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- Convenors:
-
James Bland
(University of Oklahoma)
Admire Mseba (University of Southern California)
Natalie Wilkinson (Sam Noble Museum of Natural History)
Send message to Convenors
- Chairs:
-
Natalie Wilkinson
(Sam Noble Museum of Natural History)
James Bland (University of Oklahoma)
- Discussants:
-
Winn Carroll
(University of Oklahoma)
Mariela Encarnacion (University of Oklahoma)
- Formats:
- Roundtable
- Streams:
- Decolonizing Environmental Pasts
- Location:
- Room 7
- Sessions:
- Friday 23 August, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Helsinki
Short Abstract:
How has environmental orientalism of imperial governments and consumers impacted Indigenous people and their land? How has this changed before and after colonialism? How were Indigenous gender, culture, memory and economics affected? Will truth and reconciliation empower environmental restoration?
Long Abstract:
Call For Proposals: World Council of Environmental History, Oulu, Finland, 2024
The Fourth World Congress of Environmental History will be held at the University of Oulu, Finland from 19 to 23 August, 2024.
The topic for this roundtable is: “The Impact of Environmental Orientalism on Indigenous Peoples: Colonial and Post-Colonial Consequences.”
The roundtable’s abstract is as follows: How has environmental orientalism of imperial governments and consumers impacted Indigenous people and their land? How has this changed before and after colonialism? How has this impacted Indigenous gender, culture, memory and economics? Will truth and reconciliation empower environmental care?
We are seeking calls for papers/topics regarding any aspects of imperialism intersecting between Native people and the environment. Across time and space, the roundtable plans to tackle questions like:
• How have imperial policies towards colonized environments affected colonized people, and vice-versa?
• How has decolonization become involved in the environmental movement?
• How can environmental history help us to better understand Native identity and resistance amidst international imperial stories and an increasingly global present?
We encourage applicants with topics from all over the globe covering any (post)-colonial environmental topic. Presentations can be made in person in Oulu or via Zoom. Travel funding may be available from the Conference.
The deadline to apply is September 18, 2023.
Our panelists examine the environmental aspects of orientalism and the diminishing of Indigenous peoples to a function of their land and environment for (neo)-colonial and capitalist purposes.
Orientalism and its application towards colonized indigenous people and postcolonial nations is a useful category of analysis. The connection between Native people and their land’s environment was often explicit in (neo)-colonial aims and justifications. This manifested against Native people through removal, genocide, enslavement and conversion. Simultaneously, it manifested against the land through extraction, exploitation settler-colonization and urbanization.
The panel’s chronological expanse demonstrates the global transformation over time of orientalist attitudes. Imperial attitudes ranged from fear and fetishization to pity and pillaging. While colonists’ aims on Indigenous spaces transformed over time, othering of Native peoples was inextricable from the othering of Native environments.
This panel is quintessentially transdiciplinary. The intersection of environmental and Indigenous orientalism impacts all life in colonized spaces- past and present! We employ tools from anthropology, economics and identity studies to understand environmental orientalism’s impact on race, gender, consumerism, and artistic/cultural production.
As society transitions towards truth, healing and sustainability, our interdisciplinary topics and tools are both historical and contemporary.
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Friday 23 August, 2024, -Contribution short abstract:
How has colonial understanding of the natural world changed during post-colonial times? How have conservation measures affected populations Indigenous to colonized landscapes?
Contribution long abstract:
Conservation efforts on colonized lands arose through the same doctrines of conquest and control as did
colonization albeit with seemingly different worldviews at play. Conservation efforts- from preserved areas
to land allotments to resource management- have had varied impacts on the respective indigenous
populations. Over the last century of decolonization, this has only recently begun to change, in faltering
steps across the Global South. Throughout the short 20th century, there were many faltering steps in
decolonial environmentalism. Only since the 1990s has local ecological sovereignty made significant
strides.
The Paiute of the Yosemite Valley, the Adivasi of Western Bengal, the indigenous peoples of the Sahel,
and the Hill Tribes of interior Thailand are all examples of people who held their own methods of
environmental stewardship that long preceded foreign colonialism. The traditional sciences of these
people groups were slandered, muted or ignored during colonial and post-colonial times in the name of
progress. Each group in their turn has campaigned for their rights as indigenous people, and each has
had to reckon with national and international orders in their struggle for sovereignty. These case studies
demonstrate both the growing pains and the emerging success stories of decolonized peoples and
decolonizing environments as they work with changing ideas in colonial environmental stewardship.
