Abstract
Deadline: N/A
Event:
Conference at Strathclyde
University, Glasgow
Event
Date & Location:
4/10
- 4/11/2003; Strathclyde University, Glasgow
Information:
This conference aims for the first time to explore the
history of illicit substances in the colonial context. Chief
among those substances currently prohibited for general
use are opium, cannabis and cocaine. The global traffic
in these substances developed and grew largely as result
of modern western colonialism and indeed each first became
subject to international regulation during the age of empire.
Yet the imperial dimension of the history of these substances
remains relatively neglected.
As
such key questions remain unanswered. Did the colonial experience
of governing societies that used unfamiliar drugs shape
approaches adopted at imperial centres in Britain, Europe
and America? To what extent did imperial diplomacy influence
current laws and treaties? How were perceptions of these
drugs formed in the colonies and how did these perceptions
shape attitudes elsewhere? The conference therefore invites
papers from disciplines such as history, anthropology, political
science, geography, economics etc to consider themes that
include those listed below.
The
conference is keen to include papers from the full range
of colonial encounters in Asia, Africa, the Americas and
Australasia and also to trace impacts in domestic circles
in Britain, Europe and the USA.
Themes
include:
Political:
-The
origins of current international treaties on drugs and narcotics
in the diplomatic politics of empire.
-The origins of national policies on drugs etc. in colonial
and post-colonial anxieties.
-The relationship between metropolitan and colonial state
approaches to drugs and narcotics.
Cultural:
-The formation of attitudes by colonisers towards substances
used by colonized populations.
-The role of colonial medicine and science in generating
information on indigenous drug use.
-The
formulation and representation of data on indigenous drug
use by indigenous groups.
-The transmission of this information from colonial to metropolitan
centres.
Social:
-The
place of narcotic substances in colonised societies.
-The
economics of narcotics production and regulation under colonial
rule.
-Resistance
to colonial government of narcotics.
Submission
Guidelines / Information:
Please submit abstracts of 500 words/requests for information
to:
Dr James Mills
Department of History
University of Strathclyde
McCanceBuilding
16 Richmond St
Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
<jim.mills@strath.ac.uk>
Contact:
Dr James Mills
Department of History
University of Strathclyde
McCanceBuilding
16 Richmond St
Glasgow G1 1XQ, UK
<jim.mills@strath.ac.uk>
