Frozen empires : an environmental history of the Antarctic peninsula

305 Pages·2017·6.229 MB·English

by  Howkins, Adrian

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Frozen Empires
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FROZEN
EMPIRES
An Environmental History
of the Antarctic Peninsula
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ADRIAN HOWKINS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Howkins, Adrian, author.
Title: Frozen empires : an environmental history of the Antarctic Peninsula /
Adrian Howkins.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016021511 (print) | LCCN 2016036779 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190249144 (hardcover : acid-free paper) | ISBN 9780190249151 (Updf) |
ISBN 9780190249168 (Epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Antarctica—Environmental conditions. |
Antarctica—International status. | Antarctica—History. |
Geopolitics—Antarctica.
Classification: LCC GE160.A6 H68 2017 (print) | LCC GE160.A6 (ebook) |
DDC 998.9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016021511
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Portions of chapter five have previously been published in Howkins, Adrian. “Defending Polar Empire:
Opposition to India’s Proposal to Raise the ‘Antarctic Question’ at the United Nations in 1956.” Polar
Record 44, no. 1 (2008): 35–44. Copyright © 2008, Cambridge University Press.
Portions of the conclusion have previously been published in Howkins, Adrian. “Melting Empires?
Climate Change and Politics in Antarctica since the International Geophysical Year.” Osiris 26,
no. 1 (2011): 180- 97. Copyright © 2011, The University of Chicago Press.
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For Mum and Dad
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Contents
Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction: Frozen Empires  1
1. An Imperial Environment  23
2. Environmental Nationalism  59
3. An Environmental History of Decolonization  83
4. Perón’s Antarctic Dream  110
5. Antarctic Détente  130
6. Preserving Power  167
Conclusion: Melting Empires?  194
Notes  211
Bibliography  263
Index  277
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Acknowledgments
When I crossed the Atlantic to start graduate school at the University
of Texas at Austin, I was thinking about writing a dissertation on the history
of British relations with Mexico in the second half of the nineteenth cen-
tury. During a summer of research in Mexico City, my plans changed quite
dramatically. Not only did I shift the chronological focus forward into the
twentieth century, but I also moved the geographical location southward
just about as far as it is possible to go. I would continue studying British
relations with Latin America, but instead of researching informal empire
in Mexico, my dissertation would investigate the history of the Antarctic
Peninsula region and what Argentines and Chileans believed was a formal
British claim to their respective national territories. My Antarctic epiphany
happened midway through my research trip, and I spent the rest of the sum-
mer scouring Mexican libraries for books and articles about the southern
continent.
I will always remember the conversation I had with my dissertation
supervisor, Roger Louis, when I returned from Mexico with the news that
I wanted to study Antarctic history. Barely missing a beat, we got straight into
a discussion of the books I would have to read and archives I would have to
visit to write about the history of the Antarctic sovereignty dispute among
Britain, Argentina, and Chile. Professor Louis’s open- minded acceptance of
my new dissertation topic was just one of many ways that he helped me to
develop as a historian. He taught me the value of thorough archival research
and wide reading, the importance of collegiality, and the need to have a crit-
ical openness to new ideas. Throughout my time in Texas, the weekly British
Studies Seminar provided intellectual stimulation and academic commu-
nity. My invitation to participate in the inaugural National History Center
Decolonization Seminar in Washington, DC in 2008 provided many of the
ideas that shaped my thinking about the history of the Antarctic Peninsula