"Hey, weren't they the good guys?" - a critical look into conservation in Africa
African Parks is considered a success story in nature conservation. The NGO has taken over full authority from the state in more than twenty African protected areas, controlling an area the size of Britain. But is its conservation model — involving mostly white management, backed by a military approach — still relevant today? After his prize-winning research into Heineken in Africa, journalist Olivier van Beemen once again comes up with a revealing and well-written book, Im Namen der Tiere. He conducted research for more than three years, spoke to almost three hundred sources and traveled to six countries. He was not deterred by four days of imprisonment and an accusation of espionage in Benin, followed by deportation, nor by the persistent resistance or the threat of a multimillion euro claim from African Parks itself.
„Im Namen der Tiere“ ist ein wichtiges Buch (...) Die Ergebnisse seiner mühseligen Recherchen präsentiert van Beemen in Form eines gut erzählten Pageturners. Jan-Niklas Kniewel (Universität Bern), Süddeutsche Zeitung
The event will take place in English with short readings from the book in German.
Olivier van Beemen is an investigative journalist based in Amsterdam. He writes for Follow the Money and De Groene Amsterdammer. For his research on the beer company Heineken, he won the Tegel, the most prestigious award in Dutch journalism. His previous book Heineken in Africa was published in five languages and earned nominations for several prizes in the Netherlands, France and the UK. His articles have been published in international media such as The Guardian, Le Monde and The Continent.
Lerato Thakholi is an assistant professor in the Sociology of Development and Change Group, Wageningen University and Research. Her research investigates the historical development of property rights in land and environmental resources and how this has evolved in tandem with shifts in labour regimes. Empirically, she studies this in southern Africa using ethnographic and archival methods which enable her to critically analyse the impacts of conservation land use on rural landscapes and waged and unwaged workers. Theoretically, she is inspired by critical geographers and thus begins her work from the premise that capital produces spaces and labour regimes that are integral for its expansion and intensification. Themes that are central to her work include: racial capitalism, spatial justice, property and social reproduction.
