"Militarization and the Environment"
David Biggs, Assistant Professor of History, U.C. Riverside

Most histories of wars in Vietnam and elsewhere describe key political decisions or decisive military events while the historically, spatially and materially complex processes of militarization have remained largely unexamined. The steady spread of military bases and zones around much of the world in the twentieth and twenty-first century suggests that we should consider militarization's long-term environmental and social effects. Past military engagements such as the American intervention in Vietnam offer important case studies for better understanding militarization because many relevant historical materials and some of the sites are now accessible. This talk examines theoretical questions raised by the study of militarization processes involving environmental and spatial phenomena, and it issues related to military and other archives. It centers on ongoing study of former American bases in central Vietnam.

David Biggs is an assistant professor of Southeast Asian and environmental history at the University of California at Riverside and is currently a Fellow in the History of Science and Technology of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. His essays have appeared in such journals as The Journal of Vietnamese Studies (2009), Technology and Culture (2008), and Environmental History (2005) as well as several edited volumes. His forthcoming book, Quagmire: Nation Building and Nature in the Mekong Delta (University of Washington) examines the interconnected roles that the delta's hydraulic environment played in Vietnam's colonial and post-colonial struggles.

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