'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
AcknowledgementsHistory as a Starting Point: Preface to the English EditionIntroductionChapter 1: Deconstructing our Beliefs, (Re)-thinking NatureChapter 2: Turning Africa into Parkland (1850-1960Chapter 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)ConclusionLooking Ahead: AfterwordNotesIndex
Guillaume Blanc is a Lecturer in Contemporary History at Rennes 2 University. He is a junior member of the Institut universitaire de France.