Devin Smart

“Extractive Capitalism” will use the concept of extractivism to investigate the changing relationship between the economy and the natural world since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Extractivism refers to the ways that modern economies drive the mass extraction of natural resources, and students will study the political, socio-economic and environmental consequences of this process. Specifically, the course will examine fossil fuels and the worlds they have created, starting with how coal formed the basis of post-1800 industrial societies. Then, students will move to the petroleum age, considering how this new form of energy transformed the world. Along the way, students will learn about other extractive industries, as well as global inequalities shaped by colonialism, decolonization and the role of power in the world economy. The course concludes with a focus on extractivism and more recent globalization, and their connection to climate change.

View Vagner Benedito's lecture recording at the link below.