The Great Bophuthatswana Donkey Massacre: Discourse on the Ass and the Politics of Class and Grass

Africa: Histories, Ecologies and Societies

“…118 Jacobs considered the economic as well as the cultural importance of donkeys in an article that appeared in The American Historical Review entitled ʻThe Great Bophuthatswana Donkey Massacre: Discourse on the ass, politics of class and grassʼ. 119 The historiography of indigenous animals has highlighted some of the early history of colonial field sciences and this is growing field of interest, in line with the cultural turn in the humanities as a whole. Entomology is one area of study and work by Harries on missionary H.-A.…”

Why the Donkey Did Not Go South: Disease as a Constraint on the Spread of Equus asinus into Southern Africa

“…First, since donkeys are primarily used to transport people and goods rather than reared for food, export (alive or dead) or being kept as companions, they are perceived to be of lower economic value and thus attract less veterinary attention than other domestic animals (Stringer et al 2015, p. 6). Second, the individuals (often women) and communities for whom donkeys are particularly important are themselves typically among the poorer, more marginal sections of the population (Jacobs 2001;Geiger and Hovorka 2015). Once again, this has reduced the amount of veterinary research directed at them, even if they are increasingly understood to offer important tools of empowerment for those same groups (Starkey 1995).…”

Animals and Imperialism: Recent Historiographical Trends

“…Brett L. Walker takes a similar approach by employing folklore, biology, and even canine pathology (including firsthand observations of wolves in the company of wildlife biologists in Yellowstone National Park) in The Lost Wolves of Japan (), which, like Coleman's monograph, focuses in part on a process of internal colonization . Nancy J. Jacobs illustrates in a cleverly titled article, “The Great Bophuthatswana Donkey Massacre: Discourse on the Ass and the Politics of Class and Grass” (), how relations between donkeys and people not only effected the environment but were reflective of relations between people, and how such symbolic resonances were connected to actual interactions. As Jacobs points out, environmental historians' greater attention to domesticated animals, who themselves cross all sorts of boundaries, has encouraged them to transcend subfield and disciplinary borders .…”

“…J. Jacobs, “The Great Bophuthatswana Donkey Massacre: Discourse on the Ass and the Politics of Class and Grass,” American Historical Review 106, no. 2 (April ): 485–506.…”

“…As Jacobs points out, environmental historians' greater attention to domesticated animals, who themselves cross all sorts of boundaries, has encouraged them to transcend subfield and disciplinary borders. 13 And in a recent examination of another domesticated animal, Aaron Skabelund in Empire of Dogs: Canines, Japan, and the Making of the Modern Imperial World (2011) explores the historical links between imperialism and animals through a dynamic he calls "canine imperialism." By this, he means both the actions of individual dogs, dog-keeping practices, and specific breeds who accompanied Westerners and later Japanese into the imperial world, as well as to discussions about dogs that revealed much about their times and of themselves and others.…”