SRSAI · Sowing and Reaping the Seeds of American Influence
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-09-01 → 2023-08-31
- EU contribution
- €184,708
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Sowing and Reaping the Seeds of American Influence
As a historically based project, SRSAI aimed to address several problems rooted in the past as well as their relationship to the present and future. The main research at the center of SRSAI revolved around the idea, implementation, and results of large-scale Douglas fir seeding in Western Europe, a program developed by American groups and individuals in conjunction with colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic, after the First World War. It sought to further understandings of how environmental projects intersected with international relations in the early twentieth century, why Americans took steps to help rebuild Europe’s forest resources, why they chose the specific species for this work, and what the long-term consequences of this program were. This research offers many benefits for society. Firstly, it offers a historical account for understanding why the Douglas fir now comprises the most common non-native conifer in the forests of Europe (excluding the United Kingdom). Secondly, it demonstrates the costs and benefits of utilizing non-native species for large-scale reforestation projects. Thirdly, it provides a useful case study in international and transnational collaboration in environmental policy, a timely subject in the age of our global climate catastrophe. And finally, it calls attention to the importance of the environmental dimensions of postwar reconstruction projects, a subject that deserves increased attention as the international community continues to ponder the future of Ukraine and its sustainability needs in the years ahead. The overall objectives for this project are manifold. Intellectually, these objectives have been to recontextualize the First World War and its aftermath through the lenses of the environment and sustainability; to challenge traditional understandings of when, where, how, and why Americans intervened in Europe and, more broadly, around the globe in the twentieth century; and to provide a framework for integrating histories of the environment and international relations. Socially, these objectives have been to increase awareness of the long-standing—and evolving—importance of forests to humanity and to draw attention to the environmental dimensions of international affairs. Professionally, these objectives have been to further my academic career and to collect enough research material for several articles and a monograph.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Just over a century ago, Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees in Europe were confined to a handful of botanical gardens; today, they cover more than 800,000 hectares of European soil, making them the second most common non-native tree species on the continent. Large-scale diffusion of this North American species across Europe began in the late 1910s and early 1920s, carrying enormous implications not only for European ecosystems but also for the continent’s political economy and environmental practices. This happened by design, not chance; behind this massive ecological transformation was an American-led plan to exert new forms of influence over the Old World. SRSAI aims to test the hypothesis that the mass transfer of Douglas fir seeds from the U.S. to Europe carried social, political, cultural, economic, and ecological implications for the restructuring of the world order in the early twentieth century. The Great War disrupted Europe’s wood supplies. Americans stepped in to replenish the continent’s forests, reshaping local landscapes and political economies in a way that advanced a U.S.-centric agenda. Importantly, SRSAI brings together histories of international relations and the environment to reveal new insights for both by connecting war, transatlantic exchange, forestry, and the rise of the U.S. as a global power.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- FONDATION NATIONALE DES SCIENCES POLITIQUES · ParisCoordinatorFrance
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union