Forest and Labor in Madagascar From Colonial Concession to Global Biosphere [Paperback]

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 Madagascars 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.

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.Forest and Labor in Madagascar . . . is a worthwhile contribution to [the] growing body of scholarship on the social ramifications of conservation efforts.[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.Clearly organized and wonderfully written, [this book] provides invaluable insights on how frontline conservation workers shape (or cant) and fit within (or dont) the convoluted workings of global conservation practice.Brings a whole new angle and nuance to the crucial debates over conservation and development. Applicable not just to lush, humid eastern Madagascar, but all around the globe.

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).

Acknowledgments
A Word on the Orlc*