Work

Accumulations and Cascades: Burmese Elephants and the Ecological Impact of British Imperialism

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: What effect did British imperialism in Myanmar have on frogs? And, given that the lives of these small amphibian creatures were rarely ever recorded or preserved in archival collections, how might we find out? Sceptical readers may also wish to take a step back and ask, why should historians even care about their lives? These are unusual questions for a historian to confront, but they are occasioned by the deepening conversation between ecology and history. This paper delves into the ecological impact of colonial rule in Myanmar through the lives of Burmese elephants and the creatures that they lived alongside. In it I argue that the concepts of ‘accumulation’ and ‘cascade’ are useful for enabling historians to apprehend the full extent of the impact of imperialism on the lives of animals.

Source: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society

DOI: 10.1017/s0080440122000044

Author: Jonathan Saha

Institution: Durham University

Language: English

Topic: Geographies of human-animal interactions

Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,255