Towards an understanding of Amayeza esiXhosa stores (African chemists): how they operate, and the services they offer in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2096 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002659 , Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In medical anthropology there has been a tendency to dichotomize western biomedical . healtb services, on the one hand, and traditional health care practices on the other. Much attention has been focused on the comparison between these two approaches in the hope that they might be reconciled. The problem with this approach is twofold. In the first place, it has not always acknowledged the local, historic~1, political and economic contexts in which different approaches to health care have evolved and in the second place, health care services which belong to neither the western nor traditional healing spheres and which are driven by commercial interests have been almost completely neglected because they fall outside of the basic dichotomy. Amayeza stores have been a feature of South African towns and cities for many years. They mayor may not be run by Africans, but their clientele is almost exclusively African in this region. They deal in a bewildering variety of products and remedies, from untreated herbal and animal products to pharmaceuticals specially prepared for the African market, to Dutch and Indian Remedies. These stores both reflect transfonnations in indigenous perceptions of health care and, by virtue of the choices they offer, generate change. In this empirical study three stores in the Eastern Cape are selected for detailed study - two in King William's Town, the regional capital, and one in the small town of Peddie. The approach is holistic, emphasizing the social, political and economic context, the business histories and running of each shop, and, in particular, the perceptions and choices of a sample of the customers in each case. The success of the amayeza phenomenon derives from its eclecticism and syncretism. These stores impose neither a western nor a traditional model of health care on their clients, but offer them a range of choices that reflects the complex multicultural history of their own South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2096 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002659 , Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In medical anthropology there has been a tendency to dichotomize western biomedical . healtb services, on the one hand, and traditional health care practices on the other. Much attention has been focused on the comparison between these two approaches in the hope that they might be reconciled. The problem with this approach is twofold. In the first place, it has not always acknowledged the local, historic~1, political and economic contexts in which different approaches to health care have evolved and in the second place, health care services which belong to neither the western nor traditional healing spheres and which are driven by commercial interests have been almost completely neglected because they fall outside of the basic dichotomy. Amayeza stores have been a feature of South African towns and cities for many years. They mayor may not be run by Africans, but their clientele is almost exclusively African in this region. They deal in a bewildering variety of products and remedies, from untreated herbal and animal products to pharmaceuticals specially prepared for the African market, to Dutch and Indian Remedies. These stores both reflect transfonnations in indigenous perceptions of health care and, by virtue of the choices they offer, generate change. In this empirical study three stores in the Eastern Cape are selected for detailed study - two in King William's Town, the regional capital, and one in the small town of Peddie. The approach is holistic, emphasizing the social, political and economic context, the business histories and running of each shop, and, in particular, the perceptions and choices of a sample of the customers in each case. The success of the amayeza phenomenon derives from its eclecticism and syncretism. These stores impose neither a western nor a traditional model of health care on their clients, but offer them a range of choices that reflects the complex multicultural history of their own South African society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
Urban Nature: Enriching Belonging, Wellbeing and Bioculture
- Cocks, Michelle L, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175698 , vital:42616 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: This book showcases the diversity of ways in which urban residents from varying cultural contexts view, interact, engage with and give meaning to urban nature, aiming to counterbalance the dominance of Western depictions and values of urban nature and design. Urban nature has up to now largely been defined, planned and managed in a way that is heavily dominated by Western understandings, values and appreciations, which has spread through colonialism and globalisation. As cities increasingly represent a diversity of cultures, and urban nature is being increasingly recognised as contributing to residents' wellbeing, belonging and overall quality of life, it is important to consider the numerous ways in which urban nature is understood and appreciated. This collection of case studies includes examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and reflects on the multi-dimensional aspects of engagements with urban nature through a biocultural diversity lens.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175698 , vital:42616 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: This book showcases the diversity of ways in which urban residents from varying cultural contexts view, interact, engage with and give meaning to urban nature, aiming to counterbalance the dominance of Western depictions and values of urban nature and design. Urban nature has up to now largely been defined, planned and managed in a way that is heavily dominated by Western understandings, values and appreciations, which has spread through colonialism and globalisation. As cities increasingly represent a diversity of cultures, and urban nature is being increasingly recognised as contributing to residents' wellbeing, belonging and overall quality of life, it is important to consider the numerous ways in which urban nature is understood and appreciated. This collection of case studies includes examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and reflects on the multi-dimensional aspects of engagements with urban nature through a biocultural diversity lens.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
