English language
Published Dec. 31, 2022 by St. Martin's Press.
Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.
Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of …
Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.
Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial book, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo—because we are all implicated.
All of the things that we now depend on, in our pockets, on our desks, and, increasingly on our roads, depend largely on cobalt mined in horrific conditions, often by children in the Congo.
Really well researched and well written. The author spent time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at times risking his life, to get the stories of the artisinal miners told. I highly recommend reading this book.
First up, it has to be said that this book is breathtakingly brutal. The descriptions of the conditions under which Congolese artisanal miners work, and the injuries they suffer, are heartrending. The author has obviously shown great persistence, bravery, and empathy in investigating in the field. He counterposes statements from major electronics and EV manufacturers against the claim that there is no such thing as 'clean' cobalt, because artisanal (i.e., hand-mined) cobalt is merged into the supply chain so early that it can't be distinguished from mechanically-mined cobalt. That said, I'd have liked to see more explanation of just how the supposed certification processes function and how they fail so badly. That would also likely alleviate my other criticism which is that focusing on his observations in the field, involving Congolese security guards and officials together with Chinese dealers, runs the risk of occluding the role of Western companies in …
First up, it has to be said that this book is breathtakingly brutal. The descriptions of the conditions under which Congolese artisanal miners work, and the injuries they suffer, are heartrending. The author has obviously shown great persistence, bravery, and empathy in investigating in the field. He counterposes statements from major electronics and EV manufacturers against the claim that there is no such thing as 'clean' cobalt, because artisanal (i.e., hand-mined) cobalt is merged into the supply chain so early that it can't be distinguished from mechanically-mined cobalt. That said, I'd have liked to see more explanation of just how the supposed certification processes function and how they fail so badly. That would also likely alleviate my other criticism which is that focusing on his observations in the field, involving Congolese security guards and officials together with Chinese dealers, runs the risk of occluding the role of Western companies in this dismal supply chain.
