科技进步与物种厄运:19世纪通信革命与东南亚古塔胶贸易的兴衰

Technological Progress and A Species Doom:The 19th Century Communication Revolution and the Rise and Fall of the Gutta Percha Trade in Southeast Asia

古塔胶是一种产自东南亚密林中的天然橡胶,19世纪被殖民者引入欧洲作为海底电缆绝缘层的标准材料,由此极大地刺激了东南亚古塔胶贸易的发展与繁荣。19世纪通信革命及世纪末的海底电缆铺设高潮,加剧了古塔胶供应的紧张状况,引发对古塔胶的资源恐慌,一定程度上促成古塔胶采集模式的变化。到20世纪初,随着全球海底电缆网络的建成以及无线电通信技术的发展,古塔胶的市场需求开始下降,古塔胶的资源恐慌由此消解。19世纪通信革命主导着东南亚古塔胶贸易的兴衰,从中不仅反映出欧美列强对东南亚殖民地的资源掠夺,也折射出现代科技进步所付出的环境代价。

Gutta percha,a natural gum produced in the dense forests of Southeast Asia,was introduced to Europe by colonists in the 19th century as a standard material for submarine cable insulation,which greatly led to the prosperity of gutta percha trade.The communication revolution and the culmination of submarine cable laying process at the end of the 19th century exacerbated the shortages of supply of gutta percha and even created a resource panic about the gum,which to some extent contributed to the change of gutta percha collection pattern.In the early 20th century,with the completion of the global submarine cable network and the development of wireless communication technology,the market demand for gutta percha began to decline,the resource panic of gutta-perchas was resolved.The 19th century communication revolution dominated the rise and fall of gutta percha trade in Southeast Asia,which not only reflected the resource plundering of Southeast Asian colonies by western powers,but also reflected the environmental costs of modern technological progress.