The arid lands: history, power, knowledge

Deserts are commonly imagined as barren, defiled, worthless places, wastelands in need of development.

This understanding has fueled extensive anti-desertification efforts - a multimillion-dollar global campaign driven by perceptions of a looming crisis.

Diana Davis argues that estimates of desertification have been significantly exaggerated and that deserts and drylands - which constitute about 41 percent of the earth's landmass - are actually resilient and biodiverse environments in which a great many indigenous people have long lived sustainably.