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Shaping Natural History and Settler Society

Mary Elizabeth Barber and the Nineteenth-Century Cape

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Explores the intertwined relationship between science, gender and settler colonialism in the nineteenth century
  • Reconstructs the neglected history of Mary Elizabeth Barber’s scientific work in South Africa, shining light on the work of an important woman naturalist
  • Contributes to growing research on the involvement of the South in global knowledge networks and the role of knowledge production in colonial dispossession

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (CIPCSS)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiv
  2. Introduction

    • Tanja Hammel
    Pages 1-36Open Access
  3. African Experts and Science in the Cape

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37
    2. African Farmers and Medicinal Plant Experts

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 39-74Open Access
    3. African Naturalists, Collectors and Taxidermists

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 75-99Open Access
  4. From Providing Data to Forging New Practices and Theories

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101
    2. Gender, Class and Competition

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 103-146Open Access
    3. Proving and Circulating the Theory of Natural Selection

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 147-185Open Access
  5. Negotiating Belonging Through Science

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 221-221
    2. Colonial Legacies in Post-Colonial Collections

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 311-334Open Access
    3. ‘The fragments that are left behind’

      • Tanja Hammel
      Pages 335-345Open Access
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 347-360

About this book

This book explores the life and work of Mary Elizabeth Barber, a British-born settler scientist who lived in the Cape during the nineteenth century. It provides a lens into a range of subjects within the history of knowledge and science, gender and social history, postcolonial, critical heritage and archival studies. The book examines the international importance of the life and works of a marginalized scientist, the instrumentalisation of science to settlers' political concerns and reveals the pivotal but largely silenced contribution of indigenous African experts. Including a variety of material, visual and textual sources, this study explores how these artefacts are archived and displayed in museums and critically analyses their content and silences. The book traces Barber’s legacy across three continents in collections and archives, offering insights into the politics of memory and history-making. At the same time, it forges a nuanced argument, incorporating study of the North and South, the history of science and social history, and the past and the present.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of History, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Tanja Hammel

About the author

Tanja Hammel works in the History Department at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Her PhD dissertation, on which this monograph is based, received the annual faculty award for the humanities at the University of Basel in 2018.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Shaping Natural History and Settler Society

  • Book Subtitle: Mary Elizabeth Barber and the Nineteenth-Century Cape

  • Authors: Tanja Hammel

  • Series Title: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22639-8

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22638-1Published: 24 August 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22641-1Published: 25 August 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-22639-8Published: 23 August 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2635-1633

  • Series E-ISSN: 2635-1641

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIV, 360

  • Number of Illustrations: 18 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: History of Science, Imperialism and Colonialism, History of Sub-Saharan Africa, Gender and Sexuality

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 31.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access