Bollig Risk Management in a Hazardous Environment

A Comparative Study of two Pastoral Societies
2006
ISBN: 978-0-387-27582-6
Verlag: Springer US
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 2, 442 Seiten

Reihe: Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation

A research focus on hazards, risk perception and risk minimizing strategies is relatively new in the social and environmental sciences. This volume by a prominent scholar of East African societies is a powerful example of this growing interest. Earlier theory and research tended to describe social and economic systems in some form of equilibrium. However recent thinking in human ecology, evolutionary biology, not to mention in economic and political theory has come to assign to 'risk' a prominent role in predictive modeling of behavior. It turns out that risk minimalization is central to the understanding of individual strategies and numerous social institutions. It is not simply a peripheral and transient moment in a group's history. Anthropologists interested in forager societies have emphasized risk management strategies as a major force shaping hunting and gathering routines and structuring institutions of food sharing and territorial behavior. This book builds on some of these developments but through the analysis of quite complex pastoral and farming peoples and in populations with substantial known histories. The method of analysis depends heavily on the controlled comparisons of different populations sharing some cultural characteristics but differing in exposure to certain risks or hazards. The central questions guiding this approach are: 1) How are hazards generated through environmental variation and degradation, through increasing internal stratification, violent conflicts and marginalization? 2) How do these hazards result in damages to single households or to individual actors and how do these costs vary within one society? 3) How are hazards perceived by the people affected? 4) How do actors of different wealth, social status, age and gender try to minimize risks by delimiting the effect of damages during an on-going crisis and what kind of institutionalized measures do they design to insure themselves against hazards, preventing their occurrence or limiting their effects? 5) How is risk minimization affected by cultural innovation and how can the importance of the quest for enhanced security as a driving force of cultural evolution be estimated?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bollig, Michael

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;7
2;Table of Contents
;10
3;List of Tables;15
4;List of Figures;17
5;List of Maps;19
6;List of Photographs;20
7;Chapter 1 Studying Hazard and Risk in Pastoral Societies
;21
7.1;1.1. DISCARDED BOREHOLES AND PROTECTED PASTURES: THE WAY TO THE SUBJECT OF THE STUDY
;22
7.2;1.2. RESEARCH ON RISK MANAGEMENT IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: AN OVERVIEW
;23
7.2.1;1.2.1. Actor-Oriented Approaches to the Study of Risk;24
7.2.2;1.2.2. Ethnographic Approaches;25
7.2.3;1.2.3. Interpretative Approacbes;26
7.3;1.3. THEORETICAL SCOPE OF THIS STUDY;26
7.4;1.4. KEY CONCEPTS: HAZARD, RISK, AND UNCERTAINTY;27
7.4.1;1.4.1. Hazards and Damage;30
7.4.2;1.4.2. The Perception of Hazards;31
7.4.3;1.4.3. Risk Minimisation;33