From universal to local: perspectives on cultural landscape heritage in South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Vetter, Susan M, Wiersum, K Frerrk
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susan M , Wiersum, K Frerrk
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141150 , vital:37948 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1362573
- Description: The concept of cultural landscapes relates to the multifaceted links between people, place and identity. From a professional perspective, the concept refers to a category of designated conservation areas with specific biocultural heritage values. From a local perspective, it may refer to a landscape that is associated with the provision of a culturally-specific sense of identity and belonging. We explore these two perspectives through a comparative analysis of three cultural landscapes in South Africa, the ‘expert’ designated Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and the local associative landscape of emaXhoseni, which is not formally recognised. We propose that a biocultural diversity perspective of heritage not only recognises the inextricable relationship between nature and culture, but it also gives prominence to the beliefs, values and practices of local people, and to strengthening their agency to safeguard their heritage in ways and forms that are relevant to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susan M , Wiersum, K Frerrk
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141150 , vital:37948 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1362573
- Description: The concept of cultural landscapes relates to the multifaceted links between people, place and identity. From a professional perspective, the concept refers to a category of designated conservation areas with specific biocultural heritage values. From a local perspective, it may refer to a landscape that is associated with the provision of a culturally-specific sense of identity and belonging. We explore these two perspectives through a comparative analysis of three cultural landscapes in South Africa, the ‘expert’ designated Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and the local associative landscape of emaXhoseni, which is not formally recognised. We propose that a biocultural diversity perspective of heritage not only recognises the inextricable relationship between nature and culture, but it also gives prominence to the beliefs, values and practices of local people, and to strengthening their agency to safeguard their heritage in ways and forms that are relevant to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Ways of belonging: meanings of “Nature” among Xhosa-speaking township residents in South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Alexander, Jamie K, Mogano, Lydia, Vetter, Susan M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Mogano, Lydia , Vetter, Susan M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66021 , vital:28877 , https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820
- Description: publisher version , The concept of biocultural diversity, originally used to describe indigenous people and their ways of using and managing natural resources, has more recently been applied within the urban context to understand the variability of interactions between humans and nature. Significant progress has been made internationally in acknowledging the need to preserve and maintain green spaces in urban environments. Current efforts to address the need for greening urban areas in South Africa primarily focus on the establishment and maintenance of botanical gardens and parks as well as various green belts within the urban landscape. South Africa's urban areas are overwhelmingly shaped by the historical segregation of space and stark disparities in wealth. The distribution, quality, and extent of urban green spaces reflect this. Many township dwellers do not have access to these amenities and their interactions with nature are thus usually constrained to access to municipal commonages. This article explores how areas of natural vegetation in municipal commonages on the outskirts of urban centers in South Africa continue to offer places of cultural, spiritual, and restorative importance to Xhosa-speaking township dwellers. A case study from Grahamstown, an urban center in the Eastern Cape with a population of around 80,000, illustrates how ability to access and move through such places contributes to people's well-being, identity formation, and shared heritage. A case is made for adopting a biocultural diversity approach to spatial planning and urban development within the South African context.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Mogano, Lydia , Vetter, Susan M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66021 , vital:28877 , https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820
- Description: publisher version , The concept of biocultural diversity, originally used to describe indigenous people and their ways of using and managing natural resources, has more recently been applied within the urban context to understand the variability of interactions between humans and nature. Significant progress has been made internationally in acknowledging the need to preserve and maintain green spaces in urban environments. Current efforts to address the need for greening urban areas in South Africa primarily focus on the establishment and maintenance of botanical gardens and parks as well as various green belts within the urban landscape. South Africa's urban areas are overwhelmingly shaped by the historical segregation of space and stark disparities in wealth. The distribution, quality, and extent of urban green spaces reflect this. Many township dwellers do not have access to these amenities and their interactions with nature are thus usually constrained to access to municipal commonages. This article explores how areas of natural vegetation in municipal commonages on the outskirts of urban centers in South Africa continue to offer places of cultural, spiritual, and restorative importance to Xhosa-speaking township dwellers. A case study from Grahamstown, an urban center in the Eastern Cape with a population of around 80,000, illustrates how ability to access and move through such places contributes to people's well-being, identity formation, and shared heritage. A case is made for adopting a biocultural diversity approach to spatial planning and urban development within the South African context.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Reappraising the concept of biocultural diversity: a perspective from South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Wiersum, K Freerk
