Resource extraction has historically caused dramatic environmental changes across the globe. Although mining and oil drilling have transformed landscapes and polluted the air and water wherever they have taken place, knowledge of how these environmental transformations have been experienced and lived in different parts of the world remains fragmentary. This special issue seeks to provide new insights into the environmental histories of resource extraction, particularly in the Global South, where extractive industries have intensified markedly since 1950. Inspired by recent environmental history scholarship, we link together analyses of imperialism, capitalism, and environmental inequality in African, Asian, and Latin American localities of resource extraction. Furthermore, drawing on the analytical framework of political ecology, we examine why protests against extractive industries did or did not occur in specific sites. Given the increasing global demand for resources and pressing current-day questions about how to live in the Anthropocene, it is timely to scrutinise production practices, pollution, and protest in global history.

历史上，资源开采在全球范围内造成了巨大的环境变化。尽管采矿和石油钻探已经改变了景观并污染了发生在任何地方的空气和水，但关于这些环境变化如何在世界不同地区经历和生活的知识仍然不完整。本期特刊旨在提供对资源开采的环境历史的新见解，特别是在全球南方，自 1950 年以来，该地区的采掘业显着加强。受近期环境史奖学金的启发，我们将帝国主义、资本主义和环境不平等的分析联系在一起在非洲、亚洲和拉丁美洲的资源开采地区。此外，借鉴政治生态学的分析框架，我们研究了为什么在特定地点发生或没有发生反对采掘业的抗议活动。鉴于全球对资源的需求不断增加，以及当今关于如何在人类世生活的紧迫问题，现在是时候审视全球历史上的生产实践、污染和抗议了。