7.5;1.5. ON CONDUCTING FIELDWORK IN TWO SOCIETIES;34
7.6;1.6. COMPARATIVE RESEARCH;36
7.7;ENDNOTES;38
8;Chapter 2 An Outline of Pokotand Himba Societies: Environment, Political Economy and Cultural Beliefs
;39
8.1;2.1. THE PASTORAL POKOT;40
8.1.1;2.1.1. The Ecology of the Northern Baringo Plains;40
8.1.2;2.1.2. Pastoral Expansion and Colonial Domination: The Historical Developments of the Pastoral Pokot
;42
8.1.2.1;Ethnogenesis and Pastoral Expansion;43
8.1.2.2;The Colonial Period;46
8.1.2.3;Post Independence;47
8.1.3;2.1.3. The Famlly Herds: The Household Based Economy of the Pastoral Pokot
;48
8.1.3.1;Household economy;48
8.1.3.2;Pastoral Production;49
8.1.3.3;Wealth Distribution;50
8.1.3.4;Spatial Mobility;50
8.1.3.5;Patterns of Consumption;51
8.1.4;2.1.4. Descent and Age: Social Organisation amongst the Pastoral Pokot
;53
8.1.5;2.1.5. Councils, Ritual Experts and Chiefs: Political Organisation amongst the Pastoral Pokot
;55
8.1.6;2.1.6. Solidarity and Respect: The Belief System of the Pastoral Pokot
;56
8.2;2.2. THE HlMBA OF KAOKOLAND;57
8.2.1;2.2.1. The Ecology of Northern Kaokoland;58
8.2.2;2.2.2. From Early Integration into the World system to Colonial Encapsulation: The Historical Development of the Pastoral Himba
;59
8.2.2.1;Integration into the World System: Violent Conflicts and Trading Networks
;60
8.2.2.2;Kaokoland under South African Rule;61
8.2.3;2.2.3. Household Economy and Pastoral Production;63
8.2.3.1;Household Economy;63
8.2.3.2;Pastoral Production;64
8.2.3.3;Land tenure and spatial mobility;66
8.2.3.4;Patterns of Consumption;70
8.2.3.5;Agricultural Activities;70
8.2.3.6;Migratory Work;71
8.2.4;2.2.4. Double-Descent and Patron-Client Networks: Social Organisation amongst the Pastoral Himba
;71
8.2.4.1;The Matriclan;71
8.2.4.2;Patrilineal Groupings;72
8.2.5;2.2.5. Chiefs and Councillors: Political Organisation amongst the Pastoral Himba
;72
8.2.6;2.2.6. Death, Commemoration and Ancestor Worship: The Himba belief system
;73
8.2.7;2.3. COMPARING HIMBA AND POKOT SOCIETIES
;74
8.2.7.1;Environmental Variables;75
8.2.7.2;Historical Development of Economy and Social Organisation;75
8.2.7.3;Pastoral Production;76
8.2.7.4;Kinship, age and locality;79
8.2.7.5;The Quest for Power: Pokot Egalitarianism and Himba Patronage;80
8.2.7.6;Norms, Values and Ideas on Humanity and the Supernatural;81
8.2.8;ENDNOTES;82
9;Chapter 3 Hazards and Damages
;85
9.1;3.1. DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH AND A NARROWING RESOURCE BASE ;85
9.1.1;3.1.1 Rapid Growth: Demographic Development of the Pokot;86
9.1.1.1;Growth Rates based on Census Figures;87
9.1.1.2;Intrinsic Growth Rates: Fertility and Rapid PopUlation Growth;87
9.1.1.3;Population Growth and Resource Base;88
9.1.2;3.1.2. Slow Growth: Demographic Development in Kaokoland;90
9.1.2.1;Growth Rates based on Census Figures;91
9.1.2.2;Figures on the Intrinsic Fertility of Himba;92
9.1.2.3;Population Growth and Resource Base;93
9.1.3;3.1.3. Comparative Discussion of the Pokot/Himba Demographic Trends in Relation to the Resource Base
;94
9.2;3.2. ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION;96
9.2.1;3.2.1. Degradation in the Nginyang Division;97
9.2.1.1;Oral Accounts on Degradation
;97
9.2.1.2;Formalised Accounts on Degradation;100
9.2.1.3;Recent State of Pastures in the Nginyang Division;101
