Tessa Szyszkowitz in conversation with Sophie Roberts
A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR ELEPHANTS
Colonialism, its Enduring Legacies and what we got to do
with it
Inspired by Sophy Roberts' latest book A Training School for
Elephants, this public discussion examines the history of
European colonialism through the lens of nineteenth-century
imperial expansion and its far-reaching consequences. Asian
elephants were taken to Africa in the 19th century for a supposed
training school, but in reality were used for exploitation. How
much were colonial projects driven by ideas of conquest,
scientific curiosity, economic exploitation, and cultural
domination? They certainly shaped not only the lives of colonized
peoples but also the natural world.
Points raised in the discussion will be how colonialism
transformed societies, displaced communities, extracted
resources, and influenced the collection of knowledge, animals,
and cultural objects and how the ways in which these historical
processes continue to resonate today in global inequalities,
museum collections, environmental challenges, and ongoing debates
about historical responsibility, restitution, and remembrance.
Sophy Roberts, a British award-winning author
and journalist specializing in literary nonfiction, travel,
history, conservation, and cultural storytelling. She is known
for immersive reporting from remote and historically significant
regions around the world. Sophy Roberts studied at Oxford and
Columbia University in New York and has written for publications
including “The Guardian”, “The Economist” and “Financial Times
Weekend”. Her first book, “Sibiriens vergessene Klaviere”, was
published by Zsolnay in 2020.
Moderation: Tessa Szyszkowitz, author and
journalist for the Austrian weekly Falter and others.
Distinguished Fellow at Royal United Services Institute in London
(RUSI)
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