Extracted from text ... African Water Histories: Transdisciplinary Discourses. Edited by J.W.N. T... more Extracted from text ... African Water Histories: Transdisciplinary Discourses. Edited by J.W.N. TEMPELHOFF. Vanderbijlpark: Northwest University, 2005. x + 368 pp. ISBN 0 620 34742 2. Whether it is about its scarcity or over-abundance, production or distribution, water resources are, perhaps, one of the subjects which possess the ability to unite, transcend, or even transgress disciplinary boundaries. Despite transdisciplinarity having become topical of late, there have not been any comprehensive works written on the history of water in southern Africa in its multifaceted dimensions. African Water Histories is the first attempt to plug this gap. The book is a collection of 14 chapters selected ..
This essay counters the growing tendency in current scholarship to attribute nearly all the endur... more This essay counters the growing tendency in current scholarship to attribute nearly all the enduring water scarcity problems to climate change. Focusing on Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, this essay contends that recurrent water crises can only really be understood within the contentious, long, and complex history of water politics in the capital city from the colonial to the postcolonial period. Although the colonial and postcolonial states in Zimbabwe had very different ideological and racial policies, for various reasons, neither was willing nor able to provide adequate supplies of water to the urban poor even as water was abundant in the city's reservoirs. It posits that while the colonial government racialized access to water by restricting its use by urban Africans, the postcolonial government failed to change the colonial patterns of urban water distribution and did little to increase water supplies to keep pace with a swiftly growing urban population and a geographi...
This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate cha... more This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate change are socially and historically grounded in ordinary people's lived experiences and are embedded in specific fields of power. Here we specifically delineate four critical dimensions in which the water crises confronting the African continent in an age of climate change are clearly expressed: the increasing scarcity, privatization, and commodification of water in urban centers; the impact of large dams on the countryside; the health consequences of water shortages and how they, in turn, affect other aspects of people's experiences, sociopolitical dynamics, and well-being, broadly conceived; and water governance and the politics of water at the local, national, and transnational levels. These overarching themes form the collective basis for the host of essays in this volume that provide rich accounts of conflicts and struggles over water use and how these tensions have been mitig...
The drought which afflicted colonial Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia until 1980) during the peri... more The drought which afflicted colonial Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia until 1980) during the period, 1964–1966, in general and Southwestern (SW) Matabeleland, in particular was perhaps the most debilitating calamity in the colonial era than any other drought, yet it has remained unrecognized and hidden in the opaque shadows of Zimbabwe's colonial history. Despite the occurrence of many droughts and other ecological disasters in Zimbabwe, there have not been, any historical studies dedicated to understanding these calamities, let alone studies that interrogate the ways in which climate and society have interacted to determine how they (disasters) have been historically produced. This paper responds to recent calls by scholars on drought research for more textured histories of environmental disasters that dispense with the practice of treating climate as a mono-causal explanation for disasters and present studies that highlight the intricate interaction between climate variability...
... The manager's source of power and authority Rogers rose to the position of &#x27... more ... The manager's source of power and authority Rogers rose to the position of 'Manager of Native Administration' in Langa in 1938 after a stint in township administration as Assistant Superintendent. He suceeded the first 'Superintendent of Natives' in Langa, GP Cook. ...
In 2003, scholars who participated in a session on urban history in Africa during a broader collo... more In 2003, scholars who participated in a session on urban history in Africa during a broader colloquium noted some weaknesses in South African historiography.'Among the shortcomings noted was the perpetual dearth in histories ofwhole South African towns— ...
Extracted from text ... African Water Histories: Transdisciplinary Discourses. Edited by J.W.N. T... more Extracted from text ... African Water Histories: Transdisciplinary Discourses. Edited by J.W.N. TEMPELHOFF. Vanderbijlpark: Northwest University, 2005. x + 368 pp. ISBN 0 620 34742 2. Whether it is about its scarcity or over-abundance, production or distribution, water resources are, perhaps, one of the subjects which possess the ability to unite, transcend, or even transgress disciplinary boundaries. Despite transdisciplinarity having become topical of late, there have not been any comprehensive works written on the history of water in southern Africa in its multifaceted dimensions. African Water Histories is the first attempt to plug this gap. The book is a collection of 14 chapters selected ..
This essay counters the growing tendency in current scholarship to attribute nearly all the endur... more This essay counters the growing tendency in current scholarship to attribute nearly all the enduring water scarcity problems to climate change. Focusing on Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, this essay contends that recurrent water crises can only really be understood within the contentious, long, and complex history of water politics in the capital city from the colonial to the postcolonial period. Although the colonial and postcolonial states in Zimbabwe had very different ideological and racial policies, for various reasons, neither was willing nor able to provide adequate supplies of water to the urban poor even as water was abundant in the city's reservoirs. It posits that while the colonial government racialized access to water by restricting its use by urban Africans, the postcolonial government failed to change the colonial patterns of urban water distribution and did little to increase water supplies to keep pace with a swiftly growing urban population and a geographi...
This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate cha... more This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate change are socially and historically grounded in ordinary people's lived experiences and are embedded in specific fields of power. Here we specifically delineate four critical dimensions in which the water crises confronting the African continent in an age of climate change are clearly expressed: the increasing scarcity, privatization, and commodification of water in urban centers; the impact of large dams on the countryside; the health consequences of water shortages and how they, in turn, affect other aspects of people's experiences, sociopolitical dynamics, and well-being, broadly conceived; and water governance and the politics of water at the local, national, and transnational levels. These overarching themes form the collective basis for the host of essays in this volume that provide rich accounts of conflicts and struggles over water use and how these tensions have been mitig...
The drought which afflicted colonial Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia until 1980) during the peri... more The drought which afflicted colonial Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia until 1980) during the period, 1964–1966, in general and Southwestern (SW) Matabeleland, in particular was perhaps the most debilitating calamity in the colonial era than any other drought, yet it has remained unrecognized and hidden in the opaque shadows of Zimbabwe's colonial history. Despite the occurrence of many droughts and other ecological disasters in Zimbabwe, there have not been, any historical studies dedicated to understanding these calamities, let alone studies that interrogate the ways in which climate and society have interacted to determine how they (disasters) have been historically produced. This paper responds to recent calls by scholars on drought research for more textured histories of environmental disasters that dispense with the practice of treating climate as a mono-causal explanation for disasters and present studies that highlight the intricate interaction between climate variability...
... The manager's source of power and authority Rogers rose to the position of &#x27... more ... The manager's source of power and authority Rogers rose to the position of 'Manager of Native Administration' in Langa in 1938 after a stint in township administration as Assistant Superintendent. He suceeded the first 'Superintendent of Natives' in Langa, GP Cook. ...
In 2003, scholars who participated in a session on urban history in Africa during a broader collo... more In 2003, scholars who participated in a session on urban history in Africa during a broader colloquium noted some weaknesses in South African historiography.'Among the shortcomings noted was the perpetual dearth in histories ofwhole South African towns— ...
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