile, densely populated coastal and river plains, where water can bring life but also death in the form of devastating floods. In this Special Issue, we take an institutional approach to water history. How can the history of humans and water be framed in the larger environmental history debate, and why do we focus on institutions? In the 1990s, environmental historians were concerned with dispelling the dichotomy between culture and nature. In Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, William Cronon wrote that nature is a profoundly human construction. One of his main questions was, what would a more historically and culturally-minded way of understanding nature look like? Among the studies on water, the most important response to this question was perhaps to be found in Richard White’s The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River. White argued that nature is simultaneously a cultural construction and something beyond human agency. Canals and dams form part of the Columbia River, meaning that there is no longer a border between humans and nature. The river is altered by human action, but it retains its natural qualities.1 Some historians call such an object a ‘hybrid’.

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社论介绍：前现代水资源管理制度的全球比较

我们与水的关系是环境史上的主要主题之一。水既是重要的资源，也是对人类社会的威胁。肥沃、人口稠密的沿海和河流平原尤其如此，在那里，水可以带来生命，但也可以带来毁灭性洪水的形式的死亡。在本期特刊中，我们对水资源历史采取了制度化的方法。如何在更大的环境历史辩论中构建人类和水的历史，为什么我们关注制度？在 1990 年代，环境历史学家关注消除文化与自然之间的二分法。在 Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature 中，威廉·克罗农 (William Cronon) 写道，自然是一种深刻的人类建构。他的主要问题之一是，更具有历史和文化意识的理解自然的方式会是什么样的？在对水的研究中，对这个问题最重要的回答可能是理查德怀特的有机机器：哥伦比亚河的改造。怀特认为，自然既是一种文化建构，又是一种超越人类能动性的东西。运河和水坝构成了哥伦比亚河的一部分，这意味着人类与自然之间不再有边界。这条河流因人类活动而改变，但它保留了其自然特性。1 一些历史学家称这样的物体为“混合体”。怀特认为，自然既是一种文化建构，又是一种超越人类能动性的东西。运河和水坝构成了哥伦比亚河的一部分，这意味着人类与自然之间不再有边界。河流被人类活动改变了，但它保留了它的自然特性。1 一些历史学家称这样的物体为“混合体”。怀特认为，自然既是一种文化结构，又是一种超越人类能动性的东西。运河和水坝构成了哥伦比亚河的一部分，这意味着人类与自然之间不再有边界。河流被人类活动改变了，但它保留了它的自然特性。1 一些历史学家称这样的物体为“混合体”。