Diamonds have been a symbol of love and commitment for centuries, as well as a symbol for power and

The diamond industry impacts the people of West Africa by creating a whirlwind of corruption on a political level. In sierra Leone diamonds were a valuable part of the land and they were once legitimately sold up until Sierra Leone became independent in 1961. The following years of their independence corruption flooded the land. According to an online research paper it says “with that independence came corrupt leaders, manipulation of the people , rebel groups, rivalries and civil disputes”. The correlation implies that the diamond industry has created an environment that leaves people at risk of violence, and unfair treatment by their government. The longer the diamond industry is in effect, the longer West African people will suffer from the world market demanding diamonds. Because of globalization it doesn’t look

For centuries, diamonds have been regarded as one of the most valuable commodities in the world and the industry has evolved into billions of dollars. At the top, De Beers dominated the entire industry worldwide, from exploration to retail selling. However, it has a reputation of a monopolist, where it influences supply and demand. The two critical factors that De Beers carefully maintained throughout the century to remain in monopoly was to create the illusion of the scarcity of the diamonds and to keep the prices high. Realizing the benefits of the cooperation and the dangers of the oversupply, most

The diamond cartel has been in existence for over a hundred years. (Spar: 2006) It has faced many issues in order to survive and prosper. (Kretschmer: 1998) Rhodes’ method was sufficient during the early 1900s. (Spar:2006) By 1930, the price of diamonds had fallen and the war was looming; Europeans were not interested in buying diamonds. (Epstein: 1982) It changed ownership to the Oppenheimers around about the Great Depression. Thus began the exploitive marketing tactics of the 20th century. (Epstein: 1982)

Since Anthony Trollope published The Eustace Diamonds (1872), readers have associated Lizzie Eustace with Becky Sharp of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1848) (John Hall 378). Both Becky and Lizzie perform a femininity made all the more dangerous by contrast to the femininity of their idealized counterparts, Amelia and Lucy. Both novels involve a man’s choice between satisfying his sexual desire for the dangerous girl and fulfilling his promise to the ideal girl. As is typical in Victorian novels, the narrators spend more time exploring the bad girl option than the less-exciting alternative. In the context of denying the novel’s focus on

It is said that sixty percent of the diamonds on the market are from Africa. How do we know if we have a blood diamond? It is very hard to tell just by looking at the diamond itself, but most jewelry store should have diamonds from the Kimberly process. This process helps to rid the world of blood diamonds by shipping them securely and giving them certificates but some blood diamonds do slip

The De Beers Group of Companies established itself in the diamond industry in the late 1800’s and it was only a matter of time until De Beers owned virtually every diamond mine in South Africa. Diamond distributors joined up with De Beers because of similar interests: they wanted to create a scarcity of diamonds, so that high prices would follow. Eventually, De Beers would establish exclusive contracts with suppliers and buyers, making it impossible to deal with diamonds outside of De Beers. For the remainder of the 20th century, the business model was the same: A subsidiary of De Beers would buy the diamonds and De Beers would determine the amount of diamonds they wanted to sell, and at what prices. In turn, De Beers funneled all of the

The story of these infamous diamonds all started with a fifteen year old who found a diamond in his father 's arm. The diamond business started in 1935 when “De Beers” took all control over dining prospects in Sierra Leone. De Beers are a group of companies has a main role in the exploration of diamonds, as well as diamond mining, diamond retail, diamond trading, and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors.This group was founded in 1888, and they are responsible for the problems Sierra Leone is facing today. These diamonds can be found in volcanic pipes. Diamonds are a pure form of carbon in a transparent state. Diamonds have always been a sign of wealth. Historically kings and queens were known for wearing these. Over time many people began lusting over them.

Two years later here in Kimberley, South Africa, an important meeting was held between representatives of all major diamond producing countries, and they discussed how they could put an end to the blood diamond trade. The result was a protocol establishing the international certificate system for diamond trade—the Kimberley Process. It has 75 member countries today. The organization issues a certificate of origin for every single diamond in the world. A diamond is considered illegal if it lacks this certificate. This was the tool for cleaning out the blood diamonds.” However, the Kimberley Process has not put an end to these conflicts. The system is still flawed in many ways. As critics advise, “The world certification system

