Hope in the Shadow of Unnatural Extinctions | The Royal Society
Why It Matters
Understanding how extinction was conceptualized as both scientific fact and colonial rationale reveals the roots of current biodiversity loss and social injustices, informing more just conservation and restitution policies today.
Summary
Historian Sadiah traces how the modern concept of extinction emerged in the late 18th and 19th centuries, moving from theological beliefs in immutable species to scientific recognition of lost species via fossil research and high-profile contemporary losses. She argues that scientists, colonial officials and writers extended the idea of extinction to human peoples—framing Indigenous populations as inevitably disappearing—which naturalized conquest and underpinned settler-colonial policies. Darwin and other thinkers codified extinction as a ‘natural law’ tied to competition, reinforcing social Darwinist narratives that justified dispossession. Sadiah links these historical threads to present-day biodiversity crises and the ongoing legal and political struggles of Indigenous communities to prove continuity and reclaim land.
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