Join the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies International on Wednesday 26th April 10.45am – 4.45pm (CET) for this free online event exploring the theme of environmentalism through a nineteenth century lens.
Extinction, industrialisation, resource extraction, colonial expansion, environmentalism, land reformulation, capitalism — these entangled areas, and their impact on the human and more-than-human world, loomed large in nineteenth-century imaginations across cultures, as they continue to do in our own. It was an era in which coal became cheaply and readily available, emergent tropical medicine blended with prejudicial theories in the colonies to respond to biological threats, the concept of ‘the Land’ destabilised agricultural identity, and extinction narratives were being reimagined for their place in the museum. These issues pervaded science, technology, industry, literature, art, politics, and quotidian life to inform diverse cultural responses: whether through ridiculing woolly mammoth preservationists in the periodical press, or defending natural resources for Nation and Empire through the Royal Agricultural Society.
This online workshop, hosted by CNCSI, features a series of multidisciplinary talks by an international cast of academic experts exploring nineteenth-century engagements with and theorisations of the environment — from the origins of fossil fuel’s entrenchment in today’s societies, to emergent conceptualisations of environmentalism, and to the legacy and relevance of these engagements and ideas to today’s climate crisis. Please note all times are Central European Time (CET).
Register Here and find the Full Programme here.
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