Wednesday 07-05-2025 - 14:23

 

 

Have you ever considered how decolonisation and decarbonisation are interlinked in our own city?

 

 

LUSU Green decided to find out more by collaborating with Decolonising Lancaster University on the Global Walk. Dr Sunita Abraham and Dr Chris Donaldson highlighted Lancaster’s historic connections to global stories and events by providing new perspectives and insights into local Lancastrian landmarks.

In particular, they were able to highlight Lancaster’s significant role in transatlantic slavery and how this continues to exacerbate social and environmental injustices. Modern slavery, structural inequalities and excessive consumption of products in the Global North, all continue to exacerbate colonial legacies associated with unfair systems and practices, and the exploitation of individuals in the Global South.

Why does this History matter today?

The long-term impacts of colonisation continue to shape our environment. For example, in Jamaica, vast natural habitats were destroyed to make way for sugar plantations during the time of transatlantic slavery - leaving the island more vulnerable to natural disasters like hurricanes. The slavery business generated wealth for colonial elites and impoverished ethnic minorities. Today, modern forms of extraction, such as deep-sea mining for rare metals used in electric vehicles and smartphones, echo patterns of neocolonialism under the guise of green technology. Check out this article on deep sea mining in Papua New Guinea.

Meanwhile, climate injustice remains stark. The world’s richest 1% are responsible for more than twice the carbon emissions of the poorest 50%, revealing the deep inequalities embedded in our global systems.

 

Some Key locations in Lancaster:

The Customs House: At this customs house Lancaster merchants invested in the transatlantic slavery through trading in enslaved people and raw commodities. Today this is Lancaster’s Maritime Museum which has an exhibition on transatlantic slavery.

‘Captured Africans’ Memorial: On the banks of the Lune this is the first sculpted quayside memorial to victims of the transatlantic slave trade in Britian. It offers a powerful reminder of the human cost of colonial exploitation.

Lancaster Priory: A historical building which reflects Lancaster’s social history and has memorials to many merchants and people in positions of power who had direct and indirect links to transatlantic slavery. It also includes the memorial to Frances Elizabeth Johnson -the Black servant of the Satterthwaite family who hailed from the island of St Kitts in the Caribbean.

Photos by Dr Sunita Abraham.

 

The cool role of the RSPB in Lancaster!

Did you know that one of the founders of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was born in Lancaster? In 1889, Emily Williamson launched a campaign against the fashion industry’s use of feathers from endangered birds such as little egrets, great crested grebes, and birds of paradise - species that were being driven to the brink of extinction. Many of the ‘exotic’ feathers that featured in the campaign had colonial links as they came from countries that were linked to Empire. Her activism laid the foundation for one of the UK’s most influential conservation organisations.

Missed out? No need to fear!

You can do a self-guided walking tour here: THE GLOCAL LANCASTER HISTORY TOUR – Decolonising Lancaster University.

It’s an eye-opening journey through Lancaster’s streets that reminds us of Lancaster’s horrifying past which continues to be seen today through our buildings.