Political Regulation of Natural Resources 1870-2010, Global Experiences

Dette prosjektet analyserer hvordan ulike land og internasjonale institusjoner har regulert naturressurser mellom 1870 og 2010. Våre undersøkelser omfatter regulering av land, mineraler, skog og vannkraft i Skandinavia, Australia og Amerika på 1800 og tidlig 1900-tall til ressurspolitikken i kolonier i britisk Afrika og Ny Caledonia til ressurspolitikk i nyere tid i Norge, Amerika, Russland, Zambia, Nigeria og Ghana. Dette er den første globale og komparative historiske studien av fremveksten av reguleringen av naturressurser. I 2019 publiserte vi antologien "The political economy of natural resources, an international and comparative history 1870-2010" på University of British Columbia Press. Prosjektet finansierer et PhD- og et postdocstipend. PhD-avhandlingen handler om myndighetenes reguleringen av kobberindustrien i Zambia i tiden omkring uavhengigheten. Postdoc-prosjektet gir en syntese av utviklingen av minerallovgivning i verden i tidsrommet 1850-1939, med spesielt hensyn på statens mulighet til å sikre ressursrente og føre ressursnasjonalistisk politikk.

Økt forståelse for hvordan naturressursenes politiske økonomi har vært viktig for fremveksten av den moderne kapitalismen.

The project examines how countries and international bodies have regulated natural resources and how states have avoided the so-called "resource curse". It is based on the scholarly curiosity, expertise and networks of the economic history and the Africanist sections of the Department of Historical Studies (IHS) at NTNU. We will identify key characteristics of the main historical types of resource regulation, and how these types have varied across geographic regions. By examining and comparing a number of carefully selected case studies covering 140 years and bringing together experiences in more successful regimes and less successful regimes, the project will elucidate how underdevelopment traps were avoided, as well as how successful regimes were established and then maintained over long time periods. We will focus on contingent historical situations involving institutional change, ranging chronologically from mineral and hydropower regulation in Scandinavia, Australia and the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th century, colonial resource policy in British West Africa and New Caledonia, to the contemporary oil policies in Norway, the Americas, Russia, Nigeria and Ghana. These experiences will also be analyzed against the project's study of the evolution of multilateral agreements and UN policies on resource development. It examines how changing international regimes have affected nation states as well as indigenous peoples. This is the first comparative research project on the the historical development of national as well as international regulatory systems. The project will thus enhance our understanding of the challenges, as well as potential for policy improvements, in resource-rich and resource-stricken countries.