Diversity to decline-livelihood adaptations of the Namaqua Khoikhoi (1800–1900)

Kelso, Clare; Vogel, Coleen

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.09.005

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Historical climate–society research is a rich resource for understanding both the challenges that confronted societies in the past and the solutions, both successful and unsuccessful, which were devised to deal with them. With some notable exceptions, however, there remains remarkably little scholarship on southern Africa which addresses the questions raised at the beginning of this article for the period from 1830 up to the late‐20th century emergence of mainstream climate vulnerability, impacts and adaptation studies. Neglect of this key period of history, which cuts across transformative changes in societal organization, limits the body of empirical data with which to understand social vulnerability and adaptation, while serving to reinforce the notion that climate change represents a decisive break in history, rather than the latest stage in the cultural evolution of the idea of climate .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, history, society over the last millennium in southeast Africa

Hannaford

Nash

2016

WIREs Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate variability has been causally linked to the transformation of society in pre--industrial southeast Africa. A growing critique, however, challenges the simplicity of ideas that identify climate as an agent of past societal change; arguing instead that the value of historical climate--society research lies in understanding human vulnerability and resilience, as well as how past societies framed, responded and adapted to climatic phenomena. We work across this divide to present the first critical analysis of climate--society relationships in southeast Africa over the last millennium. To achieve this, we review the now considerable body of scholarship on the role of climate in regional societal transformation, and bring forward new perspectives on climate--society interactions across three areas and periods using the theoretical frameworks of vulnerability and resilience. We find that recent advances in palaeoclimatology and archaeology give weight to the suggestion that responses to climate variability played an important part in early state formation in the Limpopo valley (1000--1300), though evidence remains insufficient to clarify similar debates concerning Great Zimbabwe (1300--1450/1520). Written and oral evidence from the Zambezi--Save (1500--1830) and KwaZulu--Natal areas (1760--1828) nevertheless reveals a plurality of past responses to climate variability. These were underpinned by the organization of food systems, the role of climate--related ritual and political power, social networks, and livelihood assets and capabilities, as well as the nature of climate variability itself. To conclude, we identify new lines of research on climate, history and society, and discuss how these can more directly inform contemporary African climate adaptation challenges.2

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, history, society over the last millennium in southeast Africa

Hannaford

Nash

2016

WIREs Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The spatial extent and severity of the early 1860s drought has been noted in a number of previous studies (e.g. Kelso and Vogel, , ; Nash et al ., ; Nash, ) and appears to have affected regions from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to southern Malawi, and as far west as Namaqualand. The period is also identified as the driest of the 19th century in multi‐proxy rainfall reconstructions by Neukom et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Rainfall variability over Malawi during the late 19th century

Nash

Pribyl

Endfield

et al. 2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Annual rainfall reconstruction for northern (region 1), central (region 2), and southern (region 3) Malawi derived from historical documentary sources. CR indicates confidence rating from highest (3) to lowest (1); a value of 0 indicates insufficient evidence to generate a classification. Inset shows average rainfall for Blantyre and Zomba Agricultural College downloaded from the GHCN database; note that data are not available for these stations for 1893–1895. El Niño years are also indicated.

show abstract

“…In 1777, Nama "chief" Haaimaap was able to secure a portion of Nama lands through registering a loan farm at "Leliefontein," in the Kamiesberg (Kelso & Vogel, 2015). Partly this was probably due to the fact that until the very late 18th century, Namaqualand remained what Giliomee has referred to as an "open frontier zone" (Giliomee, 1981, p. 79).…”

Section: The Colonial Frontier Arrives In Namaqualandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, justice, and wellbeing in the Kamiesberg, Namaqualand: Reflecting on local histories in the context of the Anthropocene

Cohen

2020

WIREs Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper explores relationships between water and well-being in the Leliefontein Pastoral Area, Namaqualand, South Africa. Despite its geographical focus, it nonetheless articulates with broader regional and national debates around water in the Anthropocene. As a positive response to calls for water justice in South Africa, the paper argues for the need for water justice that is attuned to the particularities of South Africa's complex social-ecologies. In order to make this case, the paper explores a regional literature rich in works in the disciplines of environmental history, anthropology and ecology that demonstrates deep entanglements between water, dispossession of land, and oppressive power in the Leliefontein Pastoral Area, and Namaqualand more generally. Because of the histories and ways of life it describes, the literature underscores the need to consider wellbeing as it relates to water in varying forms-as that which flows through pipes and taps, but also that which cycles through the air, falls on the ground, is taken up by plants, and eaten by stock animals. A consideration of Leliefontein's water history also surfaces the historically delimited nature of water that is primarily known as a natural resource, measured in liters and assessed in terms of its microbial and chemical contents. Other kinds of waters exist and persist in the area and are also vital to how many people experience and think about their own wellbeing. This becomes especially significant in the face of expected effects of climate change in the region.

show abstract

Diversity to decline-livelihood adaptations of the Namaqua Khoikhoi (1800–1900)

Cited by 15 publications

References 66 publications

Climate, history, society over the last millennium in southeast Africa

Climate, history, society over the last millennium in southeast Africa

Rainfall variability over Malawi during the late 19th century

Water, justice, and wellbeing in the Kamiesberg, Namaqualand: Reflecting on local histories in the context of the Anthropocene

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About