Note: Intro -- Foreword I -- Foreword II -- Contents -- Authors and Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Introduction -- Part I The Conceptual Repertoire -- 1 The Archipelago of Social Ecology and the Island of the Vienna School -- Abstract -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Academic Traditions Contributing to the Emergence of Social Ecology -- 1.3 Society's Biophysical Structures -- 1.3.1 Energy and Society -- 1.3.2 Land Use and Food Production -- 1.3.3 Social MetabolismEcological EconomicsIndustrial Ecology -- 1.4 Identifying Environmental Impacts of Human Activities -- 1.5 Biohistory and Society-Nature Coevolution -- 1.6 Regulation, Governance and Sustainability Transitions -- 1.7 The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Vienna Social Ecology School -- References -- 2 Core Concepts and Heuristics -- Abstract -- 2.1 The Basic Socioecological Model Revisited -- 2.1.1 Why Talk About Culture? A Digression into Evolutionary Theory -- 2.1.2 Society as a Hybrid System -- 2.2 Social Metabolism: Heuristic Definitions and Assumptions -- 2.2.1 Sociometabolic Stocks and Flows and the Key Role of Population and Territory -- 2.2.2 On the Relevance of Animal Livestock for Social Metabolism -- 2.2.3 Artifacts, Infrastructure and Material Flows 'from Cradle to Grave' -- 2.3 Colonizing Interventions in Natural Systems and Processes -- 2.3.1 System Theoretical Considerations -- 2.3.2 How Can the Concept of Colonizing Interventions Be Made Operational? -- 2.3.3 Which Intellectual Services Does the Colonization Concept Provide in Contrast to Other Conceptualizations? -- 2.4 Conclusions -- References -- 3 Transitions in Sociometabolic Regimes Throughout Human History -- Abstract -- 3.1 Sociometabolic Regimes and Transitions -- 3.2 Foraging Societies and the Regime of Hunter-Gatherers. , 3.2.1 The Uncontrolled Solar Energy System of Foraging Societies -- 3.2.2 The Metabolic Profile of Hunter-Gatherers -- 3.2.3 Environmental Impacts and Sustainability -- 3.3 Agrarian Societies and the Agrarian Sociometabolic Regime -- 3.3.1 The Controlled Solar Energy System of the Agrarian Regime -- 3.3.2 Development Paths and Subtypes of the Agrarian Regime -- 3.3.2.1 Shifting Cultivation -- 3.3.2.2 Temperate Mixed Farming -- 3.3.2.3 Tropical Labor-Intensive Farming -- 3.3.2.4 Pastoralism -- 3.3.3 Material Use in the Agrarian Regime -- 3.3.4 Sustainability and the Agrarian Metabolic Regime -- 3.4 The Industrial Sociometabolic Regime -- 3.4.1 The Energy System of Industrial Societies -- 3.4.2 The Emergence of the Industrial Regime in the 19th and 20th Centuries -- 3.4.3 The Metabolic Profiles of Industrial Societies -- 3.4.4 What Drives Material and Energy Use in the Industrial Regime? -- 3.4.5 Sustainability of the Industrial Regime -- 3.4.6 The Next Transition: The Metabolism of the 'Postindustrial' Society? -- References -- 4 Beyond Inputs and Outputs: Opening the Black-Box of Land-Use Intensity -- Abstract -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 A Sketch of the History of Research on Land-Use Change -- 4.3 Intricacies of the Analysis of Land-Use Intensity -- 4.4 Definitions of Land-Use Intensity -- 4.5 The Contributions of Social Ecology to Land-Use Intensity Research -- 4.5.1 The Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production -- 4.5.2 Beyond HANPP: Human-Induced Reduction of Carbon Stocks in Vegetation -- 4.6 A Socioecological Approach to Land-Use Intensity -- 4.7 Conclusions -- References -- 5 'Society Can't Move So Much As a Chair!'-Systems, Structures and Actors in Social Ecology -- Abstract -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 The Role of Systems Theory and Agency in Social Ecology -- 5.2.1 Society as a Hybrid -- 5.2.2 The Role of Structures. , 5.3 Systems and Actors as Cross-Cutting Issues in Social Ecology: Examples of Strands of Research -- 5.3.1 Transdisciplinarity -- 5.3.2 Formalized Models -- 5.3.3 Local Studies -- 5.3.4 Environmental History and LTSER -- 5.4 Synthesis: The Interplay Among Actors, Structures and Systems and the Quest for Sustainability -- References -- 6 Why Legacies Matter: Merits of a Long-Term Perspective -- Abstract -- 6.1 Introduction: Long-Term and Historical Approaches to Social Ecology -- 6.2 Including the Social Dimension in Ecology: From LTER to LTSER -- 6.2.1 The Fossil Fuel-Driven Carbon Sink -- 6.3 How Does 'Nature' Feature in History? From History to Environmental History -- 6.3.1 Colonial Mining in South and Central America -- 6.4 Long-Term Legacies of Human Interventions in Natural Systems -- 6.5 Conclusions -- Sources and References -- 7 Toward a Socioecological Concept of Human Labor -- Abstract -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Some General Distinctions to Characterize Human Labor Quantitatively, Qualitatively