University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 2 | Credits: 10

This course proposes to enlarge the scope of conventional social theory and political economy analyses of colonialism and neo-colonialism by addressing the dimension of ecology and the environment. The environment is usually treated as an ‘externality’ in studies of colonialism, yet the discovery and appropriation of forms of land and natural resources was a key driving force behind colonial expansion and the relationships between colonisers and colonised peoples and lands. Theories of modernisation, dependency and world-systems underpin postcolonial understandings of ‘development’, yet none of these major theoretical schools has seriously addressed the impact that colonialism and industrial development has had on the environment and ecological systems, as well as on the native inhabitants of colonised territories. An ecological perspective invites us to take a deeper and broader worldview to encompass territories, animals, plants and ecological regimes. It compels us to look at the long historical timeframe within which human cultures and civilisations have ‘developed’, changed and destroyed ecological regimes. How differently might we approach colonisation, ‘decolonisation’ and ‘development’ if insights from ecology can be applied? And how does thinking about colonised ‘others’ (people and nature) and relationships between people and the more-than-human world help us to understand the dilemmas of the colonising ‘self’ (settler and coloniser), so that both coloniser and colonised can think in alternative, different, emancipatory and transformative ways?

Learning Outcomes
  1. • Familiarity with, and understanding of the connections between the themes of ecology, economy, colonialism, and imperialism
  2. • Development of a global and connected understanding of the ecological and historical background to current environmental issues such as deforestation, climate change, extinction, conservation, pollution and biopiracy
  3. • Development of research and writing skills and capacities to present a detailed piece of research and analysis on a historical or contemporary case–study
  4. • Experience and skills in communicating, collaborating, developing and presenting research with peers in a seminar and workshop setting
  5. • Opportunities to debate the key issues and questions surrounding the histories, economics, politics, cultures and ethics of actions to protect and conserve environmental health and resources.
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Teachers
Reading List
  1. "Ecological Imperialism" by Alfred W. Crosby
    ISBN: 0521456908.
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  2. "This Fissured Land" by Madhav Gadgil,Ramachandra Guha
    ISBN: 0195633415.
    Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
  3. "Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature" by Foster, John Bellamy
    Publisher: Monthly Review Press
  4. "Biopiracy:The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge" by Shiva, Vandana
    Publisher: South End Press
  5. "Pollution is Colonialism" by Max Liboiron
    Publisher: Duke University Press
The above information outlines module SP599: "Ecology & Colonialism" and is valid from 2022 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.