Abstract of my thesis

I finished writing my thesis in the summer, after some struggling, some nightshifts and all the pleasureful moments when inspiration strikes. Here is the executive summary:


In this thesis I analyse how rural Basotho in the Butha-Buthe district, Lesotho, claim and use land in relation to their local state institutions and a transfrontier conservation area, the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Project (MDTP). The land claims and uses of rural Basotho are mainly based on their subsistence lifestyle. Land is claimed for agriculture, grazing and residential sites. Besides this they have places that are invested with cultural meaning, e.g. spiritual sites.

It is these claims and uses that are partly contested by the MDTP. The MDTP is a joint project of Lesotho and South Africa with the objectives of biodiversity conservation and economic development of the local population through nature-based tourism across their state borders. Conservation is promoted as land use option through which nature-based tourism as livelihood strategy can emerge. Notwithstanding its intention, I argue that the MDTP zones land to influence and affect the people’s land use. Mapping is an important tool as are pilot project areas, both elements of a process of territorialisation.

The local state is marked by an extended period of unclear jurisdiction and a vacuum in local governance. The election of Community Councils in 2005 was meant to close this gap. These Community Councils claim the right to natural resource management, including the allocation of land and the restriction of its use, in competition with traditional structures. The MDTP strengthens the elected body, mainly by the creation of another, more local advisory body, thus effectively enhancing the presence of the state in the villages. Notwithstanding this standardisation of local land administration, both elected bodies do cooperate with the traditional structure, which has retained much practical power among the local population.

The rural Basotho interact in a variety of patterns with both the state and the MDTP. In the interaction with the local state institutions, the rural Basotho utilise the competing jurisdiction to shop for the appropriate procedure and forum to realise their own end. The interaction with the MDTP takes place as disregard (unawareness and refusal), instrumentalisation, commitment and protest. It is through these patterns of interaction as well as the shopping behaviour that the Basotho claim their agency. They interpret and evaluate what is presented to them by the MDTP and the state against their life projects and livelihood options and then interact via the patterns outlined.

In a wider context, I conclude that development and conservation projects are an alien, external agenda, far removed from people’s culturally and historically constituted life projects. Therefore most of the interaction tends to be in a disregard and instrumentalisation pattern. While promoting community participation, the MDTP is strengthening the state rather than the local population through the creation of new state institutions, leading to a higher state infiltration in spite of a participation and empowerment rhetoric. Further the perception of the current situation in ‘development countries’ is informed by outside agendas, resulting in the application of uniform solutions, such as decentralisation and nature-based tourism. The thesis points to the negotiation that these solutions have to undergo in the local context.

Some more pictures

This is what it looks like when erosion is kept to the minimum here in Lesotho.





Guess what I am crossing here :-)





These are "the girls" as I refer to them sometimes in my notes :-) : the handicraft group and me in Clarens when we had the study trip to RSA.





Here you see me really participating, guess in what? Yepp, in the drinking of traditional beer (made from Sorgum, the local crop) on a Wednesday in the middle of February at 1pm!!!! Some of the people have real problems with alcohol in that they not only drink one glass, but liters... and as I found out in this private 'tavern", they really have fun with it as well. Lots of dancing and loud music was accompanying the drinking. The liter of beer is sold for R2 here.

The countdown is running...

Now the countdown is really running, I only have thirteen days here and then I have to go back and write everything up!!! It is going fast now.

The last days I took some distance and finally caught up with my notes in my laptop so that I have now (nearly) everything digital as well. This note taking does take such a lot of time, when we heard that in our methodology course I was one of the unbelievers, but yes, decent note taking does take as long if not longer than all the interviews and participation time. And I really have the feeling that even at my age the brain can be trained to remember more and more details :-)

At the moment I am again in Pretoria, in a hostel that turns out to be a second home by now, and here with the distance I can think some things through. I have net 9 days of interviewing and participation left and have a list of people that I still want to interview or ask again some more details ... and those who know me will know that the list is far too ambitious for the time left ... and I am anyway going to try it :-)

The value of staying long at one place came to me last Wednesday when one of my key informants in the village revealed that the village I am in has a totally different name and actually is a place of contested headman boundaries!! I was nearly screaming when I heard that, how could that be kept from me for such a long time!! Anyway now that I know it and reading through my notes again, they make even more sense. And the good thing is, I found it and I think this is mainly due to me staying there for a longer time. At one point it has to come out.