Recently, ethnobotany and ethnobiology have begun to validate indigenous ways of knowing, and the last
two decades have yielded positive results in scientific decolonization, not just political decolonization of
these regions and their inhabitants
Contribution short abstract:
Puerto Rico is one of the oldest colonies in the world, it was part of imperial Spain and the United States and is currently a U.S. Commonwealth. The aim of this paper is to put into context current environmental problems with past events of colonial nature.
Contribution long abstract:
Puerto Rico is one of the oldest colonies in the world. Political, social, and cultural decisions have left their mark on the current environmental problems the island faces. With the progression of climate change the island is forecasted to experience greater and more frequent hurricanes, increased flooding, higher temperatures, decreases in precipitation and increases in sea surface temperature (Jennings et al.). With rising sea levels already being felt and a power grid solely dependent on fossil fuels, the island is already feeling the consequences of its past choices. The aim of this paper is to put into context current environmental problems with past events of colonial nature.
Contribution short abstract:
The Sami people rely on reindeer to maintain their traditional life. How has climate and policy changes affected the Sami's ability to cultivate reindeer? What examples of Scandinavian colonialism mirrors contemporary Sami issues?
Contribution long abstract:
The construction of wind turbines in Norway's Sami lands has been a controversial issue, with some arguing that it is a form of green colonialism that violates the rights of the Sami people. This paper will provide a brief history of the environmental impact of colonialism on the Sami people, and discuss the challenges of reconciling the use of indigenous land for green energy with the need to protect Sami rights and culture.
The Sami people are an Indigenous people who have inhabited the Arctic region for centuries. They have a strong connection to the land and its resources, and their traditional way of life is based on reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting.
The arrival of European settlers in the Arctic region in the 17th century led to a series of policies that dispossessed the Sami of their land and resources. These policies included forced assimilation, restrictions on traditional land use, and the construction of infrastructure that disrupted Sami reindeer herding.
The construction of wind turbines in Sami lands is a continuation of this colonial legacy. The turbines are often built on traditional Sami grazing lands, and they can interfere with reindeer migration patterns. The noise and light pollution from the turbines can also disrupt reindeer breeding and calving.
This proposal wishes to discuss the environmental impact of colonialism on the Sami people and the challenges of reconciling the use of indigenous land for green energy with the need to protect Sami rights and culture.
Contribution short abstract:
How has tourism and environmental extraction/stewardship affected memory and public history regarding the Native peoples of Alta and Baja California? For the majority of industrial colonization, Native Californians have been depicted as declining or erased- only recently has this begun to change.
Contribution long abstract:
How has tourism and environmental extraction/stewardship affected memory and public history regarding the Native peoples of Alta and Baja California? For the majority of industrial colonization, Native Californians have been depicted as declining or erased- only recently has this begun to change.
In the Spanish era of colonization, the institutional missions and presidios incorporated Native participants into the Spanish civilizing mission- as civil subjects or neophytes. As Mexican gained independence and the US acquired California, this changed. Anglo-Americans physically and rhetorically removed tribes from Alta California as an obstacle to Manifest Destiny. Mexico, especially under the Porfiriato, used the language and politics of industrialization to dismiss traditional forms of Indigenous life or assimilate Baja Californian peoples into the increasingly globalized Mexican economy- erasing them outright in the eyes of many colonial participants.
Since the era of imperial expansion, much of popular culture and public memory has reflected these attitudes about Alta/Baja Natives: either declining to near obliteration or erased altogether in favor of imperial settlement and industrialization. Only recently has this begun to change.
This presentation will consider the urban environmental memorialization of colonial efforts, eco-tourism, and murals of the areas in question.
Contribution short abstract:
How did the inclusion of Inner Mongolia as an ‘Autonomous’ province of China cause the ongoing loss of Mongolian autonomy and grassland? The policies of the Communist Chinese Party in the industrialization and political ‘autonomy’ led to Inner Mongolia’s environmental and cultural degradation.
Contribution long abstract:
How did the inclusion of Inner Mongolia as an ‘Autonomous’ province of China cause the ongoing loss of Mongolian autonomy and grassland? The policies of the Communist Chinese Party in the industrialization and political ‘autonomy’ led to Inner Mongolia’s environmental and cultural degradation.
