Coltan. by Nest, Michael - 2011

Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011. Paperback large trade, very good condition, minor toned spot fore-edge. minor edgewear, old price marks. 220 pp. Until recently, few except geologists had heard of tantalum or 'coltan' - an obscure mineral that is an essential ingredient in mobile phones and laptops. Then, in 2000, reports began to leak out of Congo (so-called Democratic Republic): mines deep in the jungle where coltan was extracted in brutal conditions watched over by warlords. This book describes in detail the complex politics of coltan including unstable government, rebel militias, transnational corporations, the metals marketplace, determined activists, Hollywood celebrities, the rise of China, and the latest iGadget. Nest argues the political significance of coltan lies not in its link to violence, but in skilful use of mobile phones by activists as a symbol of how ordinary people and transnational corporations far from Africa are implicated in the Congo coltan industry and therefore its conflict.