Another problem I had the whole time and I continue to have is the language, this relying on translators is not my thing. Should I ever do another research I would need to cater for that differently just for my own sake. I notice myself getting angry when noticing that my translator is not really translating what I am saying or asking.... and yes after a while and some interviews I can actually roughly tell whether he asks "my" questions... Maybe I am just too big a control freak there. What comes with the translation but as well with just a different cultural background is the reflexiveness that people have on their lives and doings and hence how they can tell about them. In some respects this proves to be difficult and makes my research into the power relations really difficult. At the beginning I thought my questions are too conceptual, but even with straightforward questions (as they appear to me) I sometimes look into blank faces. Thus I am still adjusting questions all the time, but I think this is something we all have with anthropology. What I find a pity and what comes with the language issue as well is that informal conversation is a near impossibility and this is on what I really miss out here. Twisting my research questions will do the job of catering for that I hope.

Just reviewed what I wrote and realised that this post does not give much factual information, but a good overview on what I am thinking through at this point in time. As I have done quite some interviews I really hope to dig deeper in the net 9 days that are left and for this I need to reflect on the way I do it.

Beside all this I must say that I have met lots of wonderful people through this research, especially the handicraft group participants become more and more open and less and less shy of asking me questions as well.

Before I close a short big thanks to Sabine for the nice cadeautjes :-)If I find the time I will send some words from Butha-Buthe this week.

Butha - Buthe and the research

Finally online in Butha - Buthe :-)

Research is going at a slower pace now, or at least for the last days and it is still full with going here and there and joining this group or that meeting. And beside all the insitutional involvement I am conducting interviews with the people in the village here. And these are very very revealing.

Once one bypasses the gatekeepers or those involved in the structures, the "normal" people seem not to know or to care abou the projects brought to help them. There is sort of a tiredness of development work, especially because they feel that the follow ups are not done as they would wish it or it is put upon them without considering their needs. I have seen so many consultants by now, and talked to people that are involved in development work that I can understand the villagers.

Yesterday was one of the highlights of my research, I went to Clarens, RSA with "my" handicraft group on a study trip. This was a real adventure, first of all, be advised to find a taxi that has a permit otherwise you will be forced to go back, second make sure the taxi does not only have a permit, but the right one, otherwise you have to turned round as well.... or just take the next border post when one border post is too strict and will not let you pass, and that is what we did. To make it a real participant observation, it was myself having problems at the border to cross the first time into Lesotho (because of the wrong permit we had to turn round). When crossing back for the second time into Lesotho at the very same border post just with another official (a man that already knows me from all the crossings I did) I had no problems whatsoever and if even was granted another 30 days. These were very nice insights into the border procedures and crossings.

More of my findings when I am back to a decent Internet connection. What I found is that now that I stay, I have sort of 5 key informants that are my translators at the same time. As these have different backgrounds, I can do a very good triangulation with them and as well see where their background makes them thinking differently and therefore giving me different information. This sounds very technical, and I do really appreciate all their help, some of them let me look deep into their lives, although they are all not "rural rural" and good educated.

Shortly before I interrupt to go back to my interviews, the elections so far were quite smooth. But now the two parties that lost ABC and BNP are contesting the results and some of my people here said, that something could break out, so I am vigilant at this point. Especially because the elections of 1998 ended in big riots in this country. And no worries, I am vigilant and have friends that will let me know when I have to leave.

All the best and you will hear back from my next break in Pretoria next week!

... the last one for today: the weather!

This is a picture from our drive last night, while we were heading into the thunder/lightning blackness to our front/right, to the back/left one could see the sun going down in a beautiful orange sunset.

Initiation School

This picture shows a group of girls and women during their initiation school. We met them on our way from Liqobong back to Butha Buthe. Initiation school lasts for around 4 months, what exactly happens during this period is a secret, participation is not mandatory and the 'schools' are let by women who had taken part themselves.

The "Border"

On this picture you can see my research area and "object", the border in form of this tiny little river in the middle of the picture. The picture is taken from the South African side, so the dirt road you see is Lesotho and the one I took yesterday with a 4x4 up to the Liqobong area. The tared road on the right side is the road of South Africa.