Steven Langdon's Blog: The Write Stuff - Posts Tagged "development"
"Skin of the Snake"
"1) As an author, why were you drawn to write this novel, with its focus on a major corruption scandal and the people caught up in it?"
“Skin of the Snake” lies at the intersection of two dramatic stories. One involves a huge water development project in Lesotho in Southern Africa, where suspicions of bribery appeared and drove ahead investigations, court charges and World Bank probes over a period of years. This real-life drama became a major concern for me as a development economist and anti-corruption activist, working in Africa and elsewhere, and I decided I wanted to explore it more deeply in fictional form -- what leads to such dishonesty? who is most likely to counter it? can such corruption be overcome?
But such questions are not abstract. They involve people, their personalities and their passions. So the second narrative that shapes this novel follows the diverse lives of a set of vivid fictional characters who interact in ways that determine how the corruption scandal evolves. There is Patricia Chisepo, the young firebrand who goes from rebel university student to Member of Parliament in Lesotho -- with her brash Canadian ally, Jackie Petsky. There is Matthew Gordon, the sleek and hardened company president who is seeking redemption after an unfair dismissal. And there is the woman in the middle, Rosie Ahmed, passionate lover, prairie populist -- and now corporate climber.
What fascinates me as an author is the collision of these two stories -- how the dynamics amongst these strong characters connect with the critical conflict around one of the most important corruption battles at the start of the twenty-first century.
"2) Why did you choose the title “Skin of the Snake?”
Corruption, for many of those who fight it, is like a poisonous snake -- it is often out of sight, but its venom can be deadly, leading to the distortion of development projects and the misallocation of benefits to richer people rather than those most in need. But because bribery can be so hidden, fraud may escape notice and be very hard to counter.
With snakes, though, because they shed their skin periodically, the evidence of their presence appears -- the visible “skin of the snake” can propel action, not only against past corruption, but also to counter dishonesty in the future.
"3) Why is the focus of the novel the country of Lesotho?"
When I began working for the International Development Research Centre in 1981, Lesotho was where my first assignment was. The country, I discovered then and later, is a starkly beautiful place -- with an arid and rugged environment, and a difficult social structure resulting from dependence on migrant labour earnings. These realities have made the effects of a large water development project especially important; they have also led to a more prominent role for women political leaders (like Patricia) in a context where many males are away working in the South African mines. That labour migration has also resulted in a high prevalence of HIV-AIDS that devastates the country.
These circumstances make Lesotho a particularly complex and compelling place in which to explore the corruption questions that arose in the 1995-2004 period. This time frame also meant that what was happening in Lesotho during those years was deeply impacted by the dramatic political and social changes inside South Africa, in ways that emerge in the novel’s plot.
"4) The novel also includes information on political changes in other countries. Do readers need background to understand these parts of the book?"
As the story in “Skin of the Snake” unwinds, there are several sets of political changes that influence what happens to characters in the novel. In Kenya, for instance, the opposition political parties come together in a political coalition that manages to defeat the long-time governing party -- making Maina Wangara a cabinet minister as a result.
There are also changes in Canadian politics that take place during the period of the novel -- with a sitting Liberal government under Pierre Trudeau briefly replaced by a Progressive Conservative government under Joe Clark (from Alberta) -- then defeat of that government and Trudeau’s return to power -- with his replacement four years later by a Progressive Conservative government under Brian Mulroney. Various characters in the book are affected differently by these changes as the plot advances.
"5) How important was research to writing this novel?"
As the Afterword of the novel says, “in many ways, the African women and men with whom I have worked closely over the years have written this novel.” I mean by this that they are the people who have helped me shape the characters of such key players in the novel as Patricia Chisepo and Maina Wangara. And my activity in various African countries, from Malawi and Tanzania to Somalia and Senegal, has given me the experience that the book embodies. My work with the World Bank and the International Development Research Centre has also provided important insights.
But there was also a great deal of specific research that I carried out in writing this novel. In particular, I read all the court transcripts from the real-world corruption scandal that sparked this fictional account, plus background analyses of the case and journalistic accounts regarding the personnel, agencies and companies caught up in the affair. I knew personally a number of the people involved with the scandal and was able to discuss with them the details of particular events.
"6) “Skin of the Snake” cuts across international boundaries, as the story shifts from Africa to Canada to Europe and to Asia, with its climax coming in Washington. What is the significance of this global setting?"
In my work over the years against corruption, I have been struck by two fundamental facts. First, there are no global barriers to company fraud. Convictions for massive corruption come from China, they appear in Africa, British construction companies bribe local UK governments, and officials of an Ottawa software giant are jailed for dishonesty in Boston. So the battle against corruption is an international struggle, with lessons to be shared and co-operation established across boundaries.
Second, specific cases of corruption are themselves often classic examples of the globalized world economy in action. An Asian company uses a Latin American subsidiary to channel funds into a Swiss bank account in order to win a contract in Africa . . . Therefore, the fight to counter such cases must also take on global dimensions. Can a parliamentarian in Africa, as in this novel, partner with a development activist in Europe to overcome a Canadian corporation’s fraud? It is no wonder that the final scene in this conflict is played out in the offices of the World Bank.
