Regular Seminar of the Laboratory of Environmental and Technological History presenting:Tijl Vanneste and "The Struggle for Control over the World’s Diamond Deposits & Mining Labour throughout History"

Diamonds have been mined by enslaved workers in India in ancient times. Later, similar regimes were used to mine diamonds in rivers in Brazil. When diamonds were found in South Africa in 1867, everything changed, as scientists finally understand the underground origins of these precious stones. Production exploded, and new fields were discovered in many sub-Saharan countries, and in the twentieth century also in Canada, Australia and Russia. In his work, he is investigating and comparing the management over time and space of these diamonds fields and the mining and selling that happened there.