9.2.2;3.2.2 Degradation in Northern Kaokoland;103
9.2.2.1;Degrees of Degradation in Different Grazing Zones;103
9.2.2.2;Estimations on Carrying Capacity;107
9.2.2.3;Oral Accounts on Degradation;108
9.2.3;3.2.3. A Comparison of Degradation in the Two Pastoral Areas;109
9.3;3.3. REGIONAL MARGINALISATION, EMERGENT INTERNAL STRATIFICATIONS AND THE LOSS OF ENTITLEMENTS
;110
9.3.1;3.3.1. Capricious relations: Colonial Encapsulation and Trade in Pokot Land
;111
9.3.1.1;INVOLVEMENT IN PRE-COLONIAL LONG DISTANCE TRADE AND EARLY COLONIAL TRADE
;112
9.3.1.2;THE DESTOCKING DEBATE;113
9.3.1.3;INVOLVEMENT IN THE REGIONAL TRADE SINCE INDEPENDENCE
;114
9.3.1.4;PRICING;115
9.3.2;3.3.2. Unmaking a Market: The Repression of Trade in Kaokoland37;116
9.3.2.1;THE EXTENT OF TRADE BETWEEN THE 1860S AND 1915
;117
9.3.2.2;EXCHANGE-AND TRADE UNDER THE SOUTH AFRICAN ADMINISTRATION, 1917 -1940
;120
9.3.2.3;TRADE TO THE SOUTH;122
9.3.2.4;COLONIAL ELITE, EMERGENT STRATIFICATION AND THE DECLINE OF ENDOWMENTS
;124
9.3.2.5;EMERGENT COMMERCIAL TRADE: KAOKOLAND SINCE 1954
;124
9.3.2.5.1;Stratification and Endowment Decline since the 1980s;126
9.3.3;3.3.3. A Comparative Perspective on Marginalisation, Stratification, and the Loss of Entitlements
;129
9.4;3.4. SHORT TERM CLIMATIC VARIABILITY - DROUGHT AND ITS EFFECTS ON LIVESTOCK HERDS
;130
9.4.1;3.4.1. Rainfall Variability;131
9.4.1.1;Rainfall Variahility in North-western Kenya;131
9.4.1.2;Rainfall Variability in northern Namibia;132
9.4.1.3;Comparison of Climatic Variability in north-western Namibia and north-western Kenya
;133
9.4.2;3.4.2. The Effects of Droughts on Fodder Production;134
9.4.3;3.4.3. The Effects of Reduced Fodder Production on Livestock Mortality
;135
9.4.3.1;Livestock Mortality in the Regional Herdl Kaokoland;135
9.4.3.2;Livestock Mortality in the Regional Pokot Herd;136
9.4.3.3;Comparison of Livestock Mortality Rates;136
9.4.4;3.4.4. The Distribution of Losses amongst Households;137
9.4.4.1;The Distribution of Losses in Pokot Households;138
9.4.4.2;Herd Losses in Northern Kaokoland between 1982 and 1995;140
9.4.4.3;A Comparative View on the Distribution of Damages;141
9.5;3.5. LIVESTOCK DISEASES AND THEIR EFFECT ON LIVESTOCK MORTALITY
;142
9.5.1;3.5.1. Livestock Mortality due to Diseases amongst the Pokot;142
9.5.2;3.5.2. Livestock Mortality due to Diseases amongst the Himba;145
9.5.3;3.5.3. Comparison of Livestock Mortality due to Diseases;147
9.6;3.6. VIOLENT CONFLICT;149
9.6.1;3.6.1. The Gains and Spoils of Violence: Interethnic Violence in North-western Kenya
;149
9.6.1.1;The Pre-colonial and Early Colonial Period;150
9.6.1.2;Interethnic Violence since the 1960s;151
9.6.1.3;Damage Resulting from Violent Conflict Management;153
9.6.2;3.6.2. Caught in the Middle: Raiders, Administrators and the Military;156
9.6.2.1;The Kwena Raids;156
9.6.2.2;The Violent Conflicts of the 1970s and 1980s;157
9.6.3;3.6.3. Violence as a Hazard to Pastoral Viability: the Pokot and Himba Compared
;157
9.7;ENDNOTES;158
10;Chapter 4 The Perception of Droughts and Disasters
;164
10.1;4.1. THE ENEMY IS US: THE SOCIAL APPROPRIATION OF DROUGHT AND DISASTER AMONG THE POKOT
;165
10.1.1;Asis - Rinderpest and the Drought of the Sun;165
10.1.2;Pörkö Chepchok - Turkana Raids on the Pokot in 191611917;166
