GTD Colloquium: ‘Heineken in Africa. A Multinational Unleashed’
Speaker: Olivier van Beemen, journalist
When: Wednesday 17 October, 15.30 – 17.00
Where: GG80-82, room 0.039
Abstract
‘Heineken in Africa. A Multinational Unleashed’ is published in 2018 at Hurst Publishers. It is a critical case study about the business practices of the Dutch brewer in Africa. The revelations in the book have led to parliamentary questions being asked in both the Dutch national assembly and the European Parliament, and a documentary on Dutch television. Leading commentators have written columns about it and a month after publication, Heineken dedicated on its corporate website to the book, ‘growing together in Africa’, in an attempt to defend its policies. The book was nominated for the Lira Scherpenzeel Prijs for ‘groundbreaking international journalism’ and has been reprinted four times. It made news headlines in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Burundi.
Olivier van Beemen is a journalist who has intensely investigated the role of Heineken, the Dutch beer company, on the African continent for the past 5 years. He has published critical articles on the multinational in NRC, Le Monde, De Correspondent and Follow the Money, all platforms with a wide reach. Inspired by the discoveries he made about Heineken in Africa, he now pursues a PhD in Political Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Olivier van Beemen has extensive experiences in critical journalism: he has worked for several Dutch and Belgian papers such as Financieel Dagblad, Elsevier, Knack, De Tijd, and Het Parool. He has written several books such as “In Parijs” (2009), “Heineken in Afrika” (2015) and “Bier voor Afrika” (2018). His latest book is translated into English and French.
Upcoming GTD colloquia:
- Wednesday 21 November 2018: Joris Schapendonk (Radboud University)
- Wednesday 5 December 2018: Jean-Michel Lafleur (Université de Liège, CEDEM)
- Wednesday 9 January 2019: Stefan Ouma (Goethe University Frankfurt am Mein)
