The State of Extraction: A Short History of Space and Extractive Industries in Tanzania, 1885 to 2019

Diese Arbeit skizziert die Geschichte des (Gold-)Bergbaus in Tansania von 1885 bis 2019 anhand vier chronologischer Kapitel (Kolonialzeit, 1885-1961; Sozialismus 1961-1885; Liberalisierung, 1885-2015; Neo-extraktivistische Wende, seit 2015). Dabei werden besonders die bisher vernachlässigte Entstehung der Bergbauindustrie während der deutschen Kolonialzeit (bis 1916) sowie die aktuellsten Entwicklungen seit 2015 hervorgehoben. Das zentrale Anliegen dieser Arbeit ist es, Kontinuität, Brüche und Veränderungen in Verräumlichungsprozessen und -praktiken im Verlauf der Zeit herauszuarbeiten und zu zeigen, wie das Handeln und die Interessen verschiedener Akteursgruppen diese prägt.:1. Introduction 2. Extraction and space 3. Capitalist frontiers and extractive enclaves in colonial Tanzania, 1885 -1961 4. To mine or not to mine - The Tanzanian mineral economy after independence and under ujamaa, 1961 -1985 5. 'Foreignization', liberalization and commodity frontiers, 1985 to 2015 6. Tearing down fences, building walls - Tanzania's neo-extractivist turn under Magufuli 7. Conclusion - The state of extraction 8. BibliographyThis study provides an historical overview of the (gold-)mining industry in Tanzania between 1885 and 2019, divided into four periods (colonial occupation, 1885 -1961; the socialist period, 1961-1985; liberalization, 1985-2015), the neo-extractist turn, since 2015). The so far neglected history of mining in Tanganyika under German rule (until 1916) and the most recent developments under President Magufuli since 2015 receive special attention here. At the core, this study seeks to elaborate continuities, junctures and change in practices and processs of spatialization over time and to show, how the agency and interests of certain groups of actors shape them.:1. Introduction 2. Extraction and space 3. Capitalist frontiers and extractive enclaves in colonial Tanzania, 1885 -1961 4. To mine or not to mine - The Tanzanian mineral economy after independence and under ujamaa, 1961 -1985 5. 'Foreignization', liberalization and commodity frontiers, 1985 to 2015 6. Tearing down fences, building walls - Tanzania's neo-extractivist turn under Magufuli 7. Conclusion - The state of extraction 8. Bibliograph

MIGRATION AND FOOD REMITTANCES - A STRATEGY FOR ENSURING HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN NORTH-WESTERN GHANA

The history of labour migration between the northern and southern regions of Ghana has been dominated by movement of migrants from the north to work in mining towns, cash crop growing towns and major government administrative cities in the south. Increasing environmental degradation in northern Ghana in recent decades together with adoption of structural adjustment programs in the country has led to a decline in the agricultural sector, causing a further increase in migration away from the area including the Upper West Region (UWR). A declining mining sector has also led to migration away from mining centres. The receiving areas of these migrants are generally Ghana’s two biggest cities (Accra and Kumasi) and the fertile agricultural lands of the Brong Ahafo Region (BAR). What was a previously seasonal migratory pattern from the north to the south of Ghana has been replaced by a permanent form. Migrants in the BAR engage in food crop cultivation as their main means of livelihood to support their family that travelled with them and those left in their places of origin. Remittance to dependents in UWR from migrants in BAR is increasingly taking place in the form of food. Focus group discussions (n=3) and in-depth interviews with migrant farmers in the BAR (n=27) and their dependents in the UWR (n=20) reveal a strong dependence on these food remittances. Results from analysis of interviews and focus group discussions indicate food remittance from migrant farmers as important in influencing household coping strategies to food shortages in the UWR

Environment, Development and Change in Rural Asia-Pacific

This volume examines the economic, political, social and environmental challenges facing rural communities in the Asia-Pacific region, as global issues intersect with local contexts. Such challenges, from climatic change and volcanic eruption to population growth and violent civil unrest, have stimulated local resilience amongst communities and led to evolving regional institutions and environment management practices, changing social relationships and producing new forms of stratification. Bringing together case studies from across mainland Southeast Asia and the Island Pacific, an expert team of international contributors reveal how communities at the periphery take charge of their lives, champion the virtues of their own local systems of production and consumption, and engage in the complexities of new structures of development that demand a response to the vacillations of global politics, economy and society. Inherent in this is the recognition that 'development' as we have come to know it is far from over. Each chapter emphasizes the growing recognition that ecological and environmental issues are key to any understanding and analysis of structures of sustainable development. Providing diverse multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical perspectives, Environment, Development and Change in Rural Asia-Pacific makes an important contribution to the revitalization of development studies and as such will be essential reading for scholars in the field, as well as those with an interest in Asia-Pacific studies, economic geography and political economy

