141077 SE The State, Epistemology and Economy: Environmental History of Southern and Central Africa (2024S)

This course introduces students to the Environmental History of Central and Southern Africa. The course uses case studies to explore the debates and appraise claims about different configurations of environmental and socio-political change within the context of the state, economy and epistemology in twentieth century southern and central Africa. Formation of the nation-state, inception of settler colonialism, institutionalization of imperial rule, the commercialisation of agriculture, local peasantry and pastoralism, the growth of industry and introduction of epistemic pluralism, comprising scientific and traditional knowledge systems, have had profound effects both on the societies and the natural world of the regions. By and large, such impacts continue to affect human-nature relations in the contemporary times. To this effect, both African indigenous and colonial resource management and conservation strategies and knowledges were also intensely debated from the late nineteenth century by both colonial and African societies, and the debate has continued into the 20st century.
The seminars and readings will focus on a series of inter-related thematic questions, with an eye on facilitating a nuanced understanding of the past in order to explaining contemporary problems:
1. Has economic development degraded the environment?
2. Have different economic interests and practices led to different configurations of society-environment relations?
3. How have these different relationships been perceived in the past by both the colonial state and African communities?
4. What was the role of the state in shaping the relationship between society and the natural environment, and with what consequences?
5. What role did colonialism play in bio-migration, including spread of diseases and alien species?
6. How should we explain patterns of environmental regulation and conservation by states in the regions?
7. Were conflicts over environmental regulation the result of differences between scientific approaches and African local traditional knowledge?
8. To what extent has access to natural resources been shaped by race, and class/wealth?
9. What forms of environmental justice are being pursued?
10. How do these past events, developments and processes inform current understating of environmental challenges in Africa?
Teaching Outcomes:
At the end of the course students should have:
a) a comprehension of what Environmental History is all about;
b) a critical understanding of terminology and key concepts used in Environmental History (e.g. human-nature relations, environmental change);
c) an appreciation of the need for a historical, interdisciplinary approach to understanding and tackling complex environmental issues and problems;
d) an understanding of how humans and society have, over the past, interacted with the natural environment focusing on the influence of the state, economy and epistemology;
e) a knowledge of how settler colonialism contributed to contemporary environmental challenges such as spread of disease and alien species in Africa;
f) an ability to support conceptual and theoretical discussions on African environmental challenges with historical examples provided by case studies.