Hinterlands of Extraction, Climate Change, and South African Energy Companies

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter uses the concept of the hinterland to put scholarship on climate imperialism in conversation with contemporary climate change considerations, specifically focused on South African energy companies and their operations in Africa. Two areas are surveyed: first, the intertwined histories of climate and imperialism are discussed in relation to the notion of hermeneutic injustice. Second, the spheres of influence of two South African energy companies, Eskom and Sasol, are briefly considered to demonstrate some climate change considerations of post-apartheid expansion of South African corporations and to illustrate the importance of new approaches to thinking through the afterlives of climate imperialism.