Ecologizing regions; securing food: governing scarcity, population and territory in British East and Southern Africa

Abstract

The focus is on the government of food systems in British East and Southern Africa in the mid-twentieth century, and the influence of ecological science on late colonial governmentality. The aim is to contribute to current debates emphasizing the need to uncover the political and historical specificities of territory, as well as to broaden the concept beyond its legal, political-economic and strategic features, and the bounded scale of the nation-state. This work is part of ‘Governing Food Systems to Alleviate Poverty in Secondary Cities in Africa’ project supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Department for International Development