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Colonial Invasion and Environmental Degradation in Wangari Maathai's Unbowed: A Memoir

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2023

Garima Rawat  and
Vivek Kumar Gaurav
Garima Rawat*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
Vivek Kumar Gaurav
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
*
Corresponding author. Email: garimarawat2302@gmail.com
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Abstract

The consequences of colonization have been linked to dehumanizing effects on a given people, but they can also be linked to a discourse that favors “depletion” of natural resources as their “utilization.” This article examines colonization as a subtle process of cultural devastation and ecological hegemony in the light of the memoir Unbowed by the late Nobel laureate from Africa, Wangari Maathai. 1Apart from framing the entire discussion with regard to the impact of colonization on environmental degradation, it also provides a glimpse into Maathai's life and works. We have attempted to analyze her thoughts and the efforts shared in her autobiography regarding the conservation of nature and natural resources, from her experiences stretching from the colonial to the postcolonial era.

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Hypatia , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , Spring 2023 , pp. 405 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hypatia, a Nonprofit Corporation

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Footnotes

1

Two East African writers have now won the Nobel Prize; the first of these of course is Maathai herself (the Peace Prize citation acknowledged her memoir). 2021 brought the literature prize to Abdulrazak Gurnah.

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