Coltan by Michael Nest

Polity Resources Series

by Michael Nest

A decade ago no one except geologists had heard of tantalum or 'coltan' - an obscure mineral that is an essential ingredient in mobile phones and laptops. Then, in 2000, reports began to leak out of of mines deep in the jungle where coltan was extracted in brutal conditions watched over by warlords. The United Nations sent a team to investigate, and its expose of the relationship between violence and the exploitation of coltan and other natural resources contributed to a re-examination of scholarship on the motivations and strategies of armed groups.The politics of coltan encompass rebel militias, transnational corporations, determined activists, Hollywood celebrities, the rise of China, and the latest iGadget. Drawing on Congolese and activist voices, Nest analyses the two issues that define coltan the relationship between coltan and violence in the Congo, and contestation between activists and corporations to reshape the global tantalum supply chain. The way production and trade of coltan is organised creates opportunities for armed groups, but the Congo wars are not solely, or even primarily, about coltan or minerals generally. Nest argues the political significance of coltan lies not in its causal link to violence, but in activists' skillful use of mobile phones as a symbol of how ordinary people and transnational corporations far from Africa are implicated in Congo's coltan industry and therefore its conflict. Nest examines the challenges coltan initiatives face in an activist 'marketplace' crowded with competing justice issues, and identifies lessons from coltan initiatives for the geopolitics of global resources more generally.

Genres: Africa, History, Politics

Paperback

First published April 11, 2011

About the author

Michael Nest is the award-winning author of five books. Mining and war are the themes of the first two. The third, Still a Pygmy, is a collaboration with Congolese activist Isaac Bacirongo – the first Indigenous Twa (Pygmy) to ever publish his memoir. Cold Case North: the search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, is another collaboration: a cold case investigation into the disappearance and alleged murder of two Indigenous activists in Canada in 1967. Take Out the Jocks: a feminist revenge comedy is Michael's first novel. His day job is preventing fraud and corruption. He lives in Montreal, Canada.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This niche mineral that experienced its 15 minutes of fame and price boom in the 2000s, solidified itself as a respectable player in the illegal natural resources trade in Africa. However, Nest provides evidence to support the argument that coltan is not the primary impetus for the Congolese war; rather contested citizenships and weak property rights leading to questions on land ownership are the root causes for violence in the DRC that persists due to a developing (and sometimes, as evidence shows, corrupt) government with a lack of judicial power and ethical enforcement - and the rare minerals trade is funding extraneous players throughout. Ultimately, Coltan politics are just “a minor chapter in a complicated war that was never just about resources” (Nest, 177).

[Eoin Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A desperately depressing look at the broader consequences of unregulated exploitation of valuable mineral resources, through a lens focussed on colombite-tantalum, "coltan", mining in the Congo.

Michael Nest writes well, but most importantly in a book like this, resists the tempation of emotionally manupulative narratives in favour of cool reason. He makes good point about the relatively unremarkable status of coltan as a "conflict mineral" despite the media and legislative focus in the US and EU.

The book is replete with poignant witness testimonies, particularly by women, of life in the troubled regions of the Congo. An assortment of paramilitary groups using mutilations, gangrapes, forced labour, and drugs to maintain bloody control in order to fund idealistic conflicts.

Despite being originally released in 2012, the book regains relevance in light of the surging political unrest and violence in the Congo again in 2018.

Worth a read, if only to bear witness to atrocities that those of us in more peaceful nations rarely have to consider.

[Pedro Tardio Ascarrunz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my mind to such a small thing, one of the key components in smartphones/tablets is causing a huge impact on social/cultural and environmental behavior in specific regions of the globe. This eye-opening lecture will change the sense with which you consume electronic devices and the frequency you change them. There´s a lot to be done and change starts with our own purchasing and disposing habits.