10.1.3;Kiplelkowa - the Drought of the White Bones, 1925/27
;167
10.1.4;Koringring - The Drought of the Shaking Earth, 1933;168
10.1.5;Katarngang - The Drought of Aimless Migrations, 1939;169
10.1.6;Arasusu - A Millenaristic Rebellion against the Colonial Power, 1950;170
10.1.7;Cheruru - The Drought of Pouring out Cattle, 1955;171
10.1.8;Lochwer - The Drought of the Comet, 1965;172
10.1.9;Ngoroko - Interethnic Conflicts 1965-1996;173
10.1.10;korim - The Drought of Aimless Moves, 1984;174
10.1.11;Summary;175
10.2;4.2. "IN THE NECK OF A PERSON THERE IS A BONE" - TRADITIONS OF DROUGHT AND DISASTER AMONGST THE HIMBA
;176
10.2.1;The Gun of Kaukumuha - The Kwena Wars, 1850s to 1880s
;176
10.2.2;Otjita -the Rinderpest epidemic of 1897
;177
10.2.3;Ondjara oya Katurambanda - The Year of Pounding the Leather Clothes, 1915
;178
10.2.4;Karasaruvyo - the Famine of Licking the Knife, 1929/30
;180
10.2.5;Kate - 'Go and die somewhere else', the Famine of Chasing away the Hungry, 1941
;181
10.2.6;Kariekakambe - the Famine of Eating the Horse, 1946;183
10.2.7;Droughts and Famines of the 1950s and 1960s: The Drought of Omasitu and the Drought of the Tjimhundu
;184
10.2.8;Climatic Perturbations and War - the Disasters of the 1970s and 1980s;185
10.2.9;Summary;188
10.3;4.3. A COMPARATIVE ACCOUNT OF POKOT AND HIMBA PERCEPTIONS OF DISASTERS ;189
10.4;ENDNOTES;190
11;Chapter 5 Coping Strategies during Drought and Disaster
;193
11.1;5.1. CHANGING FOOD HABITS: SLAUGHTER, SHARING, SUBSTITUTING
;193
11.1.1;5.1.1. Pokot Foodways during Famines;194
11.1.1.1;5.1.1.1. Increased Slaughter;194
11.1.1.2;5.1.1.2. The Sharing of Food;199
11.1.1.3;5.1.1.3. Living on Meagre Resources: Substituting Food;204
11.1.2;5.1.2. Himba Foodways during Famines;206
11.1.2.1;5.1.2.1. Increased Slaughter;206
11.1.2.2;5.1.2.2. The Sharing of Food;209
11.1.2.3;5.1.2.3. In Praise of Palm Nuts: Substituting Food;210
11.1.2.4;Famine Relief;214
11.1.3;5.1.3. A Comparison of Pokot and Himba Foodways during Famines;215
11.2;5.2. INCREASED SALES OF LIVESTOCK;217
11.2.1;5.2.1. Taking from Meagre Accounts: Pokot Livestock Sales during a Drought
;217
11.2.2;5.2.2. Taking from Full Accounts: Himba Sales Strategies;223
11.2.3;5.2.3. A Comparison between Pokot and Himba Selling Strategies;225
11.3;5.3. INCREASED MOBILITY;228
11.3.1;5.3.1. Erratic Moves: Pokot Mobility Patterns during a Drought;229
11.3.1.1;Historical Development of Spatial Strategies during Drought;229
11.3.1.2;Spatial Strategies during the 1970s and 1980s;231
11.3.1.3;Mobility patterns in the 1991-92 drought
;234
11.3.1.4;Limpong: a risk-prone strategy of mobility;235
11.3.1.5;Angurareng: a risk-averse strategy of mobility;236
11.3.2;5.3.2. Moving to Survive: Himba Mobility Patterns During a Drought;241
11.3.2.1;Historical Development of Mobile Strategies under Stress;241
11.3.2.2;Mobility during The Year of the Dying, 1981;242
11.3.2.3;Tako's migrations during the 1981 drought;244
11.3.2.4;Mukakaserari's migrational history in the Year of the Dying;246
11.3.3;5.3.3. A Comparative Account of Mobility Patterns during a Drought;247
11.4;5.4. DIVERSIFYING INCOME GENERATING AND FOOD PRODUCING STRATEGIES DURING A CRISIS
;249
11.4.1;5.4.1. Ten Cent Jobs and New Niches: Pokot Attempts at Diversifying their Economy
;249
11.4.1.1;Male Income Generating Activities;249
11.4.1.2;Female Ten Cent Jobs;251
