Palma africana

In Palma africana, Australian anthropologist Michael Taussig explores palm oil production in Colombia. As the latter invades everything from crisps to nail polish, the author examines the ecological, political and social consequences of this exploitation. Although the list of horrors induced by oil palm cultivation is long, our usual terminologies no longer capture the realities they describe. Through this anthropo-poetic stroll through the heart of Colombian swamps, it is therefore the question of language that the author questions. Like William Burroughs, for whom words are as alive as animals and do not like to be kept in pages - Michael Taussig wishes to cut these, and set them free. Thought out from a life of philosophical and ethnographic exploration, Palma Africana seeks to thwart the banality of world destruction and offers a penetrating view of our human condition. Illustrated with photographs taken by the author and written with the experimental verve of an anthropologist, this book is Michael Taussig's Sad Tropics for the 21st Century.