The Battle of Materials: Commodity “Research and Propaganda” and the Road Towards Immoderate Consumption, 1900-1980

The research project by historian Dr. Moritz von Brescius examines the origins of the excessive consumption of resources in the 20th century using the example of tropical and synthetic rubber in their constant competition with other commodities. The project uses the industrial “Battle of Materials” as a perspective to trace the emergence of a momentous mindset: the invention of the supposed “underconsumption” of raw materials in the 20th century. The work traces the rise and power of the research and development (R&D) complex and examines how private commodity producers, governments, corporations, research institutes and marketing experts in Europe, the US and its colonies sought new applications and markets for raw materials - especially in times of economic crisis and overproduction. The work shows how various actors promoted rubber as a versatile material, contributing to material path dependencies, a surge in resource overexploitation, and the “Great Acceleration” of human impacts on global environments in the 20th century.