Anthropology seminar Inimkond presents: Dr Bram Büscher, Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam

The speaker of this "Inimkond" seminar is Dr Bram Büscher from Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam, who will be talking at 6 p.m. about Getting rich while saving nature? The politics of 'neoliberal conservation' (in conjunction with Studia Generalia).

Neoliberal conservation, the idea and practice of 'saving' nature through its submission to capital and its subsequent revaluation in capitalist terms, has fast become the dominant mode of biodiversity conservation worldwide. Yet the politics that enabled this process is little understood. Based on extensive ethnographic field research in Southern Africa, I argue that three modes of politics are especially important in understanding contemporary neoliberal conservation: those of consensus, anti-politics and marketing. The presentation empirically illustrates these modes and shows how planners and managers employ and so help to reinforce them. The conclusion outlines some ideas on how these modes of politics could be employed for more progressive ends.