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Wiersum, K Freerk
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141176 , vital:37950 , DOI: 10.1007/s10745-014-9681-5
- Description: Biocultural diversity has been conceptualised as the sum of the world’s differences regarding biological diversity at all levels and cultural diversity in all its manifestations, and their interactions. The concept is often framed in the context of conservation as a retention versus loss model by emphasizing the religious and spiritual values of the natural environment and the positive interactions between traditional indigenous people and conservation of natural ecosystems and indigenous species. On the basis of our research amongst the ‘non-traditional’ amaXhosa in South Africa, we argue that this interpretation is too narrow and that the concept needs to be reappraised in order to capture the dynamic, complex and relational nature of bio-cultural diversity relations. We conclude that the concept involves a complex of human values and practices related to the three main dimensions of biodiversity at landscapes, species and genetic levels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Wiersum, K Freerk
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141176 , vital:37950 , DOI: 10.1007/s10745-014-9681-5
- Description: Biocultural diversity has been conceptualised as the sum of the world’s differences regarding biological diversity at all levels and cultural diversity in all its manifestations, and their interactions. The concept is often framed in the context of conservation as a retention versus loss model by emphasizing the religious and spiritual values of the natural environment and the positive interactions between traditional indigenous people and conservation of natural ecosystems and indigenous species. On the basis of our research amongst the ‘non-traditional’ amaXhosa in South Africa, we argue that this interpretation is too narrow and that the concept needs to be reappraised in order to capture the dynamic, complex and relational nature of bio-cultural diversity relations. We conclude that the concept involves a complex of human values and practices related to the three main dimensions of biodiversity at landscapes, species and genetic levels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Situating biocultural relations in city and townscapes:
- Cocks, Michelle L, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175733 , vital:42619 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: The different geographic regions represented in the book have brought to the fore the diversity of ways in which nature is conceptualised, which have in turn influenced the types of nature found in urban areas. Through processes of urbanisation, colonialism, immigration and migration a diversity of cultural groups now live in urban areas and consequently, biocultural relationships have been suppressed, reshaped or enriched. Accordingly, a diversity of uses, experiences, cosmologies, interactions and engagement with the nature are now found which, for many, offer opportunities to strengthen a sense of wellbeing and belonging. Within these diversities of ontological framings of nature and ways of being, conflicting tensions emerge which are further impacted upon by micro and macro social, economic and political processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175733 , vital:42619 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: The different geographic regions represented in the book have brought to the fore the diversity of ways in which nature is conceptualised, which have in turn influenced the types of nature found in urban areas. Through processes of urbanisation, colonialism, immigration and migration a diversity of cultural groups now live in urban areas and consequently, biocultural relationships have been suppressed, reshaped or enriched. Accordingly, a diversity of uses, experiences, cosmologies, interactions and engagement with the nature are now found which, for many, offer opportunities to strengthen a sense of wellbeing and belonging. Within these diversities of ontological framings of nature and ways of being, conflicting tensions emerge which are further impacted upon by micro and macro social, economic and political processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Urban nature and biocultural realities:
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175709 , vital:42617 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: There is no longer any doubt that an important component of and contributor to human wellbeing is the natural environment in which people live, work and relax (Summers et al. 2012). Whilst initial ideas of human wellbeing, early in the second half of the 20th century, focussed on objective measures that could be quantified and contribute to humans’ basic needs, they have evolved a great deal since, despite the lack of consensus on a precise definition of human wellbeing (Summers et al. 2012). Over the last five decades the conceptions of human wellbeing have become more complex and inclusive of the more subjective and less tangible components of human existence, including the natural environment (King et al. 2014).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175709 , vital:42617 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: There is no longer any doubt that an important component of and contributor to human wellbeing is the natural environment in which people live, work and relax (Summers et al. 2012). Whilst initial ideas of human wellbeing, early in the second half of the 20th century, focussed on objective measures that could be quantified and contribute to humans’ basic needs, they have evolved a great deal since, despite the lack of consensus on a precise definition of human wellbeing (Summers et al. 2012). Over the last five decades the conceptions of human wellbeing have become more complex and inclusive of the more subjective and less tangible components of human existence, including the natural environment (King et al. 2014).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Decolonisation of nature in towns and cities of South Africa:
