As globalisation is becoming ever-more prevalent, this threat towards
environmental security can increasingly be considered a concern. From this, one
could argue that race is therefore not as influential of a factor in contemporary
global conflicts when placed against considerable societal sectors such as the
environment. However, while this argument can be considered compelling, it can
be alternatively said that the environmental problems faced today are only
prevalent due to deeper historical and racial origins. Particularly, issues such as
underdevelopment and resource inequality are part of a wider political and
historical context which can link back to colonialism, imperialism and therefore
race.
Colonialism and imperialism are two interconnected principles which can
generally be defined as the ‘extension of political control or rule over the people
of a given territory by a foreign state’ (Bernstein, 2021, p.3). Those who were
impacted by colonialism and imperialism were often held under the act of slavery
and this subsequently caused disempowerment or dispossession by imperial and
racial hierarchies; not only through the artificial borders drawn by colonisers, but
also through the racial hierarchies which influenced global power dynamics (D.
Bolger, personal communication, March 28, 2023).
What can be considered one of the most consequential aspects of colonialism
and imperialism, is underdevelopment due to colonisation. A continent
particularly affected by this is Africa. The partition of Africa by European
colonial powers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created
numerous artificial borders that divided the continent into different colonies
(Bernstein, 2021). During this time, African labour became crucial for the
development of European capital which led to many enslaved Africans being
intrinsically linked to manufacturing and industrial capitalism (Bernstein, 2021,
p.3). This economic exploitation led specifically to Africa itself being largely
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