John B. LOURDUSAMY and Tiago SARAIVA, interviewed by Gonçalo SANTOS and Jun ZHANG on 13/August/2024

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Dr. Lourdusamy and Dr. Saraiva present their recently published book, Moving Crops and the Scales of History, speaking on behalf of a larger collective of authors that includes also Francesca Bray and Barbara Hahn. The episode begins with a discussion of key concepts such as the “cropscape” and the “scales of history,” showing how these concepts challenge stereotypical understandings of historical processes, breaking open traditional historical structures of period, geography and direction and revealing the significance of previously invisible actors and forces. Significant attention is given to the process of book composition. The authors provide unique insights on the process of writing and the criteria that were used to select crops and stories. We also learn that some crops and stories were left out of the book and the reasons why such crops and stories were not included. Finally, the authors explain how they came together as a collective and discuss the virtues and challenges of the pioneering collaborative model of writing developed in the book.

FEATURED AUTHORS

John B. LOURDUSAMY is an Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Tiago SARAIVA is a Full Professor of History at Drexel University, co-editor of the journal History and Technology, and a member of the new Cambridge History of Technology editorial team.

BOOK WEBSITE

Francesca Bray, Barbara Hahn, John B. Lourdusamy and Tiago Saraiva. 2024. Moving Crops and the Scales of History. Yale University Press (Yale Agrarian Studies Series).

Awarded the Edelstein Prize 2024 by the Society for the History of Technology and the Bentley Book Prize 2024 by the World History Association

Lin ZHANG, interviewed by Joseph BOSCO on 13 December 2023

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Dr. Zhang discusses the definition of the “entrepreneur” and why it is important. She also discusses why the idea that entrepreneurship would decrease inequality has become so popular in among PRC leaders. The author also explains the significance of her three cases, and elaborates on the life course of one of the interviewees. She also talks about the tension between seeing entrepreneurship as culturally important and avoiding cultural essentialism.

FEATURED AUTHOR

Dr. Lin ZHANG, author of the book The Labor of Reinvention: Entrepreneurship in the New Chinese Digital Economy, published in 2023 by Columbia University Press. Dr. Zhang earned a PhD in Communication at the University of Southern California, and is currently an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the University of New Hampshire, focusing on critical innovation studies, knowledge and digital labor, and intersectionality.

AUTHOR WEBSITE

University website: https://cola.unh.edu/person/lin-zhang

Personal website: https://linzhangweb.org/

Stevan HARRELL, interviewed by Loretta Ieng-tak LOU on 9/December/2023

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

This episode features a conversation with Stevan Harrell about his recent masterful overview of China's environmental processes from the twentieth century to the present. The author discusses how the ‘ecological history’ approach differs from more conventional approaches to environmental history. The conversation then touches on two of the many topics covered in the book, food and population, to illustrate the value of approaching the past through the concepts and frameworks of systems ecology. A variety of food-related topics are discussed, from the early struggles to feed China’s population, to the recent effects of meatier diets on China’s agriculture and feed imports, to alternative food movements among China’s urbanites worried about food security. Finally, China’s current population crisis and demographic decline are considered from an ecological perspective and taking into account the trade-offs between economic development and ecological resilience. This episode provides a brief introduction to a book that has been hailed as a “tour de force” and as “essential reading for anyone seeking to better understand China’s environmental predicament.”

FEATURED AUTHOR

Stevan HARRELL taught anthropology, China Studies, and environmental studies at the University of Washington from 1974 to 2017. He conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Sanxia, Taiwan beginning in 1970 and in Panzhihua Municipality (from 1988), Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (from 1993), and Jiuzhaigou National Park (2005), all in Sichuan. His current project is a history of agricultural change in Whatcom County, Washington.

AUTHOR WEBSITE: http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/

BOOK’S OFFICIAL WEBPAGE: https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295751696/an-ecological-history-of-modern-china/