"Originally published in French as L'invention du colonialisme vert. Pour en finir avec le mythe de l'eden africain. Preface de Francʹois-Xavier Fauvelle ℗♭ Flammarion, Paris, 2020"--Title page verso. Edition statement from page vii. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
8. The Roots of Injustice (2009-2019). 2. Turning Africa into Parkland (1850-1960) -- 3. A Special Project for Africa (1960-1965) -- 4. The Expert and the Emperor (1965-1970) -- 5. Violence Below the Surface of Nature (1970-1978) -- 6. The Sustainable Development Trap (1978-1996) -- 7. The Fiction of the Community Approach (1996-2009) -- 8. The Roots of Injustice (2009-2019).
Summary:
"The 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."-- Back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.