Decolonizing Maasai History

Decolonizing Maasai History

Author: Meitamei Dapash

Publisher: Zed Books

Published: 2024-08-22

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781350427440

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Among Western historians, it remains common to deny the historical existence of the Maasai as a people with a dense and complex culture and polity. Within Kenya, this denial is used to rationalize the continued seizure and occupation of Maasai land, which is key to the extractive agendas of the Kenyan state. This denialist version of the history is flatly contradicted by the colonial sources through which it was built, as well as by the Maasai's own rich and deep oral history, which it ignores. However, as Maasai exist far from the centers of knowledge production empowered to define them, it has largely remained unchallenged. Until now. Here the prominent Maasai leader and activist Meitamei Dapash, along with the Maasai people he represents, teams with renowned historian Mary Poole to offer the Maasai side of the story. Through their rich and detailed narrative, we learn not only about the history of the Maasai as they understand it, but also about the politics of Western history; about the specific ways that historical study was used as a weapon against Maasai people; about the untold history of Kenya both pre- and post-nationhood; about why the creation of nation-states is not synonymous with liberation; and about how and why Indigenous approaches to land obstruct global processes of resource extraction. Ultimately, what is offered is not only a new version of Maasai history, but also a new, clearly articulated case for how the lens of settler colonialism upends received narratives of post-“independence” Africa and offers opportunities for the emancipation of Indigenous communities from neo-colonial regimes the world over. For its groundbreaking new insights into Maasai history and its bold interventions into Indigenous studies more broadly, Decolonizing Maasai History is a must-read for scholars and students of African studies and Indigenous studies, as well as for Maasai and other Indigenous peoples fighting for decolonization.


Book Synopsis Decolonizing Maasai History by : Meitamei Dapash

Download or read book Decolonizing Maasai History written by Meitamei Dapash and published by Zed Books. This book was released on 2024-08-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among Western historians, it remains common to deny the historical existence of the Maasai as a people with a dense and complex culture and polity. Within Kenya, this denial is used to rationalize the continued seizure and occupation of Maasai land, which is key to the extractive agendas of the Kenyan state. This denialist version of the history is flatly contradicted by the colonial sources through which it was built, as well as by the Maasai's own rich and deep oral history, which it ignores. However, as Maasai exist far from the centers of knowledge production empowered to define them, it has largely remained unchallenged. Until now. Here the prominent Maasai leader and activist Meitamei Dapash, along with the Maasai people he represents, teams with renowned historian Mary Poole to offer the Maasai side of the story. Through their rich and detailed narrative, we learn not only about the history of the Maasai as they understand it, but also about the politics of Western history; about the specific ways that historical study was used as a weapon against Maasai people; about the untold history of Kenya both pre- and post-nationhood; about why the creation of nation-states is not synonymous with liberation; and about how and why Indigenous approaches to land obstruct global processes of resource extraction. Ultimately, what is offered is not only a new version of Maasai history, but also a new, clearly articulated case for how the lens of settler colonialism upends received narratives of post-“independence” Africa and offers opportunities for the emancipation of Indigenous communities from neo-colonial regimes the world over. For its groundbreaking new insights into Maasai history and its bold interventions into Indigenous studies more broadly, Decolonizing Maasai History is a must-read for scholars and students of African studies and Indigenous studies, as well as for Maasai and other Indigenous peoples fighting for decolonization.


Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa

Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa

Author: Peter R. Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-17

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1317220749

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This volume provides new insights into the distinctive contributions that community archaeology and heritage make to the decolonization of archaeological practice. Using innovative approaches, the contributors explore important initiatives which have protected and revitalized local heritage, initiatives that involved archaeologists as co-producers rather than leaders. These case studies underline the need completely reshape archaeological practice, engaging local and indigenous communities in regular dialogue and recognizing their distinctive needs, in order to break away from the top-down power relationships that have previously characterized archaeology in Africa. Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa reflects a determined effort to change how archaeology is taught to future generations. Through community-based participatory approaches, archaeologists and heritage professionals can benefit from shared resources and local knowledge; and by sharing decision-making with members of local communities, archaeological inquiry can enhance their way of life, ameliorate their human rights concerns, and meet their daily needs to build better futures. Exchanging traditional power structures for research design and implementation, the examples outlined in this volume demonstrate the discipline’s exciting capacity to move forward to achieve its potential as a broader, more accessible, and more inclusive field.