The conflict diamonds started to be present and problematic in Sierra Leone as soon as DeBeers mining company took control of all diamond prospects throughout this region. Although DeBeers was keeping a moderate watch on the trading and actions being taken through it, traders from Lebanon (bordered by Syria and Israel to the south) were able to easily smuggle and mine diamonds out through the company. Later towards the 1950s, countries, such as Sierra Leone, had to give up the chance of regulating the illicit diamond industry, thus having to warn owners of the mines to provide their own security measures for the mines and land they owned. The issue wasn’t justly political or economic until Sierra Leone gained its independence in 1961, letting Siaka Stevens enroll as Prime minister, therefore having a one-party ruler. Stevens took control, and monopolized the diamond mines, as well as encouraging them to gain power and fame nationwide. Things were looking austere for diamond control rights and regulations, not only to watch a civil war emerge, surging through the country as fire fought fire and brother fought against brother. As the war extended from 1991 to 1999, it brought forth other problems as a result of citizen on citizen warfare for the diamonds such as rape, murder, and sex slaves. Once 75,000 lives were claimed, the people of Sierra Leone finally realized that victims and executors of these terrible crimes has emerged from the cash crop known as diamonds.

I was quite turned off from Group B’s argument on these bases and their thematic approach which suggested that gold, a material good, was more precious and valuable than actual people and their sacred cultural practices. While I understand that this case study is comprised of fictitious issues based in a made up country, the knowledge of the human rights issues fixed around blood diamonds I acquired from our pre-class reading and quiz helped me to take a real world stance on people verses government in the case of natural resources. Prior to the Jacqueline Soloway reading and our class discussion, I was only vaguely aware of the political and economic conversations surrounding the mining of war diamonds. For quite some time I had known that a surplus of diamonds were harvested from the overworked hands of children and impoverished peoples, unfortunately I had no exposure to multiple government’s complacent or supportive roles in having people to mine for diamonds in unsafe, war torn territories. In my daily life I advocate for fair trade, therefore I would never knowingly perpetuate the atrocities of blood diamond mining by purchasing products that result from such human rights violations; because of this I practically knew my decision before I entered the lecture hall and either group presented. I did, however, want to hear both groups out in class and make the decision I felt

It was enacted for the 54 members in 2003 when all the certification and legislation parameters were formed based on a consensus of the General Assembly (Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Core Document). These 54 members are now responsible for a vast majority of the diamonds legally traded worldwide and ensure that the basis for these diamonds do not infringe upon basic human rights ("KB Basis" Kimberley Process). People are not allowed to openly trade diamonds that have a “conflict” source in an attempt to reduce violations of humanitarian rights.

Adding to that, diamond mining produces many jobs and economic growth (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Globally, ten million people are employed due to the diamond industry (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Most diamonds come from less developed countries (Diamond Facts website, 2016). These countries use the revenue produced by diamond mining to better their country (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Much of the revenue goes to building infrastructure like hospitals, schools, roads, and clean water systems (Diamond Facts website, 2016). The diamond trade produces eight point four billion dollars to Africa (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Countries within Africa such as Botswana and Namibia have evidenced that profits from diamonds aid less developed countries have substantial benefits like economic growth and stability (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Profits from mining diamonds has shown to play an important role in turning war-torn countries into economically stable places (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Botswana has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, chiefly due to the diamond industry (Diamond Facts website, 2016). Without diamond mining, Botswana would lose three billion dollars in profits per year (Diamond Facts website, 2016). The result would be devastating to

The film marker is trying to raise awareness of the illicit conflict diamond trade and reinforcing the Kimberley process1 and showing how it will stem the flow of conflict diamonds. This is successful mainly due to the public outburst after the movie. The great impact of the movie has caused diamond

Color. Clarity. Cut. Carat Weight: These four words are what jewelers in the industry use to determine the monetary value of a diamond. However in 1947 De Beers found a way to not only boost their sales but also make a psychological necessity out of this sparkly stone, and it all began with four vastly different words, “A Diamond Is Forever” (Frances Garety), and accompanied by phrases such as “Isn’t two months’ salary a small price to pay for something that lasts forever (N.W. Ayers)?

It is both interesting and horrifying to be learning about a culture being depleted and wiped-out just because they are situated on top of a large diamond deposit that greedy people want to exploit. The diamond mining is the leading cause of all the bloodshed, murder and mayhem in the region. Since the Certificate of the Kimberley Process was passed, it has made it illegal to ship diamonds out of the country that have been extracted from areas of conflict or those that aren’t approved by the National Department of Mineral