and According to Its Institutional Form -- 7.2.1 How Can Human Labor Be Characterized Quantitatively Across Different Sociometabolic Regimes? -- 7.2.2 How Can Human Labor Power Be Characterized Qualitatively? -- 7.2.3 How Can the Institutional Form of Labor Be Characterized? -- 7.3 Human Labor in Different Sociometabolic Regimes -- 7.3.1 Labor in the Agrarian Regime -- 7.3.1.1 Quantitative Features -- 7.3.1.2 Qualitative Features -- 7.3.1.3 Institutional Form of Labor -- 7.3.2 Labor in the Coal-Based Industrial Regime -- 7.3.2.1 Quantitative Features -- 7.3.2.2 Qualitative Features -- 7.3.2.3 Institutional Form of Labor -- 7.3.3 Labor During the Rise of the Oil-Based Industrial Regime (Europe: Late 1940s to Early 1970s) -- 7.3.3.1 Quantitative Features -- 7.3.3.2 Qualitative Aspects of Human Labor -- 7.3.3.3 Institutional Form of Labor. , 7.3.4 Labor in the Transition Phase from the Early 1970s Onward -- 7.3.4.1 Qualitative Features of Labor -- 7.3.4.2 Quantitative Features and Institutional Form -- 7.4 Resume and Outlook: Indications and Latent Causes of Major Changes in Labor Due to an Ongoing Socioecological Transition? -- References -- Part II Empirical Approaches to Socioeconomic Metabolism -- 8 Long-Term Trends in Global Material and Energy Use -- Abstract -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Methods and Data -- 8.3 Long-Term Global Trends in Material and Energy Use -- 8.4 Conclusions -- Method Précis: Energy Flow Analysis -- References -- 9 More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Patterns in Global Material Flows -- Abstract -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Data and Methods -- 9.3 Global Material Flows -- 9.4 Resource Availability -- 9.5 Trade -- 9.6 Population -- 9.7 Economic Development -- 9.8 Conclusions -- Method Précis: Material Flow Analysis -- References -- 10 Boundary Issues: Calculating National Material Use for a Globalized World -- Abstract -- 10.1 Growth, Globalization and Conceptual Challenges -- 10.2 Accounting for Consumption -- 10.2.1 Input-Output (IO) Approaches -- 10.2.2 Coefficient or LCA-Based Approaches -- 10.2.3 Hybrid Approaches -- 10.3 Austria's Global Resource Use -- 10.3.1 Imports -- 10.3.2 Exports -- 10.3.3 Trade Balance -- 10.3.4 Material Consumption -- 10.4 National Resource Use in a Global Perspective -- Method Précis: Life Cycle Assessment -- Method Précis: Input-Output Analysis -- References -- 11 How Circular Is the Global Economy? A Sociometabolic Analysis -- Abstract -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Choosing an Analytical Framework -- 11.3 Applying a Sociometabolic Analysis -- 11.4 Current State of the Global Economy's Circularity -- 11.5 Challenges for a Global Circular Economy -- 11.5.1 Fossil Energy Carriers -- 11.5.2 Metals -- 11.5.3 Nonmetallic Minerals. , 11.5.4 Biomass -- 11.6 Conclusions -- References -- 12 Material Stocks and Sustainable Development -- Abstract -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 A Socioecological Perspective on Material Stocks -- 12.2.1 Defining and Operationalizing 'Maintenance' and 'Expansion' -- 12.3 Current Research Approaches to Material Stocks and Flows -- 12.4 Comparing Modeled Bottom-up Stock and Flow Results to Economy-Wide Material Consumption of the EU25 -- 12.4.1 A Business-As-Usual Outlook for 2020: Some Quantitative Effects of Increased Recycling Due to the 'European Waste Framework Directive' -- 12.5 Conceptual Reflections: An Integrated Socioecological Perspective on Material Stocks -- 12.6 Practical Reflections: Policy Implications -- 12.7 Conclusions -- References -- Part III Empirical Approaches to Land Use and Colonization of Ecosystems -- 13 Livestock Grazing, the Neglected Land Use -- Abstract -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Estimating Global Grazing Areas -- 13.3 Estimating Biomass Grazed by Livestock -- 13.4 Putting the Pieces Together: Toward a Map of Global Grazing Intensity -- 13.5 Conclusions -- Method Précis: Using Geographic Information Systems in Social Ecology -- References -- 14 Systemic Feedbacks in Global Land Use -- Abstract -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Agriculture and Food Scenarios for 2050 -- 14.2.1 Dietary Change -- 14.2.2 Crop Yields -- 14.2.3 Animal Husbandry: Feeding Efficiency -- 14.2.4 Biomass Flows and Land Use 2050 -- 14.3 Trade-Offs and Synergies -- 14.3.1 Organic Agriculture Versus Land-Sparing Intensive Agriculture -- 14.3.2 Bioenergy, Carbon Sinks and Conservation Areas -- 14.4 Conclusions -- Method Précis: Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) -- References -- 15 A Burning Issue: Anthropogenic Vegetation Fires -- Abstract -- 15.1 'Fire as the First Great Force Employed by Man'. , 15.2 The Global Relevance of Anthropogenic Vegetation Fires.