Book Synopsis Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa by : Peter R. Schmidt

Download or read book Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa written by Peter R. Schmidt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-17 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides new insights into the distinctive contributions that community archaeology and heritage make to the decolonization of archaeological practice. Using innovative approaches, the contributors explore important initiatives which have protected and revitalized local heritage, initiatives that involved archaeologists as co-producers rather than leaders. These case studies underline the need completely reshape archaeological practice, engaging local and indigenous communities in regular dialogue and recognizing their distinctive needs, in order to break away from the top-down power relationships that have previously characterized archaeology in Africa. Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa reflects a determined effort to change how archaeology is taught to future generations. Through community-based participatory approaches, archaeologists and heritage professionals can benefit from shared resources and local knowledge; and by sharing decision-making with members of local communities, archaeological inquiry can enhance their way of life, ameliorate their human rights concerns, and meet their daily needs to build better futures. Exchanging traditional power structures for research design and implementation, the examples outlined in this volume demonstrate the discipline’s exciting capacity to move forward to achieve its potential as a broader, more accessible, and more inclusive field.


Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities

Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities

Author: Bernd Reiter

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-12-30

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 1000518744

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In Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities Bernd Reiter contributes to the ongoing efforts to decolonize the social sciences and humanities, by arguing that true decolonization implies a liberation from the elite culture that Western civilization has perpetually promoted. Reiter brings together lessons learned from field research on a Colombian indigenous society, a maroon society, also in Colombia, from Afro-Brazilian religion, from Spanish Anarchism, and from German Council democracy, and from analyzing non-Western ontologies and epistemologies in general. He claims that once these lessons are absorbed, it becomes clear that Western civilization has advanced individualization and elitism. The chapters present the case that human beings are able to rule themselves, and have done so for some 300,000 years, before the Neolithic Revolution. Self-rule and rule by councils is our default option once we rid ourselves of leaders and rulers. Reiter concludes by considering the massive manipulations and the heinous divisions that political elitism, dressed in the form of representative democracy, has brought us, and implores us to seek true freedom and democracy by liberating ourselves from political elites and taking on political responsibilities. Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities is written for students, scholars, and social justice activists across cultural anthropology, sociology, geography, Latin American Studies, Africana Studies, and political science.


Book Synopsis Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities by : Bernd Reiter

Download or read book Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities written by Bernd Reiter and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities Bernd Reiter contributes to the ongoing efforts to decolonize the social sciences and humanities, by arguing that true decolonization implies a liberation from the elite culture that Western civilization has perpetually promoted. Reiter brings together lessons learned from field research on a Colombian indigenous society, a maroon society, also in Colombia, from Afro-Brazilian religion, from Spanish Anarchism, and from German Council democracy, and from analyzing non-Western ontologies and epistemologies in general. He claims that once these lessons are absorbed, it becomes clear that Western civilization has advanced individualization and elitism. The chapters present the case that human beings are able to rule themselves, and have done so for some 300,000 years, before the Neolithic Revolution. Self-rule and rule by councils is our default option once we rid ourselves of leaders and rulers. Reiter concludes by considering the massive manipulations and the heinous divisions that political elitism, dressed in the form of representative democracy, has brought us, and implores us to seek true freedom and democracy by liberating ourselves from political elites and taking on political responsibilities. Decolonizing the Social Sciences and the Humanities is written for students, scholars, and social justice activists across cultural anthropology, sociology, geography, Latin American Studies, Africana Studies, and political science.


Narrating Nature

Narrating Nature

Author: Mara Jill Goldman

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2020-11-03

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0816539677

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The current environmental crises demand that we revisit dominant approaches for understanding nature-society relations. Narrating Nature brings together various ways of knowing nature from differently situated Maasai and conservation practitioners and scientists into lively debate. It speaks to the growing movement within the academy and beyond on decolonizing knowledge about and relationships with nature, and debates within the social sciences on how to work across epistemologies and ontologies. It also speaks to a growing need within conservation studies to find ways to manage nature with people. This book employs different storytelling practices, including a traditional Maasai oral meeting—the enkiguena—to decenter conventional scientific ways of communicating about, knowing, and managing nature. Author Mara J. Goldman draws on more than two decades of deep ethnographic and ecological engagements in the semi-arid rangelands of East Africa—in landscapes inhabited by pastoral and agropastoral Maasai people and heavily utilized by wildlife. These iconic landscapes have continuously been subjected to boundary drawing practices by outsiders, separating out places for people (villages) from places for nature (protected areas). Narrating Nature follows the resulting boundary crossings that regularly occur—of people, wildlife, and knowledge—to expose them not as transgressions but as opportunities to complicate the categories themselves and create ontological openings for knowing and being with nature otherwise. Narrating Nature opens up dialogue that counters traditional conservation narratives by providing space for local Maasai inhabitants to share their ways of knowing and being with nature. It moves beyond standard community conservation narratives that see local people as beneficiaries or contributors to conservation, to demonstrate how they are essential knowledgeable members of the conservation landscape itself.


