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European Imperialism and Ecological Change in the Colonies

Received: 4 July 2023     Accepted: 7 August 2023     Published: 31 August 2023
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Abstract

This study focuses on the ecological element of European imperialism and how it appears in literature on the continent, founded on the connected anthropocentric and Eurocentric discourses. For the sake of advancing science and the economy, ecological imperialism refers to the willful destruction of the natural resources of colonial lands through exploitation, extraction, and transfer. Ecological imperialism is a term coined by American environmental historian Alfred Crosby to describe the successful colonisation of temperate areas by Europeans, including North America, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. According to Crosby, an essential ecological factor contributed to the success of European colonial development, which began around 1500 CE. "European emigrants and their descendants are everywhere, which necessitates explanations," he remarked. To create new areas appropriate for European farmers and establish themselves, white settlers from Europe transported plants and animals thousands of miles away to temperate regions. Crosby coined the phrase "Columbian exchange" to refer to the extensive movement of plants and animals from Europe to the New World. Its roots can be seen in the mechanical worldview that Ross Corey, and other thinkers of the era, including Crosby Alfred and Robert Boyle, promoted.

Published in History Research (Volume 11, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.history.20231102.12
Page(s) 44-50
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Biotic, Abiotic, Ecosystems, Herbivores, Aboriginal, Bananilba

References
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[3] Annual Administration Report of Tehri Garhwal State”, 1939-40, Imperial Secretariat Library, Unpublished, New Delhi.
[4] Appleby Andrew B., Epidemic and Famine in the Little Ice Age, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 10, No. 4, History and Climate: Interdisciplinary Exploration (Spring, 1980). Published by The MIT Press.
[5] Ashraf Jaweed, (2004): Studies in Historical Ecology of India, Sunrise Publication, Delhi.
[6] Atwell William S., Some Observation on the “Seventeenth –Century Crises” In China and Japan, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol 45, No. 2.
[7] Bhargava Meena, (2017) (edited), Frontiers of Environment Issues in Medieval and Early Modern India, Orient Black Swan, Delhi.
[8] Beachey R. W., The East African Ivory Trade in the Nineteenth Century, The Journal of African History, 1967, Vol. 8, No. 2, published by Cambridge University Press.
[9] Bernhard Gißibl, The Nature of Colonialism: Hunting, Conservation and the Politics of Wildlife in the German Colonial Empire (PhD Dissertation, Universität Mannheim, 2009).
[10] Corey Ross, (2017), “Ecological and Power in the Age of Empire” Oxford University Press, UK.
[11] Crosby Alfred W., Ecological Imperialism: The Overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon, in edited by Donald Worster (2012), “The End of the Earth: Perspective on Modern Environmental History, Cambridge University Press, UK.
[12] Dice Lee R., What is Ecology, The Scientific Monthly, Jun 1955, Vol. 80, No. 6.
[13] Dobson Andrew, (1995) Green Political Thought, London: Routledge.
[14] Guha Rama Chandra, (2000) Environmentalism: A Global History, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
[15] Guha, Ram Chandra, “The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalayas”, New Delhi, Oxford Press, 1989.
[16] Guha Ram Chandra, (2006) How Much Should A Person Consume? Permanent Black, Delhi.
[17] Habib Irfan, (2007), Agrarian System of Mughal India: 1556-1707, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
[18] Habib Irfan, (2010): Man and Environment: The Ecological History of India, Tulika books, Delhi.
[19] Hughes J. Donald, (2010), An Environmental History of the World: Humankind’s Changing Role in the Community of Life, Routledge publication, USA.
[20] James A. B. Scherer, (1916), Cotton as a World Power: A Study in the Economic Interpretation of History, New York: Stokes,
[21] Lieberman Victor and Brendan Buckley, The Impact of Climate on Southeast Asia, Cira 950-1820: New Finding, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 46, No. 5 (September 2012).
[22] McCann James C., Climate and Causation in African History, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1999, Vol. 32, No. 2/3.
[23] Parker Geoffrey, (2014), Global Crises: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, Yale University Press, London.
[24] Progress Report of Forest Administration in the North West Provinces and Oudh”, 1881-1882, National Archives of India, Unpublished, New Delhi.
[25] Progress Report of Forest Administration”, 1897, National Archives of India, Unpublished, New Delhi.
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[27] Roger Owen, (1969), Cotton and the Egyptian Economy, 1820–1914: A Study in Trade and Development (Oxford University Press, Clarendon.
[28] Tait Peta, (2016), Fighting Nature: Travelling menageries, animal acts and war shows, Sydney University Press, Australia.
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    Anchal. (2023). European Imperialism and Ecological Change in the Colonies. History Research, 11(2), 44-50. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20231102.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.history.20231102.12,
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      title = {European Imperialism and Ecological Change in the Colonies},
      journal = {History Research},
      volume = {11},
      number = {2},
      pages = {44-50},
      doi = {10.11648/j.history.20231102.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20231102.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20231102.12},
      abstract = {This study focuses on the ecological element of European imperialism and how it appears in literature on the continent, founded on the connected anthropocentric and Eurocentric discourses. For the sake of advancing science and the economy, ecological imperialism refers to the willful destruction of the natural resources of colonial lands through exploitation, extraction, and transfer. Ecological imperialism is a term coined by American environmental historian Alfred Crosby to describe the successful colonisation of temperate areas by Europeans, including North America, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. According to Crosby, an essential ecological factor contributed to the success of European colonial development, which began around 1500 CE. "European emigrants and their descendants are everywhere, which necessitates explanations," he remarked. To create new areas appropriate for European farmers and establish themselves, white settlers from Europe transported plants and animals thousands of miles away to temperate regions. Crosby coined the phrase "Columbian exchange" to refer to the extensive movement of plants and animals from Europe to the New World. Its roots can be seen in the mechanical worldview that Ross Corey, and other thinkers of the era, including Crosby Alfred and Robert Boyle, promoted.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    AB  - This study focuses on the ecological element of European imperialism and how it appears in literature on the continent, founded on the connected anthropocentric and Eurocentric discourses. For the sake of advancing science and the economy, ecological imperialism refers to the willful destruction of the natural resources of colonial lands through exploitation, extraction, and transfer. Ecological imperialism is a term coined by American environmental historian Alfred Crosby to describe the successful colonisation of temperate areas by Europeans, including North America, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. According to Crosby, an essential ecological factor contributed to the success of European colonial development, which began around 1500 CE. "European emigrants and their descendants are everywhere, which necessitates explanations," he remarked. To create new areas appropriate for European farmers and establish themselves, white settlers from Europe transported plants and animals thousands of miles away to temperate regions. Crosby coined the phrase "Columbian exchange" to refer to the extensive movement of plants and animals from Europe to the New World. Its roots can be seen in the mechanical worldview that Ross Corey, and other thinkers of the era, including Crosby Alfred and Robert Boyle, promoted.
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Author Information
  • Department of Political Science, Lakshmibai College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

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