From Plumes to Ostriches – A Trans-Imperial History of the Ostrich Industry, 1860-1918 (working title)
With the imperial expansion of European empires, their rule applied not only to the communities living in the colonies but also to the land itself and its nature, flora and fauna. In this context of colonial occupation, economic exploitation of humans and nature alike was a prime objective to imperial powers. This dominance was not given a priori upon arrival – it had to be constantly fought for and can be analyzed as a phenomenon set out by the actions and reactions of various actors.
In the late 19th century, plumes of the African ostrich became a popular luxury commodity exported mainly from South Africa to the ‚Western world‘. The history of trading the feathers of the African ostrich has so far largely overlooked the animal itself. By approaching this topic through concepts of Human-Animal-Studies and methodology from Actor-Network-Theory, my research seeks to shift the perspective from an economic history of imperial trade to the history of human-animal entanglement. I am interested in the trans-imperial circulation and transfer of knowledge and people within the competitive and volatile ostrich industry. My case study tries to look closer at diverse settings of human/non-human encounters by expanding the concept of agency. Through this methodological approach, interactions between the human and the non-human are to be brought to light.
