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Describe the Metaphor of the 'Dark Continent
Dark continent originated in the 19th century by Europeans stating that Africa is a place of disease and danger. Europe saw Africa as a mysterious place that was insulated and isolated from the global economy.
Why is Africa constructed as the 'Paradigm of Difference'?
This is an idea originating from the 16th century by Europeans that juxtaposes Europe and Africa. Africa is everything that Europe is not. Ex. If Europe is a place of civilization, Africa is the opposite.
What are Afrocentrism and its role in the production of knowledge on Africa & the African diaspora?
Afrocentrism is reinventing Africa from the perspective of Africa or the black world. People of African descent need to appreciate their culture, morals, knowledge and achievements and make it known.
Why was Africa described in the past as the "white man's grave"?
This is due to a high mortality rate in white colonists and missionaries from tropical diseases, climate and sanitation. Diseases included the sleeping sickness, but the biggest one is malaria. Soon after malaria was eradicated, Europe colonized Africa.
"African environmental history is anthropogenic." (environmental issues caused by humans) Explain.
African environment is caused by human actions. Not entirely by nature, but more by humans. Ex: Planting trees and the deforestation.
What is the "degradation narrative"
Term basically saying that Africa is the forefront of the environmental destructions. Ex: Madagascar is a threatened biodiversity hotspot that has attracted the attention of conservation biologists for several decades
Discuss the meaning and implications of authoritarian high modernism on the state of environment and development in Africa.
Occurred during the colonial and post-colonial periods. Seen in villagization and the resettlement of ppl into different areas like the Tanzania projects. The use of machines, technology, and science to reorganize nature and man's life.
How was the relationship between nature and man conceived in African and Western environmental thought?
Symbiotic unity between nature and men. One cannot exist without the other. They are not divided. You can do anything with nature as long as it contributes to metropolitan states.
What is the historical significance of the Bantu Migrations?
Migration from central Africa to southern and eastern Arica. Spread of bantu language, agriculture, mining which led to the emergence of complex societies.
Discuss what is meant by the 'environmentalism of the poor.'
The poor which are the (Africans) are destructive to nature. The poor are deeply conscious of nature and protective of nature bc nature means a source of food and source of life.
What is the role of colonial experts and expertise when it comes to reorganizing Africa's social and physical environment?
to produce knowledge in the service and interest of colonialism and capitalism. They mostly conduct fieldwork and create knowledge that can be deployed in reorganizing the ways Africans live and the way environments are used
What is 'self-inflicted ecological suicide'? Give examples.
Self-inflicted means that human activity contributes to civilization. Examples include the destruction of Easter Island bc of the unsustainable action of deforestation. Another example is Investing in a carbon economy that produces green gasses which can destroy human life.
How did shifting environment and climate shape social, political, and economic organizations in Africa?
An increase in moisture led to an abundance of certain flies which causes sleeping sickness. This disease affected livestock which limited the movement and expansion of civilization. People then move away from these areas and move to areas that are dryer.
Identify two important components in the study of Africa's environmental history, one concerning discipline and the other methodology and sources
Two important components include the emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of African environmental history. Archives and written docs and visuals like photography. Multiple kinds of sources make up environmental history.
Discuss Africa as a 'living laboratory with reference to the development of research and science.?
Africa was seen as a living laboratory in the study of nature like plant life, animal life, and human life. Europeans assumed that Africa is a place with no change. This is actually a book that examines the colonial processes which turned the African continent into a laboratory of testing and refining European theories from the 1870s.
Show the relationship between gender and environmentalism in Africa
Women are seen as the custodians of nature bc they are the producers of food. Women assume this responsibility and reproduce the family and community by producing food. The story of water conservation and forest preservation is largely the work of women. One example is the green belt movement in kenya.
How do you describe the impact of colonialism and capitalism on the African social and physical environment?
It was very impactful. There was the creation of new cities, the introduction of ideas and practices of Western modernity through schools and churches, and the reorganization of nature to create these urban settings.
How did 'enlightenment' justify the desire to reorganize the non-Western world
Enlightenment created a conviction in the power of humans and machines to conquer, restore, and restructure nature and human life. Science was used to reorder and rationalize nature to help improve the African condition.
What is 'the commodification of nature as used in the African context?
The commodification of nature is a partial shift to market-based economy which focuses on production of commodities for the global market. Nature was used for profit such as mining. The mechanization and commercialization of African agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, and the construction of railways and road networks fundamentally change the African environment.
Why was cotton often considered as "the mother of poverty" in colonial Africa?
Colonialism brought a shift from food production to cash crop production. The objective was to meet the demands of Europe's textile industries. Cotton became a major cash crop whose production was enforced. Cotton caused havoc, farmers did not get fair price for their cotton and lacked an adequate food supply resulting in the destruction of their farms.
Elaborate on the place of African agency in the development of 'colonial science.'
Africans had agency and made key contributions to the production and circulation of research. They served as assistants, and research collaborators, and worked in the fields collecting data, and in the laboratories doing examinations. Science in colonial Africa was in fact a joint venture to which many from the continent contributed.
