Letters of Gold: Enabling Primitive Accumulation through Neoliberal Conservation

Abstract: In Capital I, Marx wrote that the history of the separation of the producers from the means of production “is written in the annals of mankind in letters of blood and fire” (Marx, 1976: 875). This ‘so-called primitive accumu

Nature on the Move: The Value and Circulation of Liquid Nature and the Emergence of Fictitious Conservation

__Abstract__ A rich body of literature investigates the many ways in which nature is impacted upon and transformed by the “endless accumulation of capital.” Much less attention has been reserved for understanding how capitalist actors increasingly aim to profit from the non-extractive use of nature. While recognized as important, the theorization of conservation as a capitalist project has only just commenced in earnest. The paper contributes to this effort by positing that the commodities created through capitalist conservation, so-called “environmental services,” constitute a type of capital that challenges dominant (Marxist) ideas about the links between value, production and nature. Most importantly, this new type of capital, which I call “liquid nature,” necessitates rethinking the relations between circulation and production in contemporary capitalism and how the emphasis in the creation of value is shifting from the latter to the former. Two indications of this shift are seen as key in enabling liquid nature, nam

Seeking Telos in the ‘Transfrontier’: Neoliberalism and the Transcending of Community Conservation in Southern Africa

In Southern Africa the last ten years have seen a rather dramatic shift in donor and state interest and funding from 'community conservation' to 'transfrontier conservation'. The new trend broadens the aim of conservation - development interventions to also include interstate cooperation. The article critically analyzes this development within a wider shift in neoliberal politics. It is argued that this broader shift helped create the right 'enabling environment' for the transfrontier conservation discourse to be presented as an all-embracing and unifying ideological 'model of meaning'. Moreover, underlying neoliberalism's contemporary political conduct is a strong reassertion and the actual neoliberalisation of the state. It is this move that has truly enabled the 'transfrontier' to revive the telos of conservation in Southern Africa

Inverted Commons: Africa’s Nature in the Global Imagination.

Nature in Africa has long occupied a special place in the global imagination: the prevailing images associated with the continent are of a “wild Eden,” of rugged, “pristine” landscapes, and of some of the world’s most charismatic “megafauna” (elephants, gorillas, rhinos, etc.) (Adams and McShane 1996). Indeed, whereas references to Africa’s people are often negative and associated with war, poverty, and famine (Dowden 2008), Africa’s nature is habitually framed in positive terms: nature as it “should be,” “unspoiled” and “pure.” Thus, when the famous Virgin millionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson asks the question “What is Africa?” there seems to be no irony in his answer, “Africa is its animals. That is the beauty of Africa, that’s what makes it different from the rest of the world. And to lose those animals would be catastrophic.” Branson lays the blame for “dwindling wildlife numbers” squarely on “Africa’s increasing (human) populations,” and argues that Africa should “increase the amount of land for the animals and by increasing the amount of land for the animals, that will hel

Groen-rechts werkt niet

Het nieuwe ‘groen-rechtse’ plan van de VVD is geheel in lijn met de neoliberale politiek die het milieu niet ten goede komt

The nuances of development

Book review of: David Mosse (2005) Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice. Pluto Press

Whims of the Winds of Time? Emerging Trends in Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Area Management

This article reviews narratives and trends in biodiversity conservation and protected area (PA) manage

Editorial: Towards an effective commons governance system in Southern Africa?

This special feature presents several papers generated under the EUfunded ‘Cross Sectoral Commons Governance in Southern Africa’ (CROSCOG) project. The feature builds on knowledge generated in case studies which explored existing integrated resource knowledge and governance practices of rural people living in Southern African commons. In earlier generations, especially during the pre-colonial periods, most Southern African societies developed quite effective indigenous institutions for the management of entire landscapes and their component ecosystems, when this was in their interest. Few of these integrated Southern African systems are effective today as they have gone through massive changes, for example due to colonial influences, the increased role of the market and/or conflicts over use and access to natural resources. Meanwhile, most efforts to rebuild or affirm (the management of) the commons through various initiatives, have been specific to certain resources or localised areas. Conversely, the smaller number of ecosystem-wide land use planning initiatives that sought to enhance overall environmental health have been dominated by technical, antipolitical approaches that failed to understood the differential roles of resources in the spectrum of local livelihoods, and failed to achieve the required broader reinforcement of local governance. This introduction and the papers it introduces explore opportunities and challenges with respect to integrating scale – landscapes, ecosystems, and governing systems – into the local commons

Guidelines for negotiating social research in communities living adjacent to transboundary protected areas: Kruger National Park

The objective with these Guidelines is to assist local people and social researchers to negotiate equitable research agreements. This document lays out the purpose of the guidelines, provides some background information about the process that led to this document, and provides some general principles and practical guidelines for social research in local communities. The Guidelines have their origins in a long process of consultation, discussion and exchange between social researchers and local people, which took place in South Africa over a period of three years (2005-2008). It draws on the substantial experience of people living adjacent to the Kruger National Park with research and researchers; also on the collective experience of the informal network of researchers that participated in the development of the guidelines. Local people have experienced research in positive and negative ways. Some communities in the area adjacent to the Kruger National Park can justifiably feel over-exposed to researchers, while others feel that opportunities and insights potentially generated by research passes them by. Yet even these often feel that some guidelines are required to avoid duplication and negative engagement. Important is to mention that the engagement between social researchers and communities is not a matter of these two groups alone. Many facilitating, structurating stakeholders such as NGOs, parastatals conservation organisations and government organisations, are important influencing players in this engagement. Therefore, while the guidelines focus specifically on researcher-community interactions, these other players should not be forgotten and should themselves be aware of their effects in these interactions. The guidelines outline opportunities and constraints that arise when local people and social researchers engage one another. The guidelines are not prescriptive, but raise issues and suggest ways in which these can be dealt with