About me:
Neundlinger Michael, BA in Social Anthropology (2008), BA in History (2010), MA (2011) in Social
Ecology and Environmental History is researcher (2010), lecturer (2011) and PhD candidate (2012) at
the Institute of Social Ecology (SEC) Vienna at Alpen-Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt. His research
focuses on conceptual and case-based contributions to an Environmental History of Austria. He has
gained experience in interdisciplinary research collaborating with the Center for Environmental
History in Vienna (2009 and 2011), with SEC (2010), with the Rachel Carson Center for Environment
and Society in Munich (2010) and with the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (2011). He
has attended several workshops on Environmental History and Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research
and is part of the Danube Environmental History Initiative (DEHI) network. Recently, I have worked
on an interdisciplinary Environmental History of Vienna from the 18th to the 20th century. Currently,
I am working on the long-term sustainability of Austrian agriculture in 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
About my research:
Understanding Long-Term Socio-Ecological Change in Agroecosystems –
Grafenegg in the 19th Century
Throughout Western Europe, the 18th and 19th centuries were characterized by agricultural
intensification (e.g. shortening/abandoning of fallow periods, introduction of stable keeping,
introduction of new fodder crops), a first wave of agricultural globalization (e.g. accelerated biomass
transfer between Old and New World production systems) and state centralization (e.g. land reforms
in France or Prussia). Similar dynamics towards an “Advanced Organic Agriculture” may be observed
for Early Modern Austrian agriculture. In that period, issues of agricultural productivity were at the
centre of Habsburg political attention, as comprehensive reforms fostered a centralized, top-down
modernization of feudal structures. Still, manorial institutions and feudal landlords outlasted stately
interventions in the first half of the 19th century and continued to shape rural resource use until they
were finally abandoned during the European Revolutions of 1848. Still, agricultural modernization
slowly gained momentum in the early 19th century. Introduction of new agricultural crops,
technological innovations and first attempts in mineral fertilization triggered increases in area and
labour productivity. After 1848 the large scale mobilization of economic capital, increased market
integration and urbanization posed new challenges and possibilities to former landlords and peasants
alike. To reconstruct the long-term evolution of local resource use throughout this turbulent period,
a local case study is addressed with the systemic notion of “Socio-Ecological Metabolism” (SEM) and
the related methodological approach – “Material and Energy Flow Analysis” (MEFA). Located in
Lower Austria, one of the most important provinces of the Habsburg monarchy, the seignory of
Grafenegg serves as empirical case study. Archival material comprehensively covers day-to-day agrobusiness. Historical account books (“Naturalhauptbuch”, NHB) serve as the prime source, as they
provide full data on the physical economy of manorial farmsteads. Additionally, information on
market activities and feudal rents are available within NHB. The account books cover a broad variety
of biophysical categories relevant to systematically reconstruct agrarian resource use and to tackle
questions of local sustainability in organic agriculture.