680 Book Reviews


being an active participant in much of what she describes. At the same time, it creates a challenging ethical and personal context in which Milne had to navigate what she calls her multipositionality. Milne’s writing on this topic is a real highlight of the book, blend- ing discussion of how she maintained academ- ic rigour with a highly personal account of the difficulties she faced. Milne’s book is deeply critical of the work


of Conservation International as an example of what she calls Corporate Nature: ‘that which emerges from the technocratic, bureau- cratic, and power-laden practices of main- stream global conservation organisations’ (p. 6). She sets out in meticulous detail how a combination of new funding models and idealized policy narratives created conditions in which the organization had strong incen- tives to overlook failures, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the prescribed approach was not working on the ground. Although the book is about Conservation International, I believe that the story it tells will resonate with many conservationists who have worked with or for international conservation organizations. Given their sig- nificant influence on contemporary conserva-


tion practice, this raises important questions about how international conservation is struc- tured, funded and regulated that matter for everyone working in conservation. As Milne says, ‘It is not just the mainstream conserva- tion edifice that is at stake but nature-society itself’ (p. 227). I foundmost of the book highly convincing,


yet one point struck me as less strong: the way Milne argued that replacing an expatriate coun- try director with a Cambodian national had contributed to the problems she describes. Although this may have been true in this par- ticular case, I was surprised not to see some broader reflection on howthis relates to current debates about decolonization and efforts to en- courage local leadership, which her argument seems to contradict. As a piece of academic writing, Milne is


careful to situate her thinking in the relevant social research literature. She draws on theor- ies such as Foucault’s work on power, Igoe’s on spectacle, and Scott’s on legibility. These ideas may be unfamiliar—and possibly daunt- ing—to some readers. However, the text is written in a highly accessible style, with new ideas being clearly introduced and explained before being applied to the particularities of


the study context. As a result, Corporate Nature acts as a kind of primer for a body of theory that is highly relevant to the work of many people in conservation, but is often overlooked. The book will give readers a the- oretical framework to understand, and per- haps to change, problematic things they see happening in conservation. Milne challenges the structure and function


of mainstream conservation, using meticulous evidence combined with social theory to make the case that conservation needs to change. The final section provides some ideas as to how this could be done, froma starting point of humility andwillingness to embrace diverse perspectives rather than operating from a standardized top–down model. While the specifics of these recommendations need further develop- ment, I find the central message of the book compelling. I would encourage every- one working in conservation to read it, and hope that it will stimulate deep reflection about the way conservation works and how things could be done differently.


CHRIS SANDBROOK ( , cgs21@cam.ac.uk) Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK


Oryx, 2024, 58(5), 677–680 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S003060532400125X


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