The relationship between natural resources and conflicts in Africa - Deconstructing Malthus through the Political Ecology approach

Abstract

Ever since Russian armies invaded Ukrainian territory, the word 'war' has once again become part of our daily lives. Yet, far from our eyes, conflicts and humanitarian tragedies have never ceased to inflame parts of the planet. As of 21 March 2022, there are 59 wars that continue to kill and starve millions of people. This dissertation tackles the issue of the relationship between natural resources, population and conflicts in Africa, opposing the two dominant theories to explain environmental crises: neo-Malthusianism and the political ecology. Whether in the name of modernisation or, on the contrary, in the name of preserving the wilderness, natural resources have become the object of government techniques by which, in addition to controlling the territory and its raw materials, it is also intended to dominate the population by controlling its numbers, distribution and socio-economic behaviour. The main objective of this dissertation is to strengthen the interdisciplinary understanding of the nexus between politics, environment and conflict in Africa by engaging different approaches and theoretical, conceptual, and methodological debates in the field of political ecology, environmental history, political economy of resources and conflict studies.