- Cocks, Michelle L, Shackleton, Charlie M, Walsh, Lindsey S, Haynes, Duncan, Manyani, Amanda, Radebe, Dennis
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M , Walsh, Lindsey S , Haynes, Duncan , Manyani, Amanda , Radebe, Dennis
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175720 , vital:42618 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: Ways of conceptualising the world around us and being in this world are defined by an ontological understanding. Within a Eurocentric ideological understanding, nature is positioned to be opposite to culture, ie, nature is considered as “other” of which humans are not a part. Modernity is perceived as the antithesis of nature as processes of production, metabolism and expansion of modern cities represent attempts to tame and control nature. In turn, cities have become viewed as agents of development and change, promoting ideals of progress, thinking and innovation (Jayne 2005). Eurocentric ideals are framed as the forerunners of these processes and have come to influence international policies, global governance, alliances and networks which have in turn informed the design and governance of cities and influenced all aspects of urban liveability (Bouteligier 2011), including how urban natures are defined and constructed and the wellbeing benefits derived from them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M , Walsh, Lindsey S , Haynes, Duncan , Manyani, Amanda , Radebe, Dennis
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175720 , vital:42618 , ISBN 9781000215182
- Description: Ways of conceptualising the world around us and being in this world are defined by an ontological understanding. Within a Eurocentric ideological understanding, nature is positioned to be opposite to culture, ie, nature is considered as “other” of which humans are not a part. Modernity is perceived as the antithesis of nature as processes of production, metabolism and expansion of modern cities represent attempts to tame and control nature. In turn, cities have become viewed as agents of development and change, promoting ideals of progress, thinking and innovation (Jayne 2005). Eurocentric ideals are framed as the forerunners of these processes and have come to influence international policies, global governance, alliances and networks which have in turn informed the design and governance of cities and influenced all aspects of urban liveability (Bouteligier 2011), including how urban natures are defined and constructed and the wellbeing benefits derived from them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The landscape of childhood: play and place as tools to understanding children’s enviromental use and perceptions
- Alexander, Jamie K, Cocks, Michelle L, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Alexander, Jamie K , Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141165 , vital:37949 , DOI: 10.1007/s10745-015-9755-z
- Description: Research has shown that children are the greatest users of natural areas and that childhood experiences strongly shape adults’ environmental values. This project was designed to ascertain children’s environmental uses and perceptions in two rural villages in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, utilising children’s use of the environment for play and their sense of place as key focus areas. Several factors influenced children’s environmental use, including safety fears, increased consumption of western media and environmental restrictions imposed by the state, revealing how South Africa’s high level of violence against women and children contributes to gendered environmental use and knowledge, and bringing about concern for children’s cultural identity in an increasingly westernised world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Alexander, Jamie K , Cocks, Michelle L , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141165 , vital:37949 , DOI: 10.1007/s10745-015-9755-z
- Description: Research has shown that children are the greatest users of natural areas and that childhood experiences strongly shape adults’ environmental values. This project was designed to ascertain children’s environmental uses and perceptions in two rural villages in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, utilising children’s use of the environment for play and their sense of place as key focus areas. Several factors influenced children’s environmental use, including safety fears, increased consumption of western media and environmental restrictions imposed by the state, revealing how South Africa’s high level of violence against women and children contributes to gendered environmental use and knowledge, and bringing about concern for children’s cultural identity in an increasingly westernised world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Challenges facing a community structure to implement CBNRM in the Eastern Cape, South Africa:
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P, Grundy, Isla
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Grundy, Isla
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141416 , vital:37970 , http://asq.africa.ufl.edu/files/Cocks-Dold-Grundy-Vol-5-Issue-3.pdf