Thus this is a novel with a wide-ranging setting -- in order to reflect reality in its fiction.
“Skin of the Snake” lies at the intersection of two dramatic stories. One involves a huge water development project in Lesotho in Southern Africa, where suspicions of bribery appeared and drove ahead investigations, court charges and World Bank probes over a period of years. This real-life drama became a major concern for me as a development economist and anti-corruption activist, working in Africa and elsewhere, and I decided I wanted to explore it more deeply in fictional form -- what leads to such dishonesty? who is most likely to counter it? can such corruption be overcome?
But such questions are not abstract. They involve people, their personalities and their passions. So the second narrative that shapes this novel follows the diverse lives of a set of vivid fictional characters who interact in ways that determine how the corruption scandal evolves. There is Patricia Chisepo, the young firebrand who goes from rebel university student to Member of Parliament in Lesotho -- with her brash Canadian ally, Jackie Petsky. There is Matthew Gordon, the sleek and hardened company president who is seeking redemption after an unfair dismissal. And there is the woman in the middle, Rosie Ahmed, passionate lover, prairie populist -- and now corporate climber.
What fascinates me as an author is the collision of these two stories -- how the dynamics amongst these strong characters connect with the critical conflict around one of the most important corruption battles at the start of the twenty-first century.
"2) Why did you choose the title “Skin of the Snake?”
Corruption, for many of those who fight it, is like a poisonous snake -- it is often out of sight, but its venom can be deadly, leading to the distortion of development projects and the misallocation of benefits to richer people rather than those most in need. But because bribery can be so hidden, fraud may escape notice and be very hard to counter.
With snakes, though, because they shed their skin periodically, the evidence of their presence appears -- the visible “skin of the snake” can propel action, not only against past corruption, but also to counter dishonesty in the future.
"3) Why is the focus of the novel the country of Lesotho?"
When I began working for the International Development Research Centre in 1981, Lesotho was where my first assignment was. The country, I discovered then and later, is a starkly beautiful place -- with an arid and rugged environment, and a difficult social structure resulting from dependence on migrant labour earnings. These realities have made the effects of a large water development project especially important; they have also led to a more prominent role for women political leaders (like Patricia) in a context where many males are away working in the South African mines. That labour migration has also resulted in a high prevalence of HIV-AIDS that devastates the country.
These circumstances make Lesotho a particularly complex and compelling place in which to explore the corruption questions that arose in the 1995-2004 period. This time frame also meant that what was happening in Lesotho during those years was deeply impacted by the dramatic political and social changes inside South Africa, in ways that emerge in the novel’s plot.
"4) The novel also includes information on political changes in other countries. Do readers need background to understand these parts of the book?"
As the story in “Skin of the Snake” unwinds, there are several sets of political changes that influence what happens to characters in the novel. In Kenya, for instance, the opposition political parties come together in a political coalition that manages to defeat the long-time governing party -- making Maina Wangara a cabinet minister as a result.
There are also changes in Canadian politics that take place during the period of the novel -- with a sitting Liberal government under Pierre Trudeau briefly replaced by a Progressive Conservative government under Joe Clark (from Alberta) -- then defeat of that government and Trudeau’s return to power -- with his replacement four years later by a Progressive Conservative government under Brian Mulroney. Various characters in the book are affected differently by these changes as the plot advances.
"5) How important was research to writing this novel?"
As the Afterword of the novel says, “in many ways, the African women and men with whom I have worked closely over the years have written this novel.” I mean by this that they are the people who have helped me shape the characters of such key players in the novel as Patricia Chisepo and Maina Wangara. And my activity in various African countries, from Malawi and Tanzania to Somalia and Senegal, has given me the experience that the book embodies. My work with the World Bank and the International Development Research Centre has also provided important insights.
But there was also a great deal of specific research that I carried out in writing this novel. In particular, I read all the court transcripts from the real-world corruption scandal that sparked this fictional account, plus background analyses of the case and journalistic accounts regarding the personnel, agencies and companies caught up in the affair. I knew personally a number of the people involved with the scandal and was able to discuss with them the details of particular events.
"6) “Skin of the Snake” cuts across international boundaries, as the story shifts from Africa to Canada to Europe and to Asia, with its climax coming in Washington. What is the significance of this global setting?"
In my work over the years against corruption, I have been struck by two fundamental facts. First, there are no global barriers to company fraud. Convictions for massive corruption come from China, they appear in Africa, British construction companies bribe local UK governments, and officials of an Ottawa software giant are jailed for dishonesty in Boston. So the battle against corruption is an international struggle, with lessons to be shared and co-operation established across boundaries.
Second, specific cases of corruption are themselves often classic examples of the globalized world economy in action. An Asian company uses a Latin American subsidiary to channel funds into a Swiss bank account in order to win a contract in Africa . . . Therefore, the fight to counter such cases must also take on global dimensions. Can a parliamentarian in Africa, as in this novel, partner with a development activist in Europe to overcome a Canadian corporation’s fraud? It is no wonder that the final scene in this conflict is played out in the offices of the World Bank.
Thus this is a novel with a wide-ranging setting -- in order to reflect reality in its fiction.
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