Tropentag, September 11 - 13, 2024, Vienna "Explore opportunities... for managing natural resources and a better life for all"

Can biodiversity conservation provide a better life for conservation labourers?

Wageningen University and Research, Sociology of Development and Change Group, The Netherlands

Abstract

Political ecologists have convincingly shown that biodiversity conservation is yet another avenue for capitalisms expansion through -for instance- the commodification of wildlife, ecotourism and bioprospecting. Advancing these earlier observations, scholars are beginning to systematically analyse the role of workers in creating surplus value within conservation. Often silent in these analysis, however, is a critical look of how biodiversity conservation exploits workers racial and gender differences to accumulate value. Borrowing from feminist scholars conceptualisation of social reproduction and theorisations of racial capitalism I critically analyse the conditions of waged and unwaged conservation labourers in southern Africa’s conservation landscapes. In doing so, I explore the question: Can biodiversity conservation provide a better life for conservation labourers?

Contact Address: Lerato Thakholi, Wageningen University and Research, Sociology of Development and Change Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands, e-mail: lerato.thakholiwur.nl