240532 SE Anthropological Reflections on african 'Hunter-Gatherers' (P3, P4) (2018S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Participation at first session is obligatory!
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Th 01.02.2018 00:01 to Mo 26.02.2018 23:59
- Deregistration possible until Mo 19.03.2018 23:59
Details
max. 30 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Tuesday 12.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 13.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
- Thursday 14.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
- Friday 15.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
- Tuesday 19.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
- Wednesday 20.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
- Thursday 21.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
- Friday 22.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
‘Hunter-Gatherers’ have long been stuck on the peripheries of mainstream Anthropology, considered more of a relic of our disciplinary past than as a part of modern practice. This series of lectures aims to reconstitute those African peoples labeled as ‘hunter-gatherers’ as a key component to current ways of thinking about the world. At the heart of anthropological thought lies the basic question, what does it mean to be human? In this series of lectures, we look at how that question has been answered by Anthropology in relation to certain peoples across Africa typified as ‘hunter-gatherers’ as their mode of subsistence. With a particular focus on the ‘Pygmies’ of Central Africa and the ‘Bushmen’ of Sothern Africa, we will analyse a number of critical questions: Are such people ‘primitive’ relics of a pre-industrial past that tells us the story of our own origins and evolution? In what ways is their relationship with ‘nature’ perceived of as a ‘natural’ condition of humankind? Are there moral and material differences that distinguish ‘hunter-gatherers’ from the rest of humanity? To what extent can hunting and gathering lifestyles continue in the world today? And what role do globalizing forces play in the lives of contemporary peoples still labeled as ‘hunter-gatherers’? In answering these questions, my aim is to challenge how we have imagined ‘hunter-gatherers’ and to reconsider how best we can think of hypermarginalized societies existing within the limits of pericapitalism.
Assessment and permitted materials
Preparation for and participation in class discussions (required readings) 50%; term paper 50%
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Regular attendance, required reading, participation in class discussions, term paper
Examination topics
Topic of term paper to be agreed on with lecturer.
Reading list
Reading list: (full list on moodle)
Ellis W.F. 2015. Ons is Boesmans: commentary on the naming of Bushmen in the southern Kalahari. In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 38(1-2), pp. 120-133.
Laudati A. 2010. The Encroaching Forest: Struggles Over Land and Resources on the Boundary of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. In: Society & Natural Resources, 23(8), pp.776-789.
Lewis J. ‘Our life has turned upside down! And nobody cares.’ In: Hunter Gatherer Research, 2(3), pp. 375-384.
Marijnen E. 2017. The ‘green militarisation’ of development aid: the European Commission and the Virunga National Park, DR Congo. In: Third World Quarterly, 38(7), pp. 1566-1582.
Lewis J. 2008. Ekila: blood, bodies, and egalitarian societies. In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14, pp.397-315.
Lewis J. 2014. Egalitarian social organization: the case of the Mbendjele BaYaka. In: Hewlett B. S. (ed.) Hunter-Gatherers of the Congo Basin: cultures, histories and biology of African Pygmies. New Brunswick NJ and London: Transaction Publishers.
Gordon R. 2017. 'Taming' Bushman farm labour: a villeinous era in neo-feudal Namibia? In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 40(4), pp. 261-275.
Sylvain R. 2015. Foragers and fictions in the Kalahari: Indigenous identities and the politics of deconstruction. In: Anthropological Theory, 15(2), pp. 158178.
Mboti N. 2017. 'Soetwyn': Visuality, Cultural Tourism, Desire Paths and the ?Khomani. In: Visual Anthropology, 30(1), pp. 22-44.
Verbuyst R. 2016. Claiming Cape Town: towards a symbolic interpretation of Khoisan activism and land claims. In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 39(2), pp. 83-96.
Adamczyk C. 2011. ‘Today, I am no Mutwa anymore’: facets of national unity discourse in present-day Rwanda. In: Social Anthropology, 19(2), pp. 175188.
Taylor C.C. 2011. Molders of Mud: Ethnogenesis and Rwanda's Twa. In: Ethnos, 76(2), pp. 183-208.
Ellis W.F. 2015. Ons is Boesmans: commentary on the naming of Bushmen in the southern Kalahari. In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 38(1-2), pp. 120-133.
Laudati A. 2010. The Encroaching Forest: Struggles Over Land and Resources on the Boundary of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. In: Society & Natural Resources, 23(8), pp.776-789.
Lewis J. ‘Our life has turned upside down! And nobody cares.’ In: Hunter Gatherer Research, 2(3), pp. 375-384.
Marijnen E. 2017. The ‘green militarisation’ of development aid: the European Commission and the Virunga National Park, DR Congo. In: Third World Quarterly, 38(7), pp. 1566-1582.
Lewis J. 2008. Ekila: blood, bodies, and egalitarian societies. In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14, pp.397-315.
Lewis J. 2014. Egalitarian social organization: the case of the Mbendjele BaYaka. In: Hewlett B. S. (ed.) Hunter-Gatherers of the Congo Basin: cultures, histories and biology of African Pygmies. New Brunswick NJ and London: Transaction Publishers.
Gordon R. 2017. 'Taming' Bushman farm labour: a villeinous era in neo-feudal Namibia? In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 40(4), pp. 261-275.
Sylvain R. 2015. Foragers and fictions in the Kalahari: Indigenous identities and the politics of deconstruction. In: Anthropological Theory, 15(2), pp. 158178.
Mboti N. 2017. 'Soetwyn': Visuality, Cultural Tourism, Desire Paths and the ?Khomani. In: Visual Anthropology, 30(1), pp. 22-44.
Verbuyst R. 2016. Claiming Cape Town: towards a symbolic interpretation of Khoisan activism and land claims. In: Anthropology Southern Africa, 39(2), pp. 83-96.
Adamczyk C. 2011. ‘Today, I am no Mutwa anymore’: facets of national unity discourse in present-day Rwanda. In: Social Anthropology, 19(2), pp. 175188.
Taylor C.C. 2011. Molders of Mud: Ethnogenesis and Rwanda's Twa. In: Ethnos, 76(2), pp. 183-208.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:40