The Anthropology of Conservation NGOs

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Introduction: Rethinking the Boundaries of Conservation NGOs

   • Peter Bille Larsen, Dan Brockington

   Pages 1-15

3. The Good, the Ugly and the ‘Dirty Harry’s of Conservation: Rethinking the Anthropology of Conservation NGOs

   • Peter Bille Larsen

   Pages 17-46

4. Anthropology of Conservation NGOs: Learning from a Sectoral Approach to the Study of NGOs

   • Dan Brockington, Katherine Scholfield, Richard Ladle

   Pages 47-70

5. Business, Biodiversity and New ‘Fields’ of Conservation: The World Conservation Congress and the Renegotiation of Organisational Order

   • Kenneth Iain MacDonald

   Pages 71-119

6. The Strategies and Effectiveness of Conservation NGOs in the Global Voluntary Standards: The Case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

   • Denis Ruysschaert, Denis Salles

   Pages 121-149

7. Investigating the Consistency of a Pro-market Perspective Amongst Conservationists

   • Libby Blanchard, Chris G. Sandbrook, Janet A. Fisher, Bhaskar Vira

   Pages 151-180

8. Conservation Jujutsu, or How Conservation NGOs Use Market Forces to Save Nature from Markets in Southern Chile

   • George Holmes

   Pages 181-201

9. Strengths and Limitations of Conservation NGOs in Meeting Local Needs

   • Emmanuel O. Nuesiri

   Pages 203-225

10. Misreading the Conservation Landscape

    • Kent H. Redford

    Pages 227-241

11. Back Matter

    Pages 243-289

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This book explores how NGOs have been influential in shaping global biodiversity, conservation policy, and practice. It encapsulates a growing body of literature that has questioned the mandates, roles, and effectiveness of these organizations–and the critique of these critics. This volume seeks to nurture an open conversation about contemporary NGO practices through analysis and engagement.

• Global biodiversity crisis
• Practitioner engagement
• Conservation
• Biodiversity
• Policy
• Anthropological engagement
• Global South
• Activism
• Development
• NGO

“The intent of the book to open up new and productive spaces of collaboration should be welcomed. It serves as a reminder to conservation NGO staff of the need to find space for reflection in practice, which may well be possible at an individual level but is challenging for an institution.” (Rob Small, Oryx, Vol. 53 (4), October, 2019)           

“This book is a prime example of the high-quality scholarly work that is being produced within the framework of this new generation of critical environmental conservation studies. ... This book is to be commended for its success in addressing and transposing some of the limitations that accompanied earlier studies. … this book will be of great use to a variety of readers who seek to deepen their understanding of contemporaryenvironmental conservation.” (Katja Neves, Conservation & Society, Vol. 17 (4), 2019)
NGOs have become hired guns of states and corporations. They also masquerade as a counter-balance to both, the medium of civil society and a fertile soil for strong democracy. This book reconsiders the boundaries of NGOs and their shifting nature in relations to capitalism, markets, governments, and each other. A must-read for the environmentalist and broader NGO-dependent world.

• Department of Anthropology, University of Lucerne, Luzern, Switzerland

  Peter Bille Larsen

• Institute for International Development, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

  Dan Brockington

Peter Bille Larsen is an anthropologist with two decades of experience in global conservation research and practice. He teaches sustainable development, environmental anthropology, and international governance at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland. 


Dan Brockington directs the Sheffield Institute of International Development at the University of Sheffield, UK. His research covers conservation, agricultural change, and celebrity, entailing fieldwork in remote parts of East Africa and offices in large cities. 

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