Episode 2.4: Eco-colonialism and Environmental Justice in the Global South

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In this episode, we explore the theme of wildlife conservation and the tensions that exist between how people in the global north tend to view these issues versus how they are perceived and experienced by the rural people who live alongside wild animals in countries like Botswana in southern Africa. To discuss these themes, we speak with Joseph E. Mbaiwa, Professor of Tourism Studies at University of Botswana, and Chris Brown, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Carleton University about Botswana's 2014 hunting ban on African elephants. Through this example, we explore the political and eco-colonial contexts that influenced both the institution of the ban, as well as the ban's impact on communities within Botswana.


Host

Peter Andrée
Professor, Department of Political Science, Carleton University

Guest

Joseph E. Mbaiwa
Professor of Tourism Studies, University of Botswana

Guest Bios

Guest

Chris Brown
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Carleton University

Guest Bios

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Guest Bios

Joseph E. Mbaiwa

Dr. Joseph E. Mbaiwa is the Director of the Okavango Research Institute University of Botswana. He is also a Professor of Tourism Studies. Dr Mbaiwa holds a PhD in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University (USA). He is widely published in areas of tourism development, community-based natural resource management, rural livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation. He has also graduated students at PhD and MPhil in the areas of tourism development and natural resource conservation. Dr. Mbaiwa is in the editorial board of academic journals such as South African Geographical Journal, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Ecotourism etc. Dr. Mbaiwa was a taskforce member appointed by Botswana’s Minister of Environmental, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism to prepare a proposal dossier that resulted in the Okavango Delta being listed as the 1000th UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dr. Mbaiwa is also Non-Executive Director (Board Member) of the Botswana Tourism Organisation. He is also as a member of the 2019 - 2021 Ramsar Convention’ Scientific and Technical Review Panel for the 2019-2021 triennium.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown is Associate Professor of Political Science at Carleton University, in the field of comparative politics, with a specialization in the politics of Africa. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Toronto and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Government from Cornell University. His research focuses on the politics of southern Africa, with particular attention to Botswana. He has also published on Canadian foreign policy towards Africa and on Canadian development assistance policy. In addition to his academic career, he has worked at different times for a total of approximately ten years as a development planner and as a local government policy advisor in Botswana and in Ghana.