Although the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was founded in 1947, two years prior to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Inner Mongolian policies were centered around the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. The development of these policies led to a Chinese interest in developing and settling Han peoples onto Inner Mongolian lands, bringing an industrial and agricultural economy with them. Without proper farming knowledge, many Mongolians rented out their lands for agricultural development by Han settlers, who during the redistribution of wealth under the PRC turned on these Mongolian landowners for being landlords. This led to a constant tug of war between Inner Mongolia’s leader Ulanfu and the CCP on defining policies that would incorporate Han and Mongolian friendship, while also protecting Mongolians from Han subjugation.
However, Inner Mongolian policies never helped secure the ethnic group as truly ‘autonomous’, allowing a mass migration of Han settlers to slowly dominate and change not only the population, but also the culture of Inner Mongolia. This unfortunate reality has caused a dramatic increase in the desertification of the region, as well as decreased attention towards Mongolian culture and language.
Contribution short abstract:
This paper sheds light on an often-overlooked aspect of Haudenosaunee expansion in the mid-seventeenth century: their negative environmental impact on the region's beaver population and, by extension, the broader ecosystem.
Contribution long abstract:
The violent westward expansion of the Haudenosaunee was the defining moment of seventeenth-century North America. While these expansions are often studied for their political and social ramifications, this paper sheds light on an often-overlooked aspect of these actions: their negative environmental impact on the region's beaver population. Combining historical records, archaeological evidence, and ecological insights, it explores how the Haudenosaunee's strategies for resource acquisition and management impacted the beaver population and, by extension, the broader ecosystem. The discussion begins by examining the Haudenosaunee's resource utilization practices, such as beaver trapping and the establishment of extensive beaver pond systems. These practices were not inherently unsustainable; however, the rapid expansion of Haudenosaunee territory placed immense pressure on local beaver populations. The paper also scrutinizes the consequences of their control over fur trade networks, which heightened demand for beaver pelts and contributed to overharvesting. Furthermore, this paper assesses the cascading ecological effects of declining beaver populations, including altered wetland dynamics, disrupted habitats for various species, and changes in water quality. It also considers the long-term cultural and economic impacts on the Haudenosaunee themselves, who relied on beavers for sustenance, trade, and cultural significance. By shedding light on the complex interplay between indigenous expansion, resource management, and environmental change, this paper contributes to a more holistic understanding of historical ecological transformations in North America. It underscores the importance of recognizing unintended environmental consequences in the context of indigenous territorial expansions and the need for sustainable resource management practices within a historical and ecological framework.
Contribution short abstract:
This study is intended to show how different communities and populations are adapting to the increasing market value of housing, the potential loss of accessible food sources, and urban sprawl/spread of new developments. Growing populations impact surrounding environments in different ways.
Contribution long abstract:
Analysis of the surrounding populations of cities from US census data in relation to indigenous populations and Low-income residence census tracts. How does this affect the quality of life for communities in rural areas that are being impeded upon and within those locations the reservation's response to urban sprawl/growth? What does it mean for higher market value pricing out low-income communities further from the cities that have potential job availability? Since an increase in housing is representative of higher populations and a lack of available homes, is this also happening within the Indigenous people's reservation lands? Or is it possible that the reservations have a less substantial market value increase? What I hope to learn and discuss from this paper will be the results of a months-long study to understand the economic and environmental impact of the ever-growing housing market on low income communities. Using GIS analysis and US census tracts to study the population growth and housing market values over a 5-year period should provide substantial information for median incomes and total populations. I will have to do some immersive studies to find information about local indigenous housing market data which I believe will be enough to compare sprawl and quality of life aspects.
Contribution short abstract:
The study explores the processes of decolonization and transformation of nature in the post-Soviet space. The study highlights the commonalities and differences between Estonia, Karelia, and Kazakhstan and demonstrates examples of decolonization of nature from above and below.
Contribution long abstract:
Drawing on three case studies from Europe and Asia, this research examines the decolonization of nature and the role of natural landscapes in the construction of new states in post-Soviet countries. The first example demonstrates how the agenda of the Estonian national movement overlapped with the goals of the green movement and how the Estonian national parks became a tool of integration into Europe. The case study of the Republic of Karelia reveals how the highest mountain in the region became a stumbling block between residents and the center and even a symbol of the green movement. The third example comes from Kazakhstan and demonstrates decolonization from above: the attempts of the local authorities to rethink and reuse the main symbols of the country – the steppe and mountains as well as the attitude of locals to these ideas.
