environmental determinism

American  

[en-vahy-ruhn-muhn-tl di-tur-muh-niz-uhm, -vahyern-] / ɛnˌvaɪ rənˈmən tl dɪˈtɜr məˌnɪz əm, -ˌvaɪərn- /

noun

1. a doctrine that considers environmental conditions to be the determining factor in the development of an individual, society, or culture.

   Advocates and reformers, using a doctrine of environmental determinism, argued that reforming a degraded built environment would reform its residents.

   Proponents of environmental determinism would suggest that differences in the education and career aspirations of boys and girls are determined by external socializing forces.

2. sometimes used to mean geographical determinism.

---

Etymology

Origin of environmental determinism

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Such projects have often been motivated by a kind of environmental determinism—the idea that human flourishing, or at least fluid traffic, can be unlocked through better design.

From Slate

This is not environmental determinism.

From Science Magazine

In this case, a misguided acceptance of environmental determinism led to millions of needless deaths.

From Slate

Dartnell takes up environmental determinism in his answer: “The astonishing fact is that this clearly defined band of Democratic-voting areas is the result of an ancient ocean, tens of millions of years old.”

From Washington Post

Nowadays, though, the view is not held in esteem by historians; it is considered wrong or simplistic, or it is caricatured as environmental determinism and dismissed, or else the whole subject of trying to understand worldwide differences is shelved as too difficult.

From Literature