Hope and Fear: Colonial Interventions
TUESDAY 8 FEBRUARY / 11AM–1PM / BOOK HERE
Prof Vinita Damodaran
Under colonialism the destruction and the construction of landscapes went hand in hand. The advent of European maritime companies transformed the world’s ecology from 1500. From plantations in the Caribbean, Fiji, Ceylon to the destruction of forests and the harvest of marine and faunal resources worldwide the destruction wrought by empire resulted in debates on extinction, endemism and conservation. This week we look at these debates in the context of the global south. We argue that the focus on the political and the administrative dimensions of empire have occluded the practical material impacts of colonization on people’s lives and on land, animals, fish, forests and other facets of their ecological contexts. Here we look at colonial scientific interventions in the form of forestry, the nature of colonial science and the links between science and empire in depth through the theme of conservation and wild life reserves. We also examine the history of forest reserves and the impact on local communities.
Essential Readings:
– Cory Ross, Ecology and Power in the age of Empire (Introduction) (Links to an external site.)
Further Readings:
– William Beinart, The politics of colonial conservation (Links to an external site.)
-Faisal Moola and Adam Roth, Moving beyond colonial conservation models (Links to an external site.)
-Jeffery Bolster, Opportunities in marine environmental history
To view:
– Unnatural histories -SerengetiLinks to an external site.
– Unnatural histories-YellowstoneLinks to an external site.
Key discussion questions
Assess the impact of colonialism on the environment both land and marine.
What were the origins of the modern conservation movement?
Using case studies from India or Africa assess the impact of conservation on local communities.
TUESDAY 8 FEBRUARY / 11AM–1PM / BOOK HERE
Prof Vinita Damodaran
Under colonialism the destruction and the construction of landscapes went hand in hand. The advent of European maritime companies transformed the world’s ecology from 1500. From plantations in the Caribbean, Fiji, Ceylon to the destruction of forests and the harvest of marine and faunal resources worldwide the destruction wrought by empire resulted in debates on extinction, endemism and conservation. This week we look at these debates in the context of the global south. We argue that the focus on the political and the administrative dimensions of empire have occluded the practical material impacts of colonization on people’s lives and on land, animals, fish, forests and other facets of their ecological contexts. Here we look at colonial scientific interventions in the form of forestry, the nature of colonial science and the links between science and empire in depth through the theme of conservation and wild life reserves. We also examine the history of forest reserves and the impact on local communities.
Essential Readings:
– Cory Ross, Ecology and Power in the age of Empire (Introduction) (Links to an external site.)
Further Readings:
– William Beinart, The politics of colonial conservation (Links to an external site.)
-Faisal Moola and Adam Roth, Moving beyond colonial conservation models (Links to an external site.)
-Jeffery Bolster, Opportunities in marine environmental history
To view:
– Unnatural histories -SerengetiLinks to an external site.
– Unnatural histories-YellowstoneLinks to an external site.
Key discussion questions
Assess the impact of colonialism on the environment both land and marine.
What were the origins of the modern conservation movement?
Using case studies from India or Africa assess the impact of conservation on local communities.