Academic Project Investigates Links Between Milk And Colonialism

A taxpayer-funded project will investigate the connections between "milk and colonialism." According to the Telegraph, the academic endeavour will explore the "political nature of this everyday substance."

Professors will receive funding to examine a museum collection and uncover the "colonial legacies" of dairy.

One of the experts involved has argued that milk is Northern European and a "white supremacist" imposition on other cultures.

This newly announced research is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, a taxpayer-funded organization.

The grant amount has not yet been disclosed.

As part of the project, titled "Milking it: colonialism, heritage & everyday engagement with dairy," academics will study the "milk-related" collections at the History of Science Museum in Oxford.

In a statement, the museum announced the new research, "By focusing on communities intersecting industry, aid and government regulation, the project aims to centre on heritage as a vital framework for understanding how colonial legacies influence contemporary issues and affect people's lives.

“Through milk diaries, archival research and participatory podcasting, it will investigate historical engagement with milk, building networks with consumers and producers in Britain and Kenya.

“The project will question both the imagined and real aspects of milk, revealing the intimate and political nature of this everyday substance.”

The statement further read that the ultimate goal is "to develop new methodologies for investigating our relationship with milk”.

The research will be conducted by Dr. JC Niala, head of research at the History of Science Museum, and Dr. Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp, an associate professor at University College London's Institute of Archaeology.

Dr. Niala has previously explored the "historical and political significance" of dairy, while Dr. Zetterstrom-Sharp has also researched related topics.

In 2022, Dr. Zetterstrom-Sharp participated in a talk titled "Milk and Whiteness," part of a series accompanying a Wellcome Trust exhibition on milk, which addressed issues with the foodstuff that may be included in the new research project.

In the panel discussion, the professor discussed a "Northern European obsession with milk," which has led to the belief that it is a "vital part of any human diet" and should be produced and provided on a large scale.

She argued that this assumption "may be understood as a white supremacist one."

She explained that "Northern European needs and the science and technology developed to address them are considered the most important for global majority populations."

While some populations can digest lactose into adulthood, this trait is most common among white Europeans and North Americans of European descent. Much of the rest of the world has high levels of lactose intolerance.

The Wellcome Collection in 2022 highlighted how colonial powers imposed dairy economies on these regions.

Dr. Zetterstrom-Sharp also pointed out issues with how local milk production in Africa may have been suppressed in favor of industrial methods focused on volume, and how milk is being distributed by aid organizations.