BLST 212 Fueling the Green Energy Revolution: The New Scramble for Africa
From rubber to cobalt, the wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to power global industry. At the expense of the lives and dignity of millions of Congolese under the brutal rule of King Leopold, the Congo produced the rubber to power the First Industrial Revolution. Nearly five generations later, the violent extraction processes continue in order to fuel the Green Energy Revolution.
Today, the Congo possesses an estimated $24 trillion dollars in coveted natural resources yet 75% percent of its population lives on less than $2 a day. Owing to its resource wealth, the country remains a perennial outpost of natural resource extraction to the western world, locked in the colonial logic of plunder that many suppose the world has left behind. The Congo (along with references to a few other countries in central Africa) will offer students a test case for a deep analysis of Africa's pivotal role in the Green Energy Revolution. Through reading historical scholarship and viewing documentaries, this course aims to develop student awareness of how advancements in information technology, artificial intelligence and a renewable energy economy are driving the “New Scramble for Africa.” At the same time, this "scramble" complicates mainstream assumptions about the end of colonization, modern restrictions on forced labor, and technology' role in expanding democracy. Students interested in environmentalism, the history of technology, political science, diplomacy and world affairs will especially benefit from this course.