Book Synopsis Narrating Nature by : Mara Jill Goldman

Download or read book Narrating Nature written by Mara Jill Goldman and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current environmental crises demand that we revisit dominant approaches for understanding nature-society relations. Narrating Nature brings together various ways of knowing nature from differently situated Maasai and conservation practitioners and scientists into lively debate. It speaks to the growing movement within the academy and beyond on decolonizing knowledge about and relationships with nature, and debates within the social sciences on how to work across epistemologies and ontologies. It also speaks to a growing need within conservation studies to find ways to manage nature with people. This book employs different storytelling practices, including a traditional Maasai oral meeting—the enkiguena—to decenter conventional scientific ways of communicating about, knowing, and managing nature. Author Mara J. Goldman draws on more than two decades of deep ethnographic and ecological engagements in the semi-arid rangelands of East Africa—in landscapes inhabited by pastoral and agropastoral Maasai people and heavily utilized by wildlife. These iconic landscapes have continuously been subjected to boundary drawing practices by outsiders, separating out places for people (villages) from places for nature (protected areas). Narrating Nature follows the resulting boundary crossings that regularly occur—of people, wildlife, and knowledge—to expose them not as transgressions but as opportunities to complicate the categories themselves and create ontological openings for knowing and being with nature otherwise. Narrating Nature opens up dialogue that counters traditional conservation narratives by providing space for local Maasai inhabitants to share their ways of knowing and being with nature. It moves beyond standard community conservation narratives that see local people as beneficiaries or contributors to conservation, to demonstrate how they are essential knowledgeable members of the conservation landscape itself.


Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93

Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93

Author: Bethwell A. Ogot

Publisher: Ohio State University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780821410516

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This is a sharply observed assessment of the history of the last half century by a distinguished group of historians of Kenya. At the same time the book is a courageous reflection in the dilemmas of African nationhood. Professor B. A. Ogot says: "The main purpose of the book is to show that decolonization does not only mean the transfer of alien power to sovereign nationhood; it must also entail the liberation of the worlds of spirit and culture, as well as economics and politics. "The book also raises a more fundamental question, that is: How much independence is available to any state, national economy or culture in today's world? It asks how far are Africa's miseries linked to the colonial past and to the process of decolonization? "In particular the book raises the basic question of how far Kenya is avoidably neo-colonial? And what does neo-colonial dependence mean? The book answers these questions by discussing the dynamic between the politics of decolonization, the social history of class formation and the economics of dependence. The book ends with a provocative epilogue discussing the transformation of the post-colonial state from a single-party to a multi-party system."


Book Synopsis Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93 by : Bethwell A. Ogot

Download or read book Decolonization & Independence in Kenya, 1940-93 written by Bethwell A. Ogot and published by Ohio State University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a sharply observed assessment of the history of the last half century by a distinguished group of historians of Kenya. At the same time the book is a courageous reflection in the dilemmas of African nationhood. Professor B. A. Ogot says: "The main purpose of the book is to show that decolonization does not only mean the transfer of alien power to sovereign nationhood; it must also entail the liberation of the worlds of spirit and culture, as well as economics and politics. "The book also raises a more fundamental question, that is: How much independence is available to any state, national economy or culture in today's world? It asks how far are Africa's miseries linked to the colonial past and to the process of decolonization? "In particular the book raises the basic question of how far Kenya is avoidably neo-colonial? And what does neo-colonial dependence mean? The book answers these questions by discussing the dynamic between the politics of decolonization, the social history of class formation and the economics of dependence. The book ends with a provocative epilogue discussing the transformation of the post-colonial state from a single-party to a multi-party system."


Decolonizing Childhoods

Decolonizing Childhoods

Author: Liebel, Manfred

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2020-05-06

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1447356438

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European colonization of other continents has had far-reaching and lasting consequences for the construction of childhoods and children’s lives throughout the world. Liebel presents critical postcolonial and decolonial thought currents along with international case studies from countries in Africa, Latin America, and former British settler colonies to examine the complex and multiple ways that children throughout the Global South continue to live with the legacy of colonialism. Building on the work of Cannella and Viruru, he explores how these children are affected by unequal power relations, paternalistic policies and violence by state and non-state actors, before showing how we can work to ensure that children’s rights are better promoted and protected, globally.


