Description
Book SynopsisThe story begins with a dream – the dream of Africa. Virgin forests, majestic mountains surrounded by savannas, vast plains punctuated with the rhythms of animal life where lions, elephants and giraffes reign as lords of nature, far from civilization – all of us carry such images in our heads, imagining Africa as a timeless Eden untouched by the ravages of modernity.
But this Africa has never existed. The more we destroy nature here, the more we fantasize about it in Africa. Along with UNESCO, the WWF and other organizations, we convince ourselves that the African national parks are protecting the last vestiges of a world once untouched and wild. In reality, argues Guillaume Blanc, these organizations are responsible for naturalizing large tracts of the African continent, turning territories into parks and forcibly evicting thousands of people from the lands where they have lived for centuries. Making use of archives and oral histories, Blanc investigates this battle for a phantom Africa and the contradictory claims of nations who destroy nature at home while believing that they are protecting the natural world abroad. In so doing, they enact a new type of colonialism: green colonialism.
Trade Review‘Blanc has created a masterpiece in contrasts that has much to teach us about nature conservation, “sustainable development”, power and equity on a global scale. This book deserves a spot on the shelves of every major library, a large number of policymakers’ desks and the bedside tables of many ordinary folks interested in Africa, nature conservation, social justice or the sustainable development of our planet.’
Diana K. Davis, author of The Arid Lands: History, Power, Knowledge
‘Guillaume Blanc, with passion as well as thorough research, pushes his readers to think anew about the relationship between humans and animals in Africa. This book is both a valuable contribution to environmental history and an argument that needs to be taken seriously about the misconceptions that often shape international interventions in that continent.’
Frederick Cooper, author of Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present
“Blistering”
The Financial Times
“Absorbing”
The Daily Maverick
“[A] book that will challenge much of what the reader understands about conservation.”
Sally Hayden, The Irish Times
“The book challenges some otherwise comfortably held opinions, and is, at times, a harrowing and often controversial read. Recommended.”
Morning Star
“a searing critique of wildlife conservation in Africa”
The Inquisitive Biologist
“Scathing.”
Foreign Affairs
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
History as a Starting Point: Preface to the English Edition
Introduction
Chapter 1: Deconstructing our Beliefs, (Re)-thinking Nature
Chapter 2: Turning Africa into Parkland (1850-1960
Chapter 3: A Special Project for Africa (1960-1965)
Chapter 4: The Expert and the Emperor (1965-1970)
Chapter 5: Violence Below the Surface of Nature (1970-1978)
Chapter 6: The Sustainable Development Trap (1978-1996)
Chapter 7: The Fiction of the Community Approach (1996-2009)
Chapter 8: The Roots of Injustice (2009-2019)
Conclusion
Looking Ahead: Afterword
Notes
Index
