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Examining the history of tobacco farming in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe, Elijah Doro outlines the impacts left on landscapes, communities and people. Drawing from environmental history and political economy, Doro illuminates debates about colonialism, conservationism and sustainability.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Global perspectives and local narratives: a socio-environmental history of pioneer tobacco farming in Southern Rhodesia, 1893-1945; 2. The post-war tobacco boom and the development of conservationism in Southern Rhodesia, 1947-1960; 3. A silenced spring? Exploring Africa's 'Rachel Carson moment': A socio-environmental history of the pesticides in tobacco production in Southern Rhodesia, 1945-1980; 4. Beyond agency: The African peasantry, the state and tobacco in Southern Rhodesia, 1900-1980; 5. 'The threat of soil erosion is far more permanent than the threat of sanctions': The unilateral declaration of independence, war, and ecological change in tobacco farming landscapes in Southern Rhodesia, 1960-1980; 6. Tobacco control discourses and the tobacco industry in Southern Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, 1953-2020; Conclusion.
About the author
Elijah Doro is a research fellow at the University of Agder and an environmental historian with an interest in southern Africa. His research on agrarian and environmental histories is inspired by his personal experiences growing up in Zimbabwe's tobacco-farming countryside and participating in the tobacco production economy.
