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A review by amirahazhar
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
4.0
Since the 1500s, at the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade, the Congo has been pilfered of its riches by Western powers. Now, the West (and also China) continues to profit at the expense of Congolese suffering.
The batteries in almost every smartphone, tablet, laptop, and electric vehicle today cannot recharge without the resources from Congo's mines. The cobalt is dug up by artisanal miners, villlagers who earn less than a dollar a day, many who are just children. They exist in a violent ecosystem: exposure to dangerous levels of lead and uranium, making them prone to birth defects and diseases like cancer, the risk of injuries, and even the prospects of death. Women working in the mines risk being sexually assaulted daily, yet there is no escape from such a dire circumstance. All while earning barely a dollar a day.
In this book, Siddarth Kara's qualitative research took him to different mines in the Congo, owned mostly by Chinese corporations, of which cobalt is then is streamed into companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Dell, Huawei, Tesla, Ford, General Motors, BMW, Daimler-Chrysler, the list goes on. The flow of minerals and riches is no thanks to Congolese politicians who became disgustingly rich selling off the country's mining concessions, while tens of millions of Congolese suffer from extreme poverty, food insecurity and civil strife.
Siddarth Kara's findings about the conditions in the Congo are stellar, and his interviews with the major mining corporations, the artisanal miners and also some government officials will make your blood boil. Although some find the contents of this book repetitive, I feel like it was simply a part of qualitative research as he reported his findings in different mines. A lot of the artisanal miners he interviewed had their own stories to tell and they're all heart-wrenching.
As users of electronic devices, we should be compelled to educate ourselves about the ongoing slavery that plagues the Congo. This book is definitely a good start.
"Please tell the people in your country, a child in Congo dies every day so that they can plug their phones."
Free Congo.
The batteries in almost every smartphone, tablet, laptop, and electric vehicle today cannot recharge without the resources from Congo's mines. The cobalt is dug up by artisanal miners, villlagers who earn less than a dollar a day, many who are just children. They exist in a violent ecosystem: exposure to dangerous levels of lead and uranium, making them prone to birth defects and diseases like cancer, the risk of injuries, and even the prospects of death. Women working in the mines risk being sexually assaulted daily, yet there is no escape from such a dire circumstance. All while earning barely a dollar a day.
In this book, Siddarth Kara's qualitative research took him to different mines in the Congo, owned mostly by Chinese corporations, of which cobalt is then is streamed into companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Dell, Huawei, Tesla, Ford, General Motors, BMW, Daimler-Chrysler, the list goes on. The flow of minerals and riches is no thanks to Congolese politicians who became disgustingly rich selling off the country's mining concessions, while tens of millions of Congolese suffer from extreme poverty, food insecurity and civil strife.
Siddarth Kara's findings about the conditions in the Congo are stellar, and his interviews with the major mining corporations, the artisanal miners and also some government officials will make your blood boil. Although some find the contents of this book repetitive, I feel like it was simply a part of qualitative research as he reported his findings in different mines. A lot of the artisanal miners he interviewed had their own stories to tell and they're all heart-wrenching.
As users of electronic devices, we should be compelled to educate ourselves about the ongoing slavery that plagues the Congo. This book is definitely a good start.
"Please tell the people in your country, a child in Congo dies every day so that they can plug their phones."
Free Congo.