Recent advances in social metabolism research: Sources and methods

Social Metabolism research emerged in the 1970s and has since evolved into a dynamic field of social science research on pressing environmental and sustainability challenges in the twenty‑first century. Historians began using these methods to evaluate socio‑ecological transitions of societies and compare patterns of resource use over time and across space. This introduction explains the central tenets of Social Metabolism research and briefly explores the five research articles in this issue that are pushing the field in new directions with exciting sources and innovative methods.