11.4.2;5.4.2. The Failure to Diversify? The Himba Approach to Diversification
;252
11.4.3;5.4.3. A Comparative View on Diversification during Periods of Stress;254
11.5;5.5. CRISIS MANAGEMENT THROUGH RITUAL;255
11.5.1;5.5.1. Reducing uncertainty and fighting hazards through the use of oracles and ritual among the Pokot
;256
11.5.1.1;5.5.1.1. Oracles: From Reading Intestines to Prophetic Visions;257
11.5.1.1.1;Reading intestines during a sapana ceremony in Tilam, October 1988;258
11.5.1.2;5.5.1.2. Individual and Household-based Rituals;259
11.5.1.2.1;kiriset: a household-based ritual to thwart off livestock diseases
;260
11.5.1.2.2;Kikatat: A neighbourhood-based ritual curing human and livestock diseases
;261
11.5.1.2.3;Apuriang's Blessing at a kikatat;262
11.5.1.3;5.5.1.3. Community-Based Rituals;264
11.5.1.3.1;A ritual to ward off a major livestock epidemic - the put yon ritual in Kadingding
;264
11.5.1.3.2;Rituals to ward off a major drought - the saghat and mwata rituals;269
11.5.1.3.3;Todokin's blessing spoken on the 23rd of September 1993 in Nakurkur;271
11.5.1.3.4;The saghat - Prayer for Rain;273
11.5.2;5.5.2. Co-Opting the Ancestors: Himba Attempts at Reducing Uncertainty and Reducing Hazards
;277
11.5.2.1;5.5.2.1. Oracles;277
11.5.2.2;5.5.2.2. Protective Magic (okuvindika);280
11.5.2.3;5.5.2.3. Family-Based Magic;281
11.5.2.4;5.5.2.4. Community-Based Magic;282
11.5.3;5.5.3. A Comparative Account of Ritual Approaches to Crisis Management
;282
11.6;ENDNOTES;284
12;Chapter 6 Buffering Mechanisms:Minimising Vulnerability
;287
12.1;6.1. THE DIVERSIFICATION OF THE ECONOMY AND FLEXIBLE PROPERTY RIGHTS
;288
12.1.1;6.1.1. Diversification at the Margins: Pokot Attempts at Herd Diversification and Agriculture
;288
12.1.1.1;Expansion of Camel Husbandry;289
12.1.1.2;Agriculture;291
12.1.2;6.1.2. Sharing Meagre Resources: Pokot Inheritance and the Splitting of Property Rights
;292
12.1.3;6.1.3. Standing on Two Legs: Himba Herd Diversification and Small ScaleAgriculture
;294
12.1.3.1;Herd Diversification;294
12.1.3.2;Small-Scale Agriculture;295
12.1.4;6.1.4. Concentrating Resources: Himba Livestock Ownership Rights and Inheritance
;297
12.1.5;6.1.5. Comparing Property Rights and Diversification;300
12.2;6.2. NETWORKS OF SECURITY - NETWORKS OF DOMINANCE
;301
12.2.1;6.2.1. Kinship, Friendship and Exchange among the Pokot;301
12.2.1.1;6.2.1.1. Structural, Emotive, and Normative Correlates to Reciprocal Exchange
;307
12.2.1.2;6.2.1.2. The Exchange Network Put to the Test: Transactions during a Drought
;310
12.2.2;6.2.2. Networks of Dominance among the Himba of Northwest Namibia
;312
12.2.2.1;6.2.2.1. Inheritance and Livestock Loans among the Himba of Northwest Namibia
;312
12.2.2.1.1;Matrilineal Kinship, Inheritance and Exchange;313
12.2.2.1.2;Structurat"and Normative Correlates to Reciprocal Exchange;319
12.2.2.2;6.2.2.2. The Exchange Network Put to the Test: Exchange and Recovery after the Drought of 1981
;320
12.2.3;6.2.3. Comparing Exchange Networks;328
12.2.3.1;6.2.3.1. A Formal Comparative Account of Livestock Exchange Networks
;328
12.2.3.1.1;6.2.3.1a. Structural Qualities of Networks (density, clusters)
;328
12.2.3.1.2;6.2.3.1b. Structural Properties of Single Actors: Degree, Closeness and Betweeness Centrality
;330
12.2.3.1.3;6.2.3.1c. Relational Analysis: Cliques, Ousters and Factions
