The theory and politics of mountain rangeland conservation and pastoral development in colonial Lesotho
During the 1930s and 1940s there was a huge increase in state interventions into the African rural economy, society and environment by both British colonial and settler governments. These interventions, carried out in the name of conservation and development, have received increased attention from historians in recent years, crucially because of the often violent opposition they encountered from the supposed beneficiaries, but also because of the apparent continuity between colonial and postcolonial development interventions. This thesis traces the history of colonial conservation and development policies in the mountain zone of Lesotho. As the vast majority of the area is given over to communal grazing it is hardly surprising that these interventions concentrated almost exclusively on the livestock sector. The major colonial intervention in the mountain livestock sector consisted of a policy to close totally a huge swathe of communal grazing land, in order to allow the range to return to its 'climatic climax'. The discourse of conservation and development in Lesotho was broadly similar to elsewhere in Africa, though the specific policies were largely shaped by local concerns. The thesis traces the development
Driver, Thackwray Sebastian
The theory and politics of mountain rangeland conservation and pastoral development in colonial Lesotho. During the 1930s and 1940s there was a huge increase in state interventions into the African rural economy, society and environment by both British colonial and settler governments. These interventions, carried out in the name of conservation and development, have received increased attention from historians in recent years, crucially because of the often violent opposition they encountered from the supposed beneficiaries, but also because of the apparent continuity between colonial and postcolonial development interventions. This thesis traces the history of colonial conservation and development policies in the mountain zone of Lesotho. As the vast majority of the area is given over to communal grazing it is hardly surprising that these interventions concentrated almost exclusively on the livestock sector. The major colonial intervention in the mountain livestock sector consisted of a policy to close totally a huge swathe of communal grazing land, in order to allow the range to return to its 'climatic climax'. The discourse of conservation and development in Lesotho was broadly similar to elsewhere in Africa, though the specific policies were largely shaped by local concerns. The thesis traces the development
theory politics mountain conservation pastoral development colonial huge increase state_intervention african rural_economy society environment british_colonial settler government intervention carry name conservation development receive increased attention_historian crucially often violent opposition encounter beneficiary also apparent continuity colonial postcolonial development intervention trace_history colonial conservation development policy mountain zone vast_majority area give communal hardly surprising intervention concentrate almost_exclusively livestock sector major colonial intervention mountain livestock sector consist policy close totally huge communal land order allow range return climatic climax discourse conservation development broadly similar elsewhere africa though specific policy largely shape local concern trace_development