The three case studies comprise three interrelated blocks or sub-topics. The first sub-topic is decolonization (both above and below) – in the present case, the rejection of the Soviet legacy, the transition from the Soviet system of nature conservation to new forms, and the adoption of a European experience. The second sub-topic is symbolism, or the building of national or local history and identity around natural attractions, that is, the creation of national landscapes. The third sub-topic is the consumption or commodification of landscapes, national parks, and reserves by visitors, local authorities, and residents, and the role of tourism in the development of national spaces.
Contribution short abstract:
In my speech, I will refer to Baltic Coast and Pina regions and process of colonisation lands and native inhabitants for national sake in the Second Republic of Poland (interwar period).
Contribution long abstract:
In my speech, I will refer to the issue of internal colonization in the Second Polish Republic.
The establishment of the new Polish state (1918) brought a number of questions - among them the obvious question about "true national identity", but also the question about the "native landscape": the landscape and environment that could be considered a representation of Polishness.
Keeping a broad perspective, I would like to talk about two cases: the Baltic Sea, which was not part of the national imagination in the 19th century (nation-formation period), but due to geopolitical change small fragment of the coast became the subject of intensive infrastructural work in the interwar decades. Part of this project was the inclusion of the Kashubians, the indigenous inhabitants of the coastal areas, into the national community and their absolute Polonization as well as exploiting the sea and at the same time making it "our sea", completely and eternally Polish.
The second case I want to discuss is Polesie, an area located in today's Belarus. In the interwar period, the swamps around the Pina river were inhabited by indigenous people with an identity they defined as "local", who generally spoke Belarusian and practiced deeply ecological river management. I would like to talk about the way in which this region was presented in state narratives and popular culture narratives: as requiring civilization, drying and polonization.
In both cases, I will refer to state policies, journalism and literary texts that built popular imagination of that time.
Contribution short abstract:
Is it possible to trace a pattern in contemporary Indigenous Literature to the occurrence as well as the evolution of humor as an aid for social justice? When everything else fails, can humor, expressed through the literary art, save the planet from disintegration?
Contribution long abstract:
The latent incongruity of fusing humor with climate change communication can have a threefold effect on climate change narratives: firstly, it can provide a potent platform to vent out negativity. Secondly, it can open scope for dialogue among different stakeholders in a community. Thirdly, it can result in conscious action. When done right, humor can likely serve as a social remedy, enabling people to be aware of behaviors that are hostile to human prosperity.
Is it possible for Indigenous communities to benefit from the use of humor, as an activist tool, for the communication of climate change adaptation and resilience, and if so, does it lead to the emergence of a space for climate change justice? How does climate change humor manifest itself in contemporary Indigenous literature from around the world? What does it portend for the role of humor in the future of climate change activism, both social and political? Is it possible to trace a pattern in contemporary Indigenous Literature to the occurrence as well as the evolution of humor as an aid for social justice? Do Indigenous Communities from different parts of the world, along with artists expressing in different media, have specific contributions to make in this context? When everything else fails, can humor, expressed through the literary art, save the planet from disintegration?
Contribution short abstract:
This study explores the feminist perspective in reshaping South Asian environmental history, highlighting women's roles, gender dynamics, and the influence on policies.
Contribution long abstract:
With a special emphasis on the connection between women and ecology, the crucial role that feminist viewpoints have played in reworking South Asian environmental history. It illuminates the nuanced ways in which power dynamics, social inequality, and gender dynamics have impacted environmental narratives.
The introduction of the paper acknowledges and celebrates the previously undervalued contributions of women to resource management and environmental protection in South Asia. It emphasizes women as the principal guardians of important natural resources, like forests and water, revealing their critical role in preserving ecological balance.
The paper also looks at how environmental changes affect women differently than men, focusing on how rural women suffer disproportionately during environmental crises. They are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation because of their traditional roles as suppliers of water, food, and care for their families.
The study also examines how colonialism and apartheid still influence environmental policies. It highlights the ongoing fights for environmental justice, land rights, and sustainable development spearheaded by women in South Asia and sheds light on the significant gendered imbalances ingrained within these historical injustices.
Utilizing intersectionality, the study investigates how gender interacts with race, class, and ethnicity to affect environmental experiences in South Asia. It also emphasizes the vital role feminist viewpoints had in developing inclusive, gender-responsive environmental policies.
This paper’s conclusion emphasizes how feminist interpretations of South Asia environmental history advance knowledge of women's agency while promoting just and sustainable environmental policies.