Christoph Vogel Book order

In the twenty-first century, the relationship between violent conflict and natural resources has become a matter of intense public and academic debate. As a result of fervent activism and international campaigning, the flagship case of 'conflict minerals' has captured global attention. This term groups together the artisanal tin, tantalum (coltan), tungsten and gold originating from war zones in Central Africa. Known as 'digital minerals' for their use in high-end technology, their exploitation and trade has been singled out in numerous media and United Nations reports as a key driver of violence, provoking an unprecedented popular outcry and prompting transnational efforts to promote 'conflict-free', ethical mining. Focusing on the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Conflict Minerals, Inc. is the first comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon. Based on meticulous investigation and long-term fieldwork, this book analyses why the campaign against 'unethical' mining went awry, and radically disrupted eastern Congo's political economy. It dissects the evolution of the conflict minerals paradigm, the policy responses it triggered and their impact on artisanal miners. Vogel demonstrates how Western advocacy and policy have relied on colonial frames to drive change, and how White Saviourism perpetuates structural violence and inequality across global supply and value chains.

Nowadays, humanitarians find themselves constantly challenged by adverse conditions and questioned about their instrumentalisation through international stakeholders and local powerbrokers. Economic aspects such as the so-called ”contract fever” and increasing convergence of humanitarian and political action have become common to almost all contemporary humanitarian emergencies. Aid organisations have multiplied in terms of financial and human resources, political weight and in numbers of single organisations. Thus the question emerges: Why is their action still characterised by a considerable degree of nonfulfillment concerning set targets and failure in providing substantial relief to populations affected by catastrophes? Employing the concepts of institutional economics of aid, state failure, and war economy, Christoph Vogel contributes to the current discourse on the role of humanitarian aid in violent conflict and unveils the above presented phenomena by analysing humanitarian aid in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ongoing ”complex emergency”.