Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

Analyze author Siddarth Kara’s role as the primary figure in Cobalt Red. To what extent are his Congolese subjects secondary or static figures? How does this structure advance the narrative? Why might this structure be problematic?

Who is the intended audience for Cobalt Red? How does Kara address this audience? What is he hoping to convince them to do?

What are the environmental impacts of artisanal cobalt mining in Congo? How does Kara draw a parallel between the environmental and human impacts of the industry?

Kara frequently uses hyperbole as a rhetorical device. Analyze examples of hyperbole. In what instances does hyperbole strengthen or weaken his argument? What other rhetorical devices does he use in the text?

How does Cobalt Red fit into wider discourses about neocolonialism in the 21st century? How does Kara conceive of neocolonialism and its effects in his work?

How does race and racism impact the dynamics between segments of the cobalt mining economy and supply chain? How do these dynamics impact Kara’s reporting as an Indian American?

Read The Casement Report (1904). Compare and contrast the conditions in the DRC that Roger Casement describes and those detailed by Siddarth Kara. To what extent is their language and structure similar?

Research the administration of Félix Tshisekedi. Kara wrote the book at the beginning of his regime and expressed hope that it would fight corruption. How has President Tshisekedi’s administration differed from the regimes of Mobutu and the Kabilas as described by Kara?