Colonialism and Science
Title | Colonialism and Science PDF eBook |
Author | James E. McClellan III |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | 416 |
Release | 2010-10-15 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0226514684 |
How was the character of science shaped by the colonial experience? In turn, how might we make sense of how science contributed to colonialism? Saint Domingue (now Haiti) was the world’s richest colony in the eighteenth century and home to an active society of science—one of only three in the world, at that time. In this deeply researched and pathbreaking study of the colony, James E. McClellan III first raised his incisive questions about the relationship between science and society that historians of the colonial experience are still grappling with today. Long considered rare, the book is now back in print in an English-language edition, accompanied by a new foreword by Vertus Saint-Louis, a native of Haiti and a widely-acknowledged expert on colonialism. Frequently cited as the crucial starting point in understanding the Haitian revolution, Colonialism and Science will be welcomed by students and scholars alike. “By deftly weaving together imperialism and science in the story of French colonialism, [McClellan] . . . brings to light the history of an almost forgotten colony.”—Journal of Modern History “McClellan has produced an impressive case study offering excellent surveys of Saint Domingue’s colonial history and its history of science.”—Isis
Nature and Empire
Title | Nature and Empire PDF eBook |
Author | Roy M. MacLeod |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 323 |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 9780226500799 |
Surveying Africa, Asia, and the Americas, this important new collection looks at roles of science, medicine, and technology during five centuries of colonialism. This thought-provoking history examines the many intersections of science, politics, and culture during colonialism, including the relation between racism and medical science, "exploration" and its potential for wealth, and the perceived differences between indigenous knowledge and European science. Sixteen chapters focus on such topics as intellectual property rights and biodiversity, "acclimatizing" the world, and science and development. Bringing together contributions from scholars of history and science from around the globe, Nature and Empire forges a new path for readers interested in science and society during the modern era.
Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction
Title | Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction PDF eBook |
Author | John Rieder |
Publisher | Wesleyan University Press |
Total Pages | 201 |
Release | 2013-01-01 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 0819573809 |
This groundbreaking study explores science fiction's complex relationship with colonialism and imperialism. In the first full-length study of the subject, John Rieder argues that the history and ideology of colonialism are crucial components of science fiction's displaced references to history and its engagement in ideological production. With original scholarship and theoretical sophistication, he offers new and innovative readings of both acknowledged classics and rediscovered gems. Rider proposes that the basic texture of much science fiction—in particular its vacillation between fantasies of discovery and visions of disaster—is established by the profound ambivalence that pervades colonial accounts of the exotic “other.” Includes discussion of works by Edwin A. Abbott, Edward Bellamy, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, George Tomkyns Chesney, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, Edmond Hamilton, W. H. Hudson, Richard Jefferies, Henry Kuttner, Alun Llewellyn, Jack London, A. Merritt, Catherine L. Moore, William Morris, Garrett P. Serviss, Mary Shelley, Olaf Stapledon, and H. G. Wells.
Science Studies Meets Colonialism
Title | Science Studies Meets Colonialism PDF eBook |
Author | Amit Prasad |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Total Pages | 126 |
Release | 2022-10-06 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 1509544437 |
The field of science and technology studies has long critiqued the idea that there is such a thing as a universal and singular "Science" that exists independently of human society, interpretation, and action. However, the multiple significant ways in which colonial legacies impact and shape this project have often remained out of sight at the edges of the discipline. In this important book, Amit Prasad seeks to rectify this erasure, demonstrating that problematic idealized imaginaries of science, scientists, and the scientific realm can be traced back to the birth of "modern science" during European colonialism. Such visions of science and technology have undergirded the imagination of the West (and thus of its others), constructing hierarchies of technological innovation and scientific value, but also unexpectedly leaving society vulnerable to contemporary threats of misinformation and conspiracy theories, as has been strikingly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Far from being an indictment of STS, this rigorous book seeks to highlight such concerns to make STS engage more carefully with issues of colonialism and thus to enable readers to understand the rapidly changing global topography of science and technology today and into the future.
Science, Colonialism, and Ireland
Title | Science, Colonialism, and Ireland PDF eBook |
Author | Nicholas Whyte |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 232 |
Release | 1999 |
Genre | History |
ISBN |
This pioneering and accessible study employs a theoretical framework for an understanding of the role of science in Ireland, refuting the assumption that science was an instrument of colonialism.
Social History of Science in Colonial India
Title | Social History of Science in Colonial India PDF eBook |
Author | S. Irfan Habib |
Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
Total Pages | 446 |
Release | 2007 |
Genre | History |
ISBN |
Can science be seen as the flag bearer of the 'civilizing mission' dispelling the darkness of centuries of superstition? Did the installation of new technological systems displace ancient primitive techniques? Rejecting the simplistic notion of transmission of science and technology, this reader argues for a variety of perspectives. Part of the prestigious Themes in Indian History series, it provides an excellent introduction to the world of science and technology in colonial India. Departing from the standard practice of seeing science as a cultural universal, Social History of Science emphasizes the need for redrawing boundaries long taken for granted. It investigates how modern science - considered as a pristine Western cultural import - was reconstituted in the encounter with other ways of knowing and acting on the world. Bringing together some of the finest writings - even rare - on the subject, this volume highlights the multiplicity of historiogaphic positions on colonial science and the changing landscapes for the study of science in South Asia. The contributors approach issues related to science and colonialism from a variety of scientific disciplines. They engage with the drift produced by the entanglement of science and values and the complicity of the scientific project in that of imperialism.
Africa as a Living Laboratory
Title | Africa as a Living Laboratory PDF eBook |
Author | Helen Tilley |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | 520 |
Release | 2011-04-15 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0226803473 |
'Africa as a Living Laboratory' is a study of the relationship between imperialism and scientific expertise - environmental medical, racial and anthropological - in the colonization of British Africa.