Episode 154: The Nature of Empire: Power, Ecology and Knowledge

How the environment has been perceived, valued and manipulated by humans since prehistoric times. But in the last millennium, empires brought something new into the mix — the organization of local knowledge and practices into bureaucratic and military systems that centralized power — and indeed, funded it. We’re joined today by Sumit Guha, a UT professor of history focused on demography and agriculture. Professor Guha is the author of, Ecologies of Empire in South Asia, 1400–1900 , which looks at how the Mughal and British Empires transformed the landscape of the Indian subcontinent — and indeed, how they transformed environmental knowledge itself. It’s a fascinating journey over 500 years that raises plenty of questions for today as humans grapple with climate change, extreme weather and the loss of wilderness.