Global Resource Scarcity

"A common perception of global resource scarcity holds that it is inevitably a catalyst for conflict among nations; yet, paradoxically, incidents of such scarcity underlie some of the most important examples of international cooperation. This volume examines the wider potential for the experience of scarcity to promote cooperation in international relations and diplomacy beyond the traditional bounds of the interests of competitive nation states. The interdisciplinary background of the book’s contributors shifts the focus of the analysis beyond narrow theoretical treatments of international relations and resource diplomacy to broader examinations of the practicalities of cooperation in the context of competition and scarcity. Combining the insights of a range of social scientists with those of experts in the natural and bio-sciences—many of whom work as ‘resource practitioners’ outside the context of universities—the book works through the tensions between ‘thinking/theory’ and ‘doing/practice’, which so often plague the process of social change. These encounters with scarcity draw attention away from the myopic focus on market forces and allocation, and encourage us to recognise more fully the social nature of the tensions and opportunities that are associated with our shared dependence on resources that are not readily accessible to all. The book brings together experts on theorising scarcity and those on the scarcity of specific resources. It begins with a theoretical reframing of both the contested concept of scarcity and the underlying dynamics of resource diplomacy. The authors then outline the current tensions around resource scarcity or degradation and examine existing progress towards cooperative international management of resources. These include food and water scarcity, mineral exploration and exploitation of the oceans. Overall, the contributors propose a more hopeful and positive engagement among the world’s nations as they pursue the economic and social benefits derived from natural resources, while maintaining the ecological processes on which they depend.

Becoming Good Europeans? Globality, the EU and the Potential to Realize Nietzsche\u27s Idea of Europe

This dissertation takes up Friedrich Nietzsche’s notion of ‘good Europeanism’ and his related idea of Europe to show how the former disposition may be cultivated to achieve the latter—a reinvigorated culture on the continent. It does so by applying his vitalist politics and power ontology (will to power hypothesis and theory of decadence) to critique European integration in the broader context of globalization. The analysis enables me to theorize how “healthy” individuals might exploit opportunities in the present to become \u27good Europeans\u27, with the aim of realizing Nietzsche’s quasi-cosmopolitan idea of Europe. It is my primary contention that Nietzsche’s diagnosis of Europe’s ailment remains relevant, as does his strategy, via a radically Dionysian affirmation of life, for overcoming the international order it has spawned. In doing so I utilize Nietzsche’s related perspectivalist epistemological stance and hermeneutical framework to build on Nietzsche\u27s genealogy of morality. This shows the West’s present “slave moral” regime to be a further intensified development of secularized Christian–Platonic values. It arose through the fusing of liberal-optimism (belief in equality, emancipation, enfranchisement, etc.) with modernity’s doctrines of universalism, humanism, secularism, progressivism and rationalism. It also coextends with the positivistic orientation of scientism to transmit a secular faith in truth, and unparadoxically an injurious relativism and cynical worldview. It is through Nietzsche’s vitalist perspectivalism that I understand the psychological-historical origins and current operation of the axiomatic narratives promulgated via the meta-discourse of ultra-liberal-modernity. The same critical framework is applied to a doxagraphical survey of theories of European integration. These theories are understood as differing perspectives conceived within and informed by the same values matrix, and critiqued in chronological order of their appearance to reflect the evolution of the field. Problems of evaluation, indeterminacy and bias, and the form of reasoning privileged by the positivistic orientation conferred by scientism are examined in terms of how they inform the conduct of social science and conceptualizations and uses of fact. Acts of theorizing are understood as indicative of a will-to-truth which can positively augment life or negatively hamper it. I consider how the mainstream of the field has tended to reiterate the ideological presuppositions of ultra-liberal-modernity. Notable exceptions include recent constructivist approaches and discourse analysis critiques. These critical perspectives are productively broadening and potentially subverting the dominant conventions of the field. This raises the possibility that good Europeans may influence the future development of the EU as counter-theorizers of it. The EU is understood as a crucial locus of the globalization complex, a primarily reactive power constellation comprised of myriad institutions, processes and forces. A ressentiment-driven project, the globalization complex functions as an ideological juggernaut to universalize ultra-liberal-modern values. It affectively implements a negative will to nothingness as nihilistic power which culminates in a hyper-decadent condition typified by resignation to its prerogatives. Its values are politically instantiated throughout the world via democratization and hegemonic capital process. I examine the spectacularized existential meanings and simulated ontological purpose provided by the globalization complex. These engage and automatize the masses by means of commercially generated, media promoted desires and an ethos of consumerism. These sustain a philistinic culture of conformity by means of which its ideological proponents, ascetic-consumerist priests of ressentiment, justify and naturalize their authority. Their influence extends a spirit of revenge against life’s radical contingency and temporality. It privileges homogenizing and ossifying modes of being to inhibit authentic becoming. However, the globalization complex cannot contain all the affective capacities its shrinking and simultaneous acceleration of the world generates. The increased interconnectivity between people that it facilitates and the reactive values matrix it imposes give rise to a changed mentality or consciousness. Life in within the globalization complex provides a few with a philosophical education that endows them with a broadened perspective on the differences between human types. They gain a profound appreciation of the need for the divergent worldviews that distinguish disparate cultures—forms of life imperiled by conventional globalization. This nurtures a reflective, historical consciousness and an acceptance of difference (entwined with their love of fate) that augments their emerging sense of globality and occasionally manifests itself in ways that escape capture. Among a few, globality fosters the skeptical-ironic disposition toward truth claims and craftiness characteristic of ‘good Europeans’. Such iconoclastic individuals may creatively challenge the legitimacy of ultra-liberal-modern values, their distinctive striving symptomatic of a positive will to creative destruction as generative power and authentic becoming-other. To foster the development of the skeptical-ironic disposition, or Weltironie, of good Europeanism I suggest a six-fold skeptical praxis. This is based on the classical Pyrrhonean skeptical notions of akatalepsia (recognition of the impossibility of certain knowledge), epoche (the suspension of belief due to the contingency of truth), ataraxia (the ancient skeptic and stoic doctrine of disciplined withdrawal toward becoming what one is), apangelia (an avowal not involving a commitment to truth or falsity), adoxastos (the disciplined effort to avoid forming convictions and feigning agreement with prevailing value standards when necessary, which corresponds with the strategic use of masks), and finally, from the ancient cynics, the concept of parrhesia (fearless speech in mocking ascetic values). These practices support the necessary perspectivalist stance toward all truth claims to radically affirm the chaos of becoming. The adherents of such an anti-essentialist discipline revel in the fundamental contingency of life. According to Nietzsche’s vision, I consider how ‘good Europeans’ might achieve their aims in light of the prevailing values of our globalizing world. Acting as comedians of ascetic ideals they engage in kynical acts that may utilize the new technologies and enhanced communications provided by science and industry (key components of the globalization complex), to lampoon the anti-human decadence and nihilism of our age. Their inherently political mockery of the prevailing social discourses arouses the passion of other healthy types. They are spurred to similarly creative experiments and life-affirming acts of defiance, and the ethos of ‘good Europeanism’ gradually spreads, thereby. Through their striving such ‘good Europeans’ (who, in our globalizing age, may appear in any geographical locale) become capable of recognizing and exploiting unanticipated, abstract potentials of globality. Afflicted with the decadence of our age, they are not the Übermenschen Nietzsche anticipated, but prevenient to them. More likely to be perceived as buffoons than as great leaders, they are neither conventional revolutionaries nor “improvers of humankind”; they endeavor to discredit the ultra-liberal-modern order instantiated through the globalization complex. By prompting it to reactively assert its prerogatives and intensify itself, they make its contradictoriness, antagonistic impetus and hostility to difference more apparent. However gradually, this will erode its legitimacy, as good Europeans exploit its vulnerabilities. According to Nietzsche’s vision, I consider the ways in which ‘good Europeans’ would likely employ the democratic, egalitarian and populist sensibilities of the globalized masses, and how the EU could be hijacked to augment their aim. This could include the crafty use of human rights, artificial intelligence and bio-engineering to hasten our enervated epoch to its expiration. Efforts to challenge the reigning ascetic-consumerist ideals are conditioning the possibility for the appearance of Übermenschlich individuals to (nomothetically) legislate an agonistic socio-political milieu predicated on a natural rank order of types. It is the hope of ‘good Europeans’ that such Übermenschen will one day inaugurate a transhuman future and create a higher culture for the flourishing of greatness that secondarily edifies the multitude with the meaning and purpose great works provide. I conclude that if humankind succeeds in transfiguring itself through the going-down of our ultra-liberal-modern epoch (the most pervasive and decadent socio-political order in recorded history) these Übermenschen, the progeny of contemporary ‘good Europeans’, will focus on the rehabilitation of the environment and preservation of the earth

