James Ferguson and his critique on modernity: Analyzing expectation of modernity

The book review reveals the issue of modernity from James Ferguson’s Expectation of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt which is dismantling and heart-breaking. This well-written and thick seven chapters book is based on Ferguson’s ethnographic fieldwork in Copperbelt, Zambia, between 1970s-1990s. The book introduced what is called the ethnography of decline, a way of understanding people’s point of view about their own experience of social, cultural, and economic ‘advance’ and ‘decline’. A very hard task for ethnographers since they must deal with the situation instead of working with people. Related to that, Ferguson also explores a concept called ‘abjection’, a process of being thrown (down) aside, expelled or discarded. Using this concept, he claims that modernity is quite similar to colonialism which brings the dichotomy of ‘the west’ and ‘the rest’ where the west is ‘modern’ and the rest is ‘savage’. Thus, globalization of economy brought by modernization has been experienced as abjection and disconnection, leading to a conclusion that modernity is no more than a myth that would never exist.

Copper- and cobalt-rich, ultrapotassic bittern brines responsible for the formation of the Nkana-Mindola deposits, Zambian Copperbelt

The Central African Copperbelt (CACB) is Earth’s largest repository of sediment-hosted copper and cobalt. The criticality of these elements in battery technology and electricity transmission establishes them as fundamental components of the carbon-free energy revolution, yet the nature and origin of the hydrothermal fluids responsible for ore formation in the CACB remain controversial. Here, we present microthermometric, scanning electron microscopy and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry analyses of fluid inclusions from the Nkana-Mindola deposits in Zambia. We find that base metal concentrations vary by one to two orders of magnitude between “barren” and “ore” fluids, with concomitant distinctions in major salt chemistry. Primary fluid inclusions, hosted by pre- to synkinematic mineralized quartz veins, are characterized by high homogenization temperatures (∼200–300 °C) and salinities, with K/Na >0.8 and elevated metal concentrations (102 to 103 ppm Cu and Co). Conversely, barren, postkinematic vein quartz contains lower homogenization temperature (∼110–210 °C) and lower-salinity primary inclusions, characterized by K/Na <0.8 with low metal contents (<102 ppm Cu and Co). We propose a model in which high-temperature, sulfate-deficient, metalliferous, potassic residual brines, formed during advanced evaporation of CaCl2-rich, mid-Neoproterozoic seawater, were responsible for ore formation. During basin closure, lower-temperature, halite-undersaturated fluids interacted with evaporites and formed structurally controlled, sodic metasomatism. Reconciliation of these fluid chemistries and base metal concentrations with reported alteration assemblages from a majority of Zambian Copperbelt deposits suggests highly evolved, residual brines were critical to the formation of this unique metallogenic province.

Supplemental Material: Copper- and cobalt-rich, ultrapotassic bittern brines responsible for the formation of the Nkana-Mindola deposits, Zambian Copperbelt

Appendices S1 (detailed methods), S2 (sample descriptions and full analytical results), S3 (sample images), and S4 (example cathodoluminescence images).<br>

Supplemental Material: Copper- and cobalt-rich, ultrapotassic bittern brines responsible for the formation of the Nkana-Mindola deposits, Zambian Copperbelt

Appendices S1 (detailed methods), S2 (sample descriptions and full analytical results), S3 (sample images), and S4 (example cathodoluminescence images).<br>