Sunil Amrith On ‘The Burning Earth’ And The Unequal Costs Of Environmental Destruction

Su il
Am ith
is
the
Re u
a d
A a d
Dhawa
P ofesso
of
Histo y
at
Yale
U ive sity
with
a
seco da y
appoi tme t
as
p ofesso
at
the
Yale
School
of
the
E vi o me t.
He
se ves
as
Di ecto
of
the
Macmilla
Ce t e
fo
I te atio al
a d
A ea
Studies
a d
Yale’s
Vice
P ovost
fo
I te atio al
Affai s.
He
has
eceived
the
2016
I fosys
P ize
i
Huma ities,
a
2017
MacA thu
Fellowship,
a d
the
2025
Toy bee
P ize
i
Global
Histo y,
amo g
othe s.
He
has
autho ed
five
books
that
put
Asia
at
the
hea t
of
global
histo y.
I
this
co ve satio ,
he
discusses
his
book,
‘The
Bu i g
Ea th’.

Exce pts
f om
the
i te view.Q:
Why
did
you
feel
this
book
eeded
to
be
w itte ?A:
It
was
a
comi g
togethe
of
my
academic
life
a d
the
est
of
my
life.
Fo
close
to
20
yea s,
I
had
bee
esea chi g
some
of
the
themes
that
do
make
it
i to
‘The
Bu i g
Ea th’.
I’ve
pa ticula ly
bee
i te ested
i
the
elatio ship
betwee
mig atio ,
the
moveme t
of
people
a d
e vi o me tal
cha ge.
So
I
w ote
a
book
mo e
tha
10
yea s
ago
called
‘C ossi g
the
Bay
of
Be gal’,
which
I
thi k
was
my
fi st
fo ay
i to
e vi o me tal
histo y,
i
which
I
was
eally
thi ki g
about
the
e o mous
moveme t
of
people,
pa ticula ly
f om
Tamil
Nadu,
to
southeast
Asia
i
the
19th
a d
20th
ce tu y,
ma y
of
them
to
wo k
o
ubbe
pla tatio s,
but
also
to
wo k
i
po t
cities,
places
like
Si gapo e
a d
Pe a g
a d
Ra goo ,
a d
u de sta di g
that
that
was
actually
a
mome t
of
fu dame tal
t a sfo matio
i
the
e vi o me t…
At
the
same
time,
as
a
teache ,
but
also
as
a
pa e t,
as
a
citize ,
the
climate
c isis
became
quite
u avoidable
i
my
ow
co scious ess.
A d
so
fo
me,
that
p ompted
me
to
scale
thi gs
up
beyo d
my
a eas
of
specialisatio
towa ds
pe haps
the
biggest
questio ,
which
is
how
did
we
get
to
this
poi t
of
pla eta y
c isis?
A d
that’s
eally
what’s
at
the
hea t
of
‘The
Bu i g
Ea th’.Q:
You
also
b i g
i
a
ki d
of
sto ytelli g
which
positio s
itself
i
diffe e t
geog aphies
as
if
to
say,
the
i he ited
a atives
of
Eu oce t ic
histo ies
a e
ot
what
we’ e
goi g
to
look
at.

A:
If
the
questio
is
what
is
it
about
my
ow
pe spective
that
may
make
this
book
a
little
bit
diffe e t
f om
some
of
the
othe
books
out
the e
o
this
big
theme
of
the
e vi o me t,
it
is
the
fact
that
my
ow
t ai i g
is
ot
i
Eu opea
a d
No th
Ame ica
histo y.
A d
I
thi k
most
of
what
is
called
global
histo y
co ti ues
to
take
as
its
sta ti g
poi t
a d
as
its
default,
a
ki d
of
familia
No th
Atla tic
histo y.
A d
so
by
sta ti g
the
book
i
Chi a
a d
e di g
it
i
I do esia,
I
was
eally
t yi g
to
w ite
it
a cho ed
i
Asia…
Asia
has
always
bee
home
to
the
majo ity
of
huma ity.
It
still
is
today.
A d
so
it
seemed
to
me
completely
fitti g
to
eally
thi k
about
the
histo y
of
this
pla et
with
a
fi m
a cho
i
the
pa t
of
the
wo ld,
the
pa t
of
the
pla et
which
has
bee
the
most
i habited
by
most
people
th oughout
the
lo gest
pe iod
of
time.Q:
How
do
you
b i g
i
a
methodology
which
e su es
that
what
you’ e
positio i g
a d
p ese ti g
ca
be
as
accu ate
as
possible?