Book Synopsis Decolonizing Childhoods by : Liebel, Manfred

Download or read book Decolonizing Childhoods written by Liebel, Manfred and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2020-05-06 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: European colonization of other continents has had far-reaching and lasting consequences for the construction of childhoods and children’s lives throughout the world. Liebel presents critical postcolonial and decolonial thought currents along with international case studies from countries in Africa, Latin America, and former British settler colonies to examine the complex and multiple ways that children throughout the Global South continue to live with the legacy of colonialism. Building on the work of Cannella and Viruru, he explores how these children are affected by unequal power relations, paternalistic policies and violence by state and non-state actors, before showing how we can work to ensure that children’s rights are better promoted and protected, globally.


Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies

Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies

Author: Paula D. Royster

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-11-23

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9004446125

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Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies: Researching the Africa Diaspora introduces Ancestorology, a new interdisciplinary research methodology that juxtaposes Western cultural productions of history with the lived experiences of the African Diaspora.


Book Synopsis Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies by : Paula D. Royster

Download or read book Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies written by Paula D. Royster and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-11-23 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decolonizing Arts-Based Methodologies: Researching the Africa Diaspora introduces Ancestorology, a new interdisciplinary research methodology that juxtaposes Western cultural productions of history with the lived experiences of the African Diaspora.


Decolonizing Nature

Decolonizing Nature

Author: William Mark Adams

Publisher: Earthscan

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1849770921

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British imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control of natural resources and nature itself. Colonial ideologies were expressed not only in the progressive exploitation of nature but also in the emerging discourses of conservation.At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is of undiminished importance in post-colonial societies, yet the legacy of colonial thinking endures. What should conservation look like today, and what (indeed, whose) ideas should it be based upon?Decolonizing Nature explores the influence of the colonial legacy on contemporary conservation and on ideas about the relationships between people, polities and nature in countries and cultures that were once part of the British Empire. It locates the historical development of the theory and practice of conservation - at both the periphery and the centre - firmly within the context of this legacy, and considers its significance today. It highlights the present and future challenges to conservationists of contemporary global neo-colonialismThe contributors to this volume include both academics and conservation practitioners. They provide wide-ranging and insightful perspectives on the need for, and practical ways to achieve new forms of informed ethical engagement between people and nature.


Book Synopsis Decolonizing Nature by : William Mark Adams

Download or read book Decolonizing Nature written by William Mark Adams and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2003 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control of natural resources and nature itself. Colonial ideologies were expressed not only in the progressive exploitation of nature but also in the emerging discourses of conservation.At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is of undiminished importance in post-colonial societies, yet the legacy of colonial thinking endures. What should conservation look like today, and what (indeed, whose) ideas should it be based upon?Decolonizing Nature explores the influence of the colonial legacy on contemporary conservation and on ideas about the relationships between people, polities and nature in countries and cultures that were once part of the British Empire. It locates the historical development of the theory and practice of conservation - at both the periphery and the centre - firmly within the context of this legacy, and considers its significance today. It highlights the present and future challenges to conservationists of contemporary global neo-colonialismThe contributors to this volume include both academics and conservation practitioners. They provide wide-ranging and insightful perspectives on the need for, and practical ways to achieve new forms of informed ethical engagement between people and nature.


The Idea of Development in Africa

The Idea of Development in Africa

Author: Corrie Decker

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-10-29

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 110710369X

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An engaging history of how the idea of development has shaped Africa's past and present encounters with the West.


Book Synopsis The Idea of Development in Africa by : Corrie Decker

Download or read book The Idea of Development in Africa written by Corrie Decker and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-29 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging history of how the idea of development has shaped Africa's past and present encounters with the West.


The Contested Lands of Laikipia

The Contested Lands of Laikipia

Author: Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-11-16

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 9004435204

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Explore the violence and conflict that lead up to the land invasions prior to Kenya's 2017 general election. The Contested Lands of Laikipia tells how, and why, land claims and ethnic categories became increasingly politicized here over the past century.


Book Synopsis The Contested Lands of Laikipia by : Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Download or read book The Contested Lands of Laikipia written by Marie Ladekjær Gravesen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-11-16 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the violence and conflict that lead up to the land invasions prior to Kenya's 2017 general election. The Contested Lands of Laikipia tells how, and why, land claims and ethnic categories became increasingly politicized here over the past century.