Protecting the unique plants and animals that live on Madagascar while fueling economic growth has been a priority for the Malagasy state, international donors, and conservation NGOs since the late 1980s. Forest and Labor in Madagascar shows how poor rural workers who must make a living from the forest balance their needs with the desire of the state to earn foreign revenue from ecotourism and forest-based enterprises. Genese Marie Sodikoff examines how the appreciation and protection of Madagascar's biodiversity depend on manual labor. She exposes the moral dilemmas workers face as both conservation representatives and peasant farmers by pointing to the hidden costs of ecological conservation.

Conservation and development in Madagascar

About the Author

Genese Marie Sodikoff is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rutgers University, Newark. She is editor of The Anthropology of Extinction: Essays on Culture and Species Death (IUP, 2011).

Reviews

Forest and Labor in Madagascar . . . is a worthwhile contribution to [the] growing body of scholarship on the social ramifications of conservation efforts.

* Anthropology of Work Review *

Forest and Labor in Madagascar is ethnographically rich, and anthropologists working in the developing South will recognize much that it covers.

* American Anthropologist *

Those interested in conservation, tropical rainforest ecology, international political economy, and sustainable development will find Forest and Labor in Madagascar an insightful case study.

* Choice *

Throughout the book, it is clear that Sodikoff has both a great knowledge of and a deep respect for the people and the environments of Madagascar. The result is a humane and approachable ethnography that would connect with both undergraduate and graduate students.

* American Ethnologist *

Forest and Labor in Madagascar is a pertinent and well-timed contribution to the growing literature on green neo-liberalism and its consequences at a time when the term 'salvage frontier' is becoming applicable to ever-greater swathes of this planet.

* Journal of Modern African Studies *

Through rich and thick ethnographic description, Forest and Labor in Madagascar delivers what its title promises: providing the reader with a historically informed and detailed overview of the relations between forest conservation and labour dynamics on the Malagasy Island. . . . [F]or those interested in a solid, rich, and detailed ethnography of socio-environmental change and those interested in the politics of nature and broader labour issues in Madagascar, this is an excellent read.

* Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *

Clearly organized and wonderfully written, [this book] provides invaluable insights on how frontline conservation workers shape (or can't) and fit within (or don't) the convoluted workings of global conservation practice.

* Intl Jrnl African Historical Studies *

[Sodikoff] takes her readers on a wonderful tour along the underbelly of conservation work in order to give them a clear understanding of how labour plays out in a political economy ruled mainly by conservation stakeholders.

* Africa *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253005779
Author Genese Marie Sodikoff
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 431g