- Description: In most developing countries, community based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives have been adopted in an attempt to address the issue of environmental sustainability. This has largely come about due to an increasing recognition of the ineffectiveness of the state to achieve such sustainability. Within the South African context, recent policies have been drafted that aim to achieve these outcomes, which strongly articulate the need for the participation of local people in the management of natural resources both within communal areas and on state-owned land. The objectives of new policies, however, are not being met in the Eastern Cape of South Africa for the following key reasons: the insufficient recognition of the impact of past historical and political upheavals experienced within the former homelands’ situation; the government’s inability to process land applications; the government’s lack of ability and capacity to implement these policies; and frustratingly high levels of hierarchy at both the local and national level. The Masakane community, a group of former farm workers from the former Ciskei homeland in South Africa, are attempting to implement CBNRM initiatives. The Masakane case study reveals the urgent need to develop, implement and enforce new institutional and managerial arrangements, because without such arrangements state policies are unlikely to be implemented at the grassroots level.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Grundy, Isla
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141416 , vital:37970 , http://asq.africa.ufl.edu/files/Cocks-Dold-Grundy-Vol-5-Issue-3.pdf
- Description: In most developing countries, community based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives have been adopted in an attempt to address the issue of environmental sustainability. This has largely come about due to an increasing recognition of the ineffectiveness of the state to achieve such sustainability. Within the South African context, recent policies have been drafted that aim to achieve these outcomes, which strongly articulate the need for the participation of local people in the management of natural resources both within communal areas and on state-owned land. The objectives of new policies, however, are not being met in the Eastern Cape of South Africa for the following key reasons: the insufficient recognition of the impact of past historical and political upheavals experienced within the former homelands’ situation; the government’s inability to process land applications; the government’s lack of ability and capacity to implement these policies; and frustratingly high levels of hierarchy at both the local and national level. The Masakane community, a group of former farm workers from the former Ciskei homeland in South Africa, are attempting to implement CBNRM initiatives. The Masakane case study reveals the urgent need to develop, implement and enforce new institutional and managerial arrangements, because without such arrangements state policies are unlikely to be implemented at the grassroots level.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
'God is my forest': Xhosa cultural values provide untapped opportunities for conservation
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P, Vetter, Susan M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Vetter, Susan M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141198 , vital:37952 , DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v108i5/6.880
- Description: In South Africa conservation is still largely framed in terms of Western scientific values, with a focus on material benefits to local communities, whilst little is known about the intangible values local people attach to nature and biodiversity. We explored the cultural, spiritual and emotional relationships with nature expressed by Xhosa people, within the MaputalandPondoland-Albany Hotspot, as well as the activities that mediate this relationship. A descriptive research approach was applied to document the emotions, meanings and values associated with landscape elements. This approach included group and individual interviews and ‘walk-in-the-woods’ interviews and participatory mapping exercises. Respondents portrayed a strong, although not always easily articulated, appreciation for nature, especially ihlathi lesiXhosa (‘Xhosa forest’, vegetation types within the Thicket Biome).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Vetter, Susan M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141198 , vital:37952 , DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v108i5/6.880
- Description: In South Africa conservation is still largely framed in terms of Western scientific values, with a focus on material benefits to local communities, whilst little is known about the intangible values local people attach to nature and biodiversity. We explored the cultural, spiritual and emotional relationships with nature expressed by Xhosa people, within the MaputalandPondoland-Albany Hotspot, as well as the activities that mediate this relationship. A descriptive research approach was applied to document the emotions, meanings and values associated with landscape elements. This approach included group and individual interviews and ‘walk-in-the-woods’ interviews and participatory mapping exercises. Respondents portrayed a strong, although not always easily articulated, appreciation for nature, especially ihlathi lesiXhosa (‘Xhosa forest’, vegetation types within the Thicket Biome).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
A new broom sweeps clean: the economic and cultural value of grass brooms in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141382 , vital:37967 , DOI: 10.1080/14728028.2004.9752477
- Description: In southern Africa over the last twenty years, much attention has been given to the importance of NTFPs for rural livelihoods through their household consumption and sale. They have been classified as having either subsistence consumption or commercial values. These values are mostly related to their utilitarian functions, but recent studies show that NTFPs also hold strong cultural functions. Such cultural functions can play a role in both rural and urban livelihoods; consequently the values of NTFPs may be related to both utilitarian and cultural functions. This paper demonstrates the cultural functions of grass brooms in urban areas in South Africa and the impact of their trade on income generation in rural areas, and discusses the concept of culture as a significant factor in the understanding of the role of NTFPs in livelihoods, and their values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141382