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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: August 20, 2020 at 7:19:34 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Africa]: Rich on Greenbaum, 'Emerald Labyrinth: A > Scientist's Adventures in the Jungles of the Congo' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Eli Greenbaum. Emerald Labyrinth: A Scientist's Adventures in the > Jungles of the Congo. Lebanon University Press of New England, > 2017. Illustrations. 336 pp. $19.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-5126-0097-1. > > Reviewed by Jeremy M. Rich (Marywood University) > Published on H-Africa (August, 2020) > Commissioned by David D. Hurlbut > > _Emerald Labyrinth_ is by turns an entertaining and frustrating > autobiographical account of an American zoological researcher's work > in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2008 and 2009. A > herpetologist, Eli Greenbaum conducted a series of research visits to > eastern DRC particularly to research frogs, lizards, and snakes. It > is to Greenbaum's credit that he was willing to write a book so far > removed from his typical audience. The book assumes the reader has no > background in herpetology or Congolese politics. Greenbaum > consciously fits his study in a long history of similar (albeit > rather dated) accounts of scientific exploration in Africa. The > ethnocentric legacy of these works is such that twenty-first-century > forays in this genre are hard-pressed not to follow well-worn paths > of exoticism and exclusions of Congolese knowledge. This study does > put considerable effort to not repeat the flaws of its forebearers, > although it is not entirely successful. > > The opening chapters provide justifications of his research project. > Greenbaum points out that the dated and very incomplete records left > by Belgian colonial researchers are only a foundation for more > detailed studies. He highlights the need to document biodiversity and > to trace how changes in individual species' behavior requires much > more zoological research in African countries. Thankfully, Greenbaum > also realizes how important Congolese scientists are to this work. He > describes how herpetologist Chifundera Kusamba was a crucial partner > throughout the research. Greenbaum does much better than most of his > counterparts in the humanities and social sciences by illustrating > the crucial importance of his Congolese assistants beyond rote > gestures of gratitude in the acknowledgments section. Chifundera > literally manages the entire program. He regularly negotiated with > government authorities, Mai Mai militia leaders, and local > communities so that Greenbaum could continue the project. Greenbaum > also recognizes Chifundera as a co-author in his publications, which > is much more than can be said for many researchers in the global > North. > > Strikingly, Greenbaum is able to operate in the fractured politics of > eastern DRC. Local political actors recognized quickly how US > research constituted a possible source of income and goods. Even an > Interahamwe Rwandan commander allowed Greenbaum to travel into his > remote rural fiefdom in return for beer, cigarettes, and money. > Strikingly, this leader quizzed Greenbaum about the possibility the > then newly elected US president Barack Obama might change his > policies toward Rwandan rebels. The leader also referenced a previous > US zoological researcher's visit in the region. Other local leaders > rightfully expected payment for their protection and assistance. > Local people and politics set the contours for how and where > zoological research can take place. > > Although the author himself does not place his own activity in a > larger political or economic context, it is clear foreign-funded > scientific collection and observation fits into a much larger economy > of extraction of natural resources. Greenbaum's workers also resemble > the go-betweens who ensure the daily movement of arms, cell phones, > minerals, and people across eastern Congo. Although Greenbaum > documents in painstaking detail his constant illnesses, he also makes > clear how his wealth allows him to retain center stage. Within the > team of Congolese assistances, individuals used their social and > political influence to stay tied to Greenbaum's patronage. An elderly > assistant used his connections to a prominent chief to force > Chifundera to keep him employed, even though the Congolese scientist > did not want him. _Emerald Labyrinth_ also does offer glimpses into > the environmental impacts of political struggles and economic change > in eastern Congo. Charcoal collection and changing settlement > patterns led to deforestation and declining numbers of many animals. > Although an environmental history of the Congolese civil wars since > the mid-1990s has yet to be written, Greenbaum offers a glimpse of > both areas left largely abandoned of human settlement and other > regions where increased human activity led to reduced numbers of > animals, such as elephants. > > For all of the strengths of _Emerald Labyrinth_, there also are some > missteps. The insertions of overviews of Congolese history perhaps > might have been better covered in a single chapter. Greenbaum > initially frames this historical context from the perspective of the > "discovery" of central Africa by European travelers. Perhaps only the > lure of external funding might dissuade some authors writing on the > Congo from making an obligatory nod to Joseph Conrad. The narrative > soon veers away from these shopworn conveniences, much to my relief. > However, the biggest absence here is the development and obstacles of > Congolese scientific institutions after independence. Much of the > time, one is left with the impression that not much Congolese > zoological research has occurred after 1960. Chifundera's central > role clearly demonstrates this is not the case, but there is little > here that places the poverty of Chifundera's research institution in > a larger narrative of how the Congolese state neglected education and > science. Another lacuna lies in how Congolese themselves viewed > animals. Local knowledge was crucial to obtaining information about > animals. Even so, Congolese understandings of these animals are not > accessible here. > > How could this book be used by instructors? For courses in > environmental studies or scientific research in Africa, this would be > an extremely valuable primary source. Teachers would need to > contextualize developments in environmentalism and postcolonial > Congolese politics left out in the book. Researchers from the social > sciences and humanities may find the book useful in terms of fleshing > out how biologists from the global North frame their justifications > and methodology. Historians of central Africa will not find much new > here as far as Greenbaum's expositions of Belgian colonialism. > However, the expositions on scientific research do not require any > specialized background in zoology. The book is written in an > accessible way. > > I initially had reacted with some trepidation at the offer to read > _Emerald Labyrinth_. Finishing it did confirm some of my misgivings, > although I did not cringe nearly as much as I expected. If we in > African studies are to rightly celebrate interdisciplinary > approaches, then we should encourage scholars working in such > disciplines as biology and geology to contribute to this dialogue. > This necessarily means that these writers will have to stretch > themselves well outside their familiar research territory and > audiences. If Greenbaum falters at times, one must grant he also > succeeds as a whole. > > Citation: Jeremy M. Rich. Review of Greenbaum, Eli, _Emerald > Labyrinth: A Scientist's Adventures in the Jungles of the Congo_. > H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. August, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55475 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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