About

Background

At the height of colonial Europe many of the principles, theories, laws and practices that shape the (Western) academic discipline of Earth Science were established. The foundations of the discipline, and the institutions that arose during this time, benefitted from and perpetuated resource extraction, knowledge extraction and was an essential tool for Imperial expansion. We explore the unacknowledged local geological knowledge and labour upon which the foundational institutions of Earth Science are built and how this legacy creates modern-day exploitation, unethical behaviour and inequity in our discipline.

The British Empire sustained a programme of exploratory geological surveys to locate and discover economic mineral resources to industrialise the British Empire. At the end of the First World War, the British government intensified geological surveys in several territories – Uganda, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in 1918, Tanzania in 1925 and Kenya in 1933. Pioneer British geologists were heralded for their survey work and credited with the discovery of economically significant minerals in Africa. But, they relied on the colonial structure to obtain information from Africans central to fieldwork, mineral investigation, and discoveries.

Our archival investigation reveals many mineral resources were already used and mined locally and that local knowledge underpinned these ‘discoveries’. Local people were used as field assistants, guides, carriers, and labourers.

Still, history has omitted the contributions of the Africans involved in these mineral discoveries and the acknowledgement of any local geological knowledge. We argue that it is time to change the narrative from one of discovery to one of exploitation. As a discipline, by reckoning with the colonial legacy of our past, we can seek to normalise working with local knowledge and knowledge outside the boundaries of (western) Earth Science, leading to ethical, equitable, interdisciplinary work, better preparing the discipline for future global challenges.

The colonial legacy of Earth Science is not known or understood by many practitioners of the discipline. Earth Science curricula in the UK typically do not confront the subject’s colonial past, and are taught through a Western-centric lens.The narrative of geology is one that is still a science of extraction – of mineral resources, of rare fossil specimens, of data and knowledge, of frontiers waiting to be explored. The founding and growth of geological institutions during colonialism dictated who was allowed to practise geology; those whose class, gender, race, or disability did not fit were excluded. The UK ‘Fathers of Geology’ feature almost exclusively in historical accounts of the subject while non-western and indigenous scholars and ways of knowing are largely excluded. This adds to the perception of Earth Science as a white, western dominated subject and enhances the hostile environment often cited for the continuing lack of diversity in the discipline. Thus, the legacy of colonialism is perpetuated through current UK Earth Science pedagogy, creating a need to decolonise the curriculum. However, Earth Scientists may lack the academic training, knowledge and interdisciplinary approaches needed to do this. We created a package of open access resources we hope will enable sector-wide recognition, learning, and conversations around the historical legacy of Earth Science and modern inequities.