Geography, Race and Empire: Histories and Legacies

Overview

The history of European imperialism is firmly back on the cultural agenda. The murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd in May 2020 supercharged already heated and urgent debates about racial inequality across the world and about its roots in the past. As a consequence, the legacies of European imperialism have come under renewed and intense scrutiny. Slavery, land grabs, resource extraction and the violent destruction and oppression of indigenous lives and cultures were justified using spurious but powerful accounts of racial difference in ways that have left deeply troubling legacies. This module will use episodes in the making of modern geographical knowledge to explore the complex and troubling connections between imperial ambitions and practices, deeply engrained forms of scientific and cultural racism and the creation of geography as a modern way of knowing the world. It will also address how the history of geography and its lingering legacies might be re-thought and decolonised in pursuit of racial justice.

Learning Objectives

After completing the module, the students will:
- Better appreciate the complex entanglements between modern forms of imperialism, racism and racial inequality.
- Be equipped to critically appraise the morally troubled histories and legacies of modern geographical thought.
- Be proficient in new ways of assessing, critiquing and decolonising the histories and legacies of empire and racial thinking as manifest in the history of modern geography.

Skills

- Independent learning
- Analytical and synoptic thinking
- Critical interpretation
- Ethical appraisal
- Imaginative insight
- Identifying, retrieving, sorting and presenting ideas and information
- Constructing clear, accessible and compelling arguments, written and oral
- Time planning and coursework management
- Teamwork

Assessment

Essay 60%
Group Presentation 40%