Bluwstein, Jevgeniy (2019). Resisting Legibility: State and Conservation Boundaries, Pastoralism, and the Risk of Dispossession through Geospatial Surveys in Tanzania. Rural Landscapes: Society, Environment, History, 6(1) Stockholm University Press 10.16993/rl.53
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Bluwstein_2019_Resisting_Legibility._State___Conservation_Boundaries__Pastoralism__Dispossession_in_Tanzania_Kimotorok_Tarangire_Mkungunero.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (6MB) | Preview |
This article illustrates how the introduction of modern geospatial surveying technology in Tanzania has failed to resolve a boundary conflict between the state and nature conservation authorities on one side and a rural community of pastoralists on the other. Far from fixing a contested geography by resurveying its boundaries and facilitating stakeholder participation for conflict resolution, digital cartography has made visible and reanimated the buried history of mismatched and conflicting logics between state-led territorial administration and conservation, and pastoral land use practices. The article shows how state and conservation officials have relied on the insights from fact-finding exercises to dismiss rural land use practices that are not represented in official maps. Pastoralists resist these state- and conservation-centred cartographic practices of fixed boundaries to maintain a historical, vital geography of seasonal access to pastures and water. By way of conclusion, this article highlights the pitfalls of geospatial land surveys and fact-finding exercises that unearth and lay bare a boundary conflict previously hidden from the state’s view. Through enhanced legibility, rural communities may become visible to the state, risking dispossession and evictions.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Social Anthropology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Bluwstein, Jevgeniy |
Subjects: |
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology 900 History > 910 Geography & travel 900 History > 960 History of Africa |
ISSN: |
2002-0104 |
Publisher: |
Stockholm University Press |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Jevgeniy Bluwstein |
Date Deposited: |
06 Feb 2023 11:42 |
Last Modified: |
06 Jul 2023 08:17 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.16993/rl.53 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/177729 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/177729 |
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