;331
12.2.3.2;6.2.3.2. A Qualitative Comparative Account of Exchange Networks in Two Pastoral Societies
;332
12.3;6.3. RESOURCE PROTECTION IN TWO PASTORAL SOCIETIES
;334
12.3.1;6.3.1. From Communal Resource Management to Open-Access Resource Management among the Pokot
;334
12.3.1.1;6.3.1.1. The Development of Pokot Land Tenure in Pre-colonial and Colonial Times
;335
12.3.1.2;6.3.1.2. The Failure of the 'Traditional' System of Resource Protection: Pokot Rangelands as Open-Access Resource
;336
12.3.2;6.3.2. Communal resource management among the Himba;343
12.3.2.1;6.3.2.1. Resource Protection in a Historical Context;343
12.3.2.2;6.3.2.2. Pasture Management in the 1990s;343
12.3.2.3;6.3.2.3. The Protection of Trees;354
12.3.3;6.3.3. Resource Protection in Two Pastoral Societies: the Comparative Perspective
;355
12.4;6.4. FOUNDATIONS OF MORAL ECONOMIES: SOLIDARITY AND PATRONAGE
;357
12.4.1;6.4.1. Pokot - The Ethos of Egalitarian Exchange;358
12.4.1.1;6.4.1.1. Solidarity, Respect and Internal Peace: Norms and Values;358
12.4.1.1.1;Tilyonton - Solidarity;358
12.4.1.1.2;Tekoton - Respect;359
12.4.1.1.3;Kalya - Internal Peace;360
12.4.1.2;6.4.1.2. Strong Brotherly Bonds: The Reijication of Identity in Rituals
;362
12.4.1.3;6.4.1.3. Being Surrounded by Enemies: Visualising Ethnic Boundaries;364
12.4.1.3.1;Marking Ethnic Boundaries;364
12.4.1.3.2;Pung - Being Surrounded by Enemies and the Negligence of Cross-Cutting-Ties
;366
12.4.2;6.4.2. Himba Morality: Patronage, Kinship and Ethnicity;368
12.4.2.1;6.4.2.1. Authority and Generosity: Norms and Values;368
12.4.2.2;6.4.2.2. From Kinship-Based Rituals to Communal Rituals;369
12.4.2.2.1;Kinship-Based Rituals: Commemoration and Graveyards;369
12.4.2.2.2;Communal Rituals in the Making;371
12.4.2.3;6.4.2.3. Boundary Maintenance and Cross-Cutting Ties: Ethnic Identity and Economic Exchange
;374
12.4.2.3.1;Maintaining Boundaries: Ornament;374
12.4.2.3.2;Ties Cross-Cutting Ethnic Boundaries;376
12.4.3;6.4.3. A Comparative Approach to Moral Economies;378
12.5;ENDNOTES;380
13;Chapter 7 Hazards, Risk and Risk Minimisation in African Pastoral Societies
;383
13.1;7.1. CHANGING HAZARDS: THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ECOLOGY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
;383
13.1.1;7.1.1. Demographic Growth and Environmental Change;384
13.1.1.1;Environmental Degradation;387
13.1.1.2;Entitlement Decline: Peasantisation and Encapsulation;388
13.1.2;7.1.2. Independent Factors of Stress: Droughts, Epidemics and Violent Conflicts
;389
13.1.3;7.1.3. The Nature and Distribution of Damages;390
13.2;7.2. THE PERCEPTION OF HAZARDS;391
13.2.1;Comprehensive Interpretations of Risks and Misfortune;392
13.2.2;Specific Classifications of Hazards;393
13.2.3;No Shortcut to Generalisation;395
13.3;7.3. THE DEVELOPMENT OF RISK MINIMISING STRATEGIES AND BUFFERING INSTITUTIONS ;396
13.3.1;7.3.1. Crisis Management: From Local Resources to Food Aid;396
13.3.2;7.3.2. Economic Change and the Development of Buffering Institutions
;402
13.4;7.4. RISK MINIMISATION AND ECONOMIC CHANGE;407
13.4.1;The Pokot and Pastoralism in East Africa;408
13.4.2;The Himba and Pastoralism in South-western Africa;410
13.4.3;The Future of African Pastoralists;412
13.5;ENDNOTES;414
14;References;416
15;Subject Index;434