"Ancient and Backward or Long-Lived and Sustainable?" The Role of the Past in Debates Concerning Rural Livelihoods and Resource Conservation in Eastern Africa

TY - JOUR

T1 - "Ancient and Backward or Long-Lived and Sustainable?" The Role of the Past in Debates Concerning Rural Livelihoods and Resource Conservation in Eastern Africa

AU - Stump, Daryl

PY - 2010/9

Y1 - 2010/9

N2 - Attempts by external agencies to intervene in the operation of local resource exploitation strategies frequently include reference to historical arguments. These vary in accuracy and sophistication but are nevertheless rhetorically useful since discussions of economic or environmental sustainability or degradation are substantially strengthened by historical comparisons and precedents. Focussing on examples of indigenous intensive agriculture in eastern Africa, this paper agues that relevant evidence of this sort is often unavailable or far from unambiguous. It is therefore necessary to be critical of the ways in which perceptions of the past are invoked within these discourses, and to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of historical arguments in this regard. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AB - Attempts by external agencies to intervene in the operation of local resource exploitation strategies frequently include reference to historical arguments. These vary in accuracy and sophistication but are nevertheless rhetorically useful since discussions of economic or environmental sustainability or degradation are substantially strengthened by historical comparisons and precedents. Focussing on examples of indigenous intensive agriculture in eastern Africa, this paper agues that relevant evidence of this sort is often unavailable or far from unambiguous. It is therefore necessary to be critical of the ways in which perceptions of the past are invoked within these discourses, and to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of historical arguments in this regard. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

KW - historical ecology

KW - archeology

KW - intensive agriculture

KW - indigenous knowledge

KW - east Africa

KW - AGRICULTURAL HISTORY

KW - APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

KW - USAMBARA MOUNTAINS

KW - SOIL-CONSERVATION

KW - COVER CHANGE

KW - TANZANIA

KW - KNOWLEDGE

KW - KENYA

KW - ENVIRONMENT

KW - IRRIGATION

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952932690&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.02.007

DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.02.007

M3 - Article

SN - 0305-750X

VL - 38

SP - 1251

EP - 1262

JO - World Development

JF - World Development

IS - 9

ER -