Compulsory and elective courses

Objectives

After completing the course, the student should be able to:

• identify and explain causes for and consequences of colonial industrial production and appropriation of natural resources, as well as consequences for the relation between humans and nature,
• demonstrate skills in analysing the formation of peripheral resource areas in colonial and postcolonial societies,
• critically reflect on location and perspective in understanding the relation between humans and nature.
  
  

Content

The course targets the historical processes and social consequences of ecological transformations in flora, fauna, and environment due to the introduction and growth of industrial production and global markets in the modern world. Specific attention is paid to the importance of location and perspective in assessing how the production of knowledge, the application of large­scale technical infrastructure, and the governance and legal regulation of nature affect the relation between humans and animals. The course juxtaposes and compares modern colonial conquests and postcolonial extractions in areas made into resource peripheries in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Southern Africa, and the Arctic. Students are challenged to make temporal and cross­continental connections.