In recent years, historians have been reconsidering the significance of natural resources, and there has been a growing interest in examining the historical role of natural resource management and policy in shaping some of the key challenges and trends in the modern world. The history of natural resources lies at critical intersections of business, environmental, and political history. Developing historical research on natural resources also provides key opportunities to critically examine histories of race, gender, labor, geopolitics, and imperialism. As our world becomes increasingly reliant on internationalized systems, utilizing business history as a framework through which to examine natural resources is a timely emerging area of historical research with powerful resonance for contemporary issues and strong interdisciplinary potential.
The aim of this panel is to contribute to the analysis of the role and importance of natural resources in the development of the modern world. The papers examine key aspects in the history of natural resources, with a special focus on the role of businesses and the political, cultural, and environmental contexts in which they operated.