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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Land Struggles and the Politics and Ethics of Representing 'Bushman' History and Identity
Author:Robins, Steven
Year:2000
Periodical:Kronos: Journal of Cape History
Issue:26
Pages:56-75
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:images
San
ethnicity
land reform
Ethnic and Race Relations
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
History and Exploration
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/41056410
Abstract:This article traces the shifting contours of Khoisan history and identity during the course of land struggles in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa over the last decade of the 20th century. It draws attention to the fact that San communities have actively negotiated the form of their encounters with journalists, tourists, museum curators, lawyers, NGOs and academics. Far from being passive objects of 'othering' discourses imposed from 'above', the San have exercised considerable agency in their interactions with outsiders. After an outline of the history of 'Bushmen' myths, which portray Khoi and San as 'harmless people' living close to nature in egalitarian and peaceful hunter-gatherer bands, the article discusses the way in which these myths have contributed to the construction of an imagined 'great divide' between 'traditional' and 'Western' 'Bushmen'. It then describes recent developments at the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park which show how primordialist portrayals of San tradition and tribal identity enhanced the success of Khoisan land claim submissions. By analysing San leadership profiles and styles the discussion accounts for how the divide between 'traditional' and 'Western' 'Bushmen' was asserted 'from below' as part of a repertoire of strategies deployed in struggles over access to scarce resources in the 1990s. Notes, ref.
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