Rainforest Capitalism

“Offering a rare look at the everyday lives of the people who live in and around Congolese timber labor camps, Thomas Hendriks draws out the continuities and discontinuities of racialized colonial extraction. Artfully written, Rainforest Capitalism will make a major contribution to theories of capitalism, race, and sexuality.” - Jessica M. Smith, author of Mining Coal and Undermining Gender: Rhythms of Work and Family in the American West

“In this fresh and captivating book, Thomas Hendriks offers precious insights into the precarity of logging in the Congolese rainforest. His lively ethnography demonstrates that the analysis of neoliberal capitalist extraction should address not only labor and political economy but also memory, affect, sexual desire, and racial fetishism. His sophisticated theoretical framework allows him to capture the fleeting character of logging and brings together forestry, anthropology, and queer studies in visionary ways that will inspire many scholars.” - Peter Geschiere, author of Witchcraft, Intimacy, and Trust: Africa in Comparison

"Based on a lengthy period of ethnographic research, this book is a lively, readable account of life in a logging camp, and the author makes a useful, thought-provoking contribution to the literature on power, capitalism, gender, sexuality, and race/racism in anthropology, African studies, and related fields. . . . Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty." - E. E. Stiles, Choice

“Thomas Hendriks’ compelling book is an intricate tale of felled trees and their capitalist value, of the inhabitants of logging camps such as Congolese labourers and expat managers, but also of jobseekers, traders, prostitutes, farmers, and smugglers. Rainforest Capitalism is eloquent and captivating.” - Rachel Spronk, African Studies Review

"This brave book is well worth reading, teaching, and taking up for further research in gender studies and studies of capitalism, of Africa(s), and of ethnography itself." - Rebecca Hardin, American Anthropologist

"In this engaging, thoroughly researched, and conceptually bold book, Thomas Hendriks brings readers into a little-studied enclave of global capitalism." - Daniel Jordan Smith, Journal of Anthropological Research

"A striking and thought-provoking ethnography. . . . I have deeply enjoyed Hendriks’ ethnographic work, evocative writing and post-critical approach to the study of capitalism focused on the unpredictable and fragile sides of power. . . ." - Alice Vittoria, Anthropos

“Hendriks presents a well written and argued work about how power operates in a Congo timber concession.” - Christopher R. Cook, African Studies Quarterly

“Hendriks’s work poses many intriguing questions about power, capitalism, the rainforest, masculinity, and globalization. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students will find much to ponder and discuss in this work.” - Cathy Skidmore-Hess, Journal of Global South Studies

“Hendriks provides haunting glimpses of rural Congolese desperate to renew opportunities for social and commercial advancement . . . Rainforest Capitalism is a significant and innovative contribution to the literature on labor, foreign investment, and Congolese society.” - Jeremy Rich, Ufahamu

“A talented and sensitive narrator, Hendriks is attentive to the forest’s smells, sounds and textures as much as to the sentiments, words and gestures of its inhabitants. His ability to bring together multiple layers of ethnographic observation, ranging from class and race relations to the evocative realms of affects and perceptions, brings a remarkable epistemic depth to his work.” - Benoît Henriet, Canadian Journal of African Studies