COLONIZATION AS A SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

Abstract

Colonization is not just spoiling virgin landscapes or conquering and annihilating indigenous peoples. In fact, it implies a clash of two cultures, of two modes of living and of two ways of being part of ecosystems. Geological and biological particularities of the American continent had their imprint on its food range leaving there certain gaps which led to serious demographic and social consequences. In contrast to the indigenous population, colonizers had all the necessary crop plants and domestic animals making it possible to turn American ecosystems into full replicas of European agrocenoses. Transplanted on the American soil, European agriculture paved the way for mass migration there of Europeans who brought with them a complex socio-political structure and European institutions. As a result of this influx of migrants Indians got to know not only commodity-money relations but also numerous infectious diseases of theOld Worldwhich triggered off deep ecological and social transformations. Diverging Indian and European concepts of proper soil exploitation and the biological success in theNew Worldof the suitcase biota resulted in the Indian dominated American ecosystems giving way to the European versions of agrocenoses dominated by Europeans. Under such conditions the traditional way of life of the Indians and the way they used to interact with ecosystems was no longer viable.