Beyond colonial shackles: a study of paradoxical thought and preservation

Abstract

Natural resources, though previously much abused, faced unprecedented demands following the economic revolution that 'began' in Europe in the late-18th century. Science, hitherto on the fringes of economic activity, became, by the late-19th and early-20th centuries, an indispensable tool of many of these new resource-hungry industries. With the expansion of capital and subsequent widespread colonialism, the environmental effects of this revolution were felt in all corners of the globe. New Zealand was one of many countries to experience widespread environmental destruction, including heavy habitat and species losses. Despite these dramatic changes, 'preservationist' ideas regarding New Zealand's indigenous flora and fauna were slow to develop. Nevertheless, by the mid-1890s three island reserve/sanctuaries had been created, ostensibly for the purpose of preserving and protecting rare and endangered native birds. Perhaps surprisingly, local scientists had been generally slow to support this idea, which had its origins with Thomas Potts in the 1860s. In this context Ross Galbreath's model of 'colonial science' provides a useful basis for understanding the relationship between the scientific community and 'preservationist' ideas in late-19th century New Zealand. The period immediately following (up until about 1930) has been described as one of 'scientific reform', whereby science, state and industry were, to some degree, integrated for the first time in New Zealand's history. While undoubtedly benefitting from increased investment (particularly from the State), scientists of this period were also being compromised by the ideological assumptions that drove the reform. These assumptions (which were primarily economic ones) were essentially at odds with 'preservationist' ideas, with respect to New Zealand's native flora and fauna. Scientists, Leonard Cockayne and G.M. Thomson as both, prominent advocates of the reform process, and ardent 'conservationists', provide interesting case studies, regarding this fundamental contradiction. The development of 'preservationist' ideas in late-19th and early-20th century New Zealand, and the paradoxical relationship of the local scientific community to these ideas, have major implications in a modern, global context. Among other things, concepts about 'preservation' and scientific and economic paradigms need rethinking if we are to resolve the long-running, and environmentally destructive, paradoxes of the past. This study seeks to gather together many historical threads, in order to present a complex argument that challenges misconceptions from the past and assumptions about the future.