By Bill Slawski, on October 13th, 2007
I suspect that I’m going to be reading more international news in exploring the topic of this new blog. One newspaper that I really haven’t read much before is the Times out of Johannesburg.
A story that caught my eye was one titled Restitution grinds slowly in land of diamonds and dust, which focuses upon farms and families in the Northern Cape, 280 families who live in an area named Pniel. Those families have an ancestrial claim to the land that their ancestors lived upon; land which may contain countless millions of dollars worth of diamonds.
It seems that some groups like this are trying to make their claims through communal property associations, and may be teaming with big businesses, which have an interest in mining that land:
The pattern of perpetual delay defeats land reform, the claimants say, and bears all the hallmarks of a neo-colonial land grab: same tricks, different faces. Gone are the missionaries, chiefs and whisky-bottle bribes; the new kingmakers are chief directors and chairmen of communal property associations.
Read: Reclaimation, Reparations, and Restitution in Pniel
By Bill Slawski, on October 11th, 2007
I was inspired by John McPhee’s book Oranges to find a topic that may not appear on the surface to be all that compelling, and look deeply into its history, and how it fits into politics and popular culture and our daily lives.
The economics and political upheavals that have surrounded the growth of a marketplace for diamonds appeared to me to be topics that would help me learn more about history, about the large politics of nations and the smaller politics of families and personal interactions that shaped this market.
The movie Blood Diamond convinced me that there was plenty of drama to uncover, and that the story might be a more compelling one that John McPhee’s book on Oranges. While a book on the subject might be something I’d consider writing in the future, I decided that starting a blog to use to do research might be a good starting point.
Consider these notes towards a possible book. Consider them a place for me to learn more about the subject, and share what I’ve learned. Consider them a way of possibly finding others who might be interested in the stories that surround the diamond industry, and the families and struggles and discord that brought diamonds to such a prominent place in our thoughts of wealth and romance.
Read: Why Blog About Politics and Diamonds?
