Review Of Jim Igoe 'Conservation And Globalization'

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Recommended: Economic issues of a developing country

Introduction “Conservation and Globalization” written by Jim Igoe looks at issues brought upon by westerners such as not only enclosing lands belonging to the Maasai, but also installing their beliefs of economics and cultural construction brought on by private conservative companies in East Africa, more specifically Tanzania. Issues that are explained is the regulation of land that Maasai call home. Westerners did so by creating national parks, Maasai Mara, Amboseli Reserve, and Tarangire National Park. Igoe explains in the first chapter in his book of how the Maasai lived. Before colonialism, conservation, and regulation, the Maasai were pastoralist and had herds of cattle. Now the Maasai are struggling to keep their herding traditions and are forced into subsistence farming (Igoe 2004: 5). The Maasai believe that when God created Earth, they were entitled to all cattle on Earth. This leads to the Maasai to take cattle by force from other ethnic groups surrounding them. Conservation and Globalization are mentioned throughout the book. Westerners use these ideas to run the Maasai out of their homeland and lock them out of their grazing lands. The idea of these indigenous people couldn’t appreciate this land and didn’t know how to fully use their resources are heavily racist. Colonist believed that Maasai did not deserve these herds of cattle or live on land that they did not know how to use. Igoe explains how the Maasai control their resources and how they understand their environment. “Because Africans did not appreciate the beauty of nature, the therefore had no right to be in that nature. Nature was therefore set aside for the enjoyment of Europeans.” (Igoe 2004: 71) This idea is discussed thoroughly in the book Fortress Conse... ... middle of paper ... ...iously owned by the Maasai economically using tourism as the major draw. They have driven the Maasai out of a pastoral life and forced them into joining the system so to speak where they have modernized the Maasai to everyday people living in villages and not have to worry about them getting in the way of their interests. They’re only interest is making money for themselves without any regard for their actions that impact the local population. After reading the book I liked how it was very easy to read academically without having to hear all kinds of complicated jargon. Are the Maasai being soaked in by globalization and urbanization of Tanzania and becoming just a normal citizen at a rapid rate? How many Maasai still live a complete Pastoral life and how long do they have until preservation encloses their lands and exploit the resources that belonged to the Maasai?

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