Lecture 7 - A World of Resources Flashcards
When can be used as a Starting Point for Capitalism?
-Land enclosure (starting in the 12th century) started a revolution of “rich VS poor”; meaning more land into fewer and fewer hands
-This marked a significant transition in the development of the western world
What were the Commons?
-Land held “in common” by peasants
-E.g. woods, meadows, lakes and wild pastures
-A common resource accessible to all who dwelled in a village or area
How did Enclosure affect Britain?
-The “Inclosure Acts” covered enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights for land previously held in common
-Between 1604 and 1914, over 5200 acts were passed, affecting 6.8 million acres
-This arguably improved farming efficiency but destroyed thousands of rural communities in the process
What was the “Tragedy of the Commons”?
-Popular assumption that collective resource management will inevitably fail
-This assumed that commoners wanted to maximise profit?
-Also assumed that a collective of commoners couldn’t co-operate (despite having done so for hundreds of years before hand)
How was Enclosure Exported outside the UK and Europe?
-Settlers in America treated the indigenous as objects to be moved wherever the authorities saw fit
-Indigenous peoples’ ties to the land were severed and neglected by colonialists
-Examples; Spanish slave labour in Inca Silver mines, and oil pipelines across the US and Canada
What is the Difference between Encapsulation and Enclavement?
-Encapsulation = indigenous people are forcibly settled in set-out villages
-Enclavement = indigenous people are forced off their land and increasingly forced into smaller and smaller areas
Describe the Enclosure faced by the Dakota Sioux
-They have lived in Minnesota for thousands of years
-Throughout European settlement, they have been subject to invasion, forced removal and genocide
-Early interactions include those with missionaries and French fur traders
-“Legalised land theft” occurred through treaties from early 19th century onwards
-in 1808, a treaty with only 2 signatures from Dakota elders was used to acquire 100,000 acres
How have the Dakota Sioux suffered from Enclosure?
-They have lost 24 million acres of land, placed on reservations 20 miles wide and 70 long
-In 1862, the Dakota War/ Uprising occurred resulting in one of the largest public hangings ever seen in American history
Describe the Legacy of Disposession
-Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) cuts through many sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
-Them, and allied activists mounted a movement of opposition from 2014-2017
-In the 2022, the US Supreme Court rejected a case by the DAPL operator to avoid a legally mandated environmental review
-Dismissal of Indigenous rights can therefore be seen embedded in the attitudes of US law