A:
That’s
the
biggest
challe ge
of
a
book
like
this.
The e’s
o
possibility
that
I
ca
have
the
p ima y
expe tise
i
all
of
these
a eas
that
I
w ite
about
i
the
book.
A d
so
i
some
ways
that
was
a
leap
that
I
took.
Academia
is
a
collective
e te p ise.
A d
this
is
ve y
much
a
book
that
builds
o
my
ow
wo k
i
some
a eas.
A d
i
othe
a eas,
it’s
eally
so t
of
b i gi g
togethe
my
eadi g
i
multiple
fields
of
schola ship
a d
diffe e t
discipli es
as
well.
So
I’m
a
histo ia ,
but
some
of
the
most
exciti g
ew
schola ship
which
I
d aw
o
a d
i te p et
is
actually
comi g
f om
the
physical
scie ces.The e’s
some
phe ome ally
i te esti g
wo k
i
paleoclimatology,
fo
example,
which
is
t yi g
to
eco st uct
past
climates
usi g
ice
co es,
usi g
lake
bed
sedime t,
usi g
t ee
i gs.
A d
of
cou se,
these
discipli es
t aditio ally
a d
eve
still
withi
the
walls
of
the
u ive sity
ba ely
meet.
But
what’s
bee
ve y
i te esti g
about
ece t
wo k
o
climate
a d
e vi o me t
i
pa ticula ,
is
you
have
this
fo ci g
togethe
of
completely
diffe e t
ideas
of
what
the
a chive
is.Q:
You
use
the
wo d
‘elite’
a
few
times
whe
you’ e
talki g
about
social
st atificatio
fo
a
ve y
specific
eco omic
g owth
touted
as
well-bei g
of
a
commu ity,
but
usually
you
see
it
as
exploitative.

A:
I
do ‘t
use
the
wo d
that
ma y
times,
but
whe
I
do,
I
thi k
it’s
doi g
a
lot
of
wo k
fo
me.
‘The
Bu i g
Ea th’
is
ot
a
activist
book,
which
is
to
say
that
it
is
just
that
bit
muddie
a d
less
clea
about
the
villai s
of
the
piece
tha
activist
w iti g
ecessa ily
has
to
be.
A d
yet
the e
is
such
a
st o g
co e
i
my
ow
thi ki g
of
awa e ess
of
just
how
sta k
e vi o me tal
i equalities
a e
a d
just
how
much
the
scale
of
pla eta y
dest uctio
that
has
bee
achieved
ove
the
last
two
ce tu ies
has
bee
disp opo tio ately,
ot
exclusively,
but
disp opo tio ately
d ive
by
the
elite
pu suit
of
luxu ies
a d
of
accumulatio …
The e
is
a
sto y
of
huma
eed
i
this
book
a d
the e’s
also
a
sto y
of
huma
g eed…
I
thi k
we
eed
to
thi k
about
desi e,
we
eed
to
thi k
about
states,
we
eed
to
thi k
about
libe atio ,
we
eed
to
thi k
about
the
ge ui ely
libe ato y
p omises
that
led
to
some
of
this
e vi o me tal
dest uctio
which
ca ‘t
be
educed
to
a
questio
of
g eed
o
eve
of
capitalism…The e’s
o
questio
that
the
social
a d
eco omic
system
that
has
bee
a
d ivi g
fo ce
i
the
climate
c isis
is
the
capitalist
system.
But
the
socialist
system
i
some
se se
was
eve
mo e
e vi o me tally
p ofligate
a d
wasteful.
It
was
just
less
successful.
A d
so
i
te ms
of
its
lo gevity,
i
te ms
of
the
scale
o
which
it
was
ope ati g,
it
ki d
of
does ‘t
compa e
with
what
a
pa ticula
capitalist
mode
of
p oductio
does
to
ou
ability
to
t eat
all
of
atu e
as
commodity
a d
to
lead
to
this
ki d
of
co sta tly
expa di g
f o tie
of
p oductio .

But
my
questio
is
eally
a
diffe e t
o e,
which
is,
whe e
we e
the
alte atives?
Who
was
thi ki g
diffe e tly?Q:
You
poi t
out
that
the e
a e
these
athe
ho ific
i cide ts
which
a e
almost
ge ocidal.

A:
I
thi k
that’s
o e
of
the
key
a atives
i
the
book
to
show
that
the
mome ts
of
the
most
i te sive
a d
accele ated
e vi o me tal
dest uctio
ove
the
last
seve al
hu d ed
yea s
have
almost
always
go e
togethe
with
mome ts
of
i te se
viole ce.
A d
viole ce
is
at
the
co e
of
‘The
Bu i g
Ea th’.
Not
just
viole ce
agai st
the
ea th
o
agai st
atu e,
but
agai st
othe
people…
Wa s
that
a e
goi g
o
all
a ou d
us
i
the
wo ld
today
a e
pa t
of
a
ve y
lo g
patte
whe e
a med
viole ce
a d
milita ism
a d
milita y
dest uctio
have
bee
i ext icably
bou d
with
massive
e vi o me tal
dest uctio .

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