Development, Capitalists and Extractive Rent: Class Struggles in Venezuela and Ecuador

Through a relational class perspective, this dissertation compares the evolution of the development models in Venezuela and Ecuador since the 1970s to better understand the significance of the recent turn to the left. Based on field research in both countries comprising extensive interviews with representatives of social movements and business interest groups, it studies the main class organizations, their struggles, and their relation with the state in order to shed light on the dynamics of change in the development models pursued in each country, and the role that extractive rent plays within them. While governments associated with the pink tide in Venezuela and Ecuador were not elected under similar economic contexts, they faced comparable political conditions. In particular, both countries faced situations where class struggle adopted a particular form as popular classes lost their coordination, and the capitalist classes had significant influence over the state. In response to the challenge these conditions represented, left governments attempted to increase the capacity of the state to act with more autonomy through the adoption of new constitutions and the reassertion of state ownership over extractive resources to pursue a rent-based social-developmental model. This involved the use of extractive rent for redistributive measures and as a leverage to foster economic diversification. A comparative perspective on social classes shows how a united capitalist class in Venezuela, adopting a confrontational stance, pushed the state to rely increasingly on its role as a dispenser of rent. By contrast, a regionally divided capitalist class in Ecuador reacted less combatively, and led the Ecuadorian state to follow a social-developmental model more supportive of private initiative for economic diversification. In both cases, however, the governments put in place strategies aimed at gaining control over the responses of the popular sector. As opposed to discussions of populism, focusing on the irrational relationship between the leader and its followers, or approaches that focus on categorizing different kinds of left governments, or even perspectives that stress the determining role of natural resources, this dissertation analyzes class struggles as a crucial factor to understanding the transformation of the state and of the development model it pursues