Colonialism and Environment in India Comparative Perspective Jacques Pouchepadass AIthough colonial rule throughout the world was accompanied and supported by exploitation of forests and environmental destruction, independence has not put a stop anywhere to these processes. Rather, the disruption of the relationship between local societies and their natural resource bases has continued in the worldwide movement towards modernisation. Instead of contrasting this situation with a mythical golden age of equilibrium between society and nature, what is needed is a radical critique of capitalist expansionism, of which the colonisation of nature has been one of the major objectives.
