Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Surviving ’Development’ : Rural development interventions, protected area management and formal education with the Khwe San in Bwabwata National Park, Namibia

Auteur : Paksi, Attila

Université de soutenance : University of Helsinki,

Grade : Doctoral dissertation (article-based) Doctoral Programme in Political, Societal and Regional Changes 2020

Résumé
In the last three decades, southern African governments and non-profit organizations, following the narrative of poverty alleviation and integrated rural development, have initiated a variety of development interventions targeting the hunter-gatherer San people. Despite these interventions, the southern African San groups, like many other Indigenous Peoples, remained economically, politically, and socially marginalized.

In this doctoral dissertation, I have examined how such interventions have impacted on the contemporary livelihoods of a Namibian San group, the Khwe San. Based on a 15-month-long ethnographic field study with the Khwe community living in the eastern part of Bwabwata National Park (BNP), this thesis is compiled of four peer-reviewed articles and a summarizing report. The summary introduces the background and context of the study, outlines its theoretical and methodological framework, and discusses the main findings presented in the four articles.

The study builds on decolonial and post-development research theories and looks at hunters and gatherers through the lens of the ‘foraging mode of thought’ concept. Based on the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and the notion of community capitals, this study provides a critical analysis of both the practice and impacts of development interventions on local livelihoods and socio-cultural dynamics. The study focuses on three key domains of development interventions affecting contemporary foragers : rural income-generating interventions, protected area management and formal education.

The ethnographic fieldwork in BNP was carried out between 2016 and 2018 and involved data collection through participant observation in various settings, as well as semi-structured interviews with local community members and a wide range of other stakeholders. In addition, a study-area-wide socio-economic census was undertaken, and the participatory photography (PhotoVoice) method was used in the case study community.

Présentation

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