The Primeval Forest

Provincializing Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Colonialism in Africa

“…25 It ended the unproductive dogmatic debates about Jesus' divinity by nineteenth-century liberal theologians. It established ''the credibility of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew'' (49). His confidence was not unfounded, for it has been generally acknowledged that Schweitzer's eschatological interpretation helped to end the First Quest of the historical Jesus.…”

“…It was ''not benevolence but atonement'' for the terrible sufferings which Europeans had caused since the discovery of ''the world's far-off lands.'' 40 While trying to convince the Society to accept his application, 41 Schweitzer continued his medical studies, which he completed in 1913, specializing in tropical medicine and surgery. His medial training was not so easy for he had thus far been trained only in the humanities (Autobiography, 103), yet he was impressed by the fact that, unlike humanistic studies, the natural sciences required exact proofs.…”

“…46 Schweitzer emphasized the need to maintain ''moral authority'' over the native who ''bows and acknowledges his master.'' 47 In some instances, his paternalism was tinged with hypocrisy. For example, during World War I, fearing that Europe would lose its supremacy, he forbade Africans in his household to learn about the war through the newspapers or radio.…”

The Azteca–Cecropia Association: Are Ants Always Necessary for Their Host Plants?1

“…By displacing endemic ants and preying on or outcompeting a variety of other arthropods, W. auropunctata has earned a spot as one of the world's top 100 invasive pests (ISSG 2002). Particularly hard-hit have been the Pacific islands, where W. auropunctata also affects lizards, tortoises, and domestic dogs (Lubin 1984;Wetterer 1997;Jourdan et al 2001Jourdan et al , 2002. Effects on wild mammals have not been widely reported, perhaps because mammals are rare in insular faunas.…”

“…The next year, Albert Schweitzer noted that a small red stinging ant (probably W. auropunctata) was also present ca 145 km up the navigable Ogooué River at Lambaréné (Schweitzer 1931); however, movement overland was relatively slow, requiring another six decades before W. auropunctata was detected at the Lopé Reserve, 200 km inland from Lambaréné. Wasmannia presence at Lopé was first recorded in 1982, in the garage area of a recently abandoned logging camp, which later become the primary gorilla study area of the Station D'Etude des Gorilles et Chimpanzees (SEGC).…”