Geographies of fear : Exploring the transboundary nature of conservation and conflict among the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda

Abstract

IIIiii challenges of PhD administration. The time in Wageningen would have been cold and empty without the light-filling moments with Britt Broekhaus. In deepest appreciation I want to thank Yvette Buist sharing her beautiful soul with me and Julia van Middelaar who is always there, always shining, always taking care of me when I forgot myself. Further, I am grateful to have met Anne Leroy -her encouragement and her mapping skills can be found on these pages.These years of research and fieldwork would not have been possible without a full doctoral scholarship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. This also enabled me to have a lovely home thanks to the generosity of Marian de Wit and Onno Knol, as well as Matthias Weichelt.It is sad that I cannot express my gratitude to some of the most important people shaping my fieldwork as the need for their anonymization or pseudonymization in the given context surpasses my wish to explicitly thank them. They deserve the main part of these acknowledgements and even -and especially -without their names they shall be seen and read between all lines. Without their trust, support, knowledge, and protection this thesis would be void of content. Alongside the silent names, some can and need to be written down filling the various places of my journey with meaning: Sally sharing her house, her singing and her kindness with me. Derek giving me a home, a family and a sense of belonging. Rebecca Besant and Search for Common Ground helping me to understand 'slowly by slowly'. The people from the Karisoke Research Centre, Dian Fossey Fund International and the Gorilla Doctors, specifically Sarah who made me a friend, and Winnie, her dogs and her warming soups when me and my low moral came down from the mountains. Loes, Celine and Julia creating the most wonderful moments for me by pulling me out of the field and the work of fieldwork. The people from Mgahinga whose patience, hospitality and kind-heartedness I have never encountered elsewhere in the world. Daniel Roher who once upon a time found me bedridden with Malaria in Uganda and ever since made us companions and research assistants. His beautiful mind, photography and drawings figure prominently throughout this thesis. Tom Reid whose curious questions and loving support gave me perspective and perseverance. Pat and his colleagues sharing everything they could with me including their own safety. The women of North Kivu allowing me a glimpse into their dignity and strength. Sabine Schmitt making me feel so at home that life in Goma was joy in spite of violence. Marius Mardare who held me together when I was falling apart nonetheless. Zachary Norman reminding me of light in some very dark hours. Katy Robjant contributing decisively to that light as well as my understanding of the everyday lives in the Eastern DRC. I thank my legs -and Tonnie Dirks who taught me how to use them -that carried me up and down the mountains and through uncountable runs for inspiration and sanity. Thank you.IV iv I am very grateful for the junior re...

Eco-war tourism: Affective geographies, colonial durabilities and the militarization of conservation

“…In contrast, political ecology rarely explicitly links affect and the need to secure liberal life (cf. Büscher, 2016; Trogisch, 2021). This article joins these fields by analysing how eco-war tourism presents itself as a way to save imperilled nature and, in doing so, shapes and is shaped by affective geographies of violence, suffering and danger.…”

Studying insecurity from relative safety — Dealing with methodological blind spots

“…In the past decade, there has been an increase in papers that explicitly account for methods, doubts, and difficulties (Perera, 2017), or that describe how serendipity and 'meta-data' have shaped research (Fujii, 2010(Fujii, , 2014 or how fieldwork is increasingly constrained by safety politics at universities (Peter & Strazzari, 2017), and ethic/institutional review boards (Vlavonou, 2021). Over the past 2 years, several publications and projects critically assessed power imbalances towards in-country academics (see the (Silent) Voices "Bukavu series") and the ethical -(Cronin-Furman and Lake, 2018), and emotional aspects of research affecting knowledge production (Trogisch, 2021). Reflecting on positionality and fieldwork in published work is more common in, for instance, anthropology (Diphoorn, 2013;Lecoq, 2002;Rodgers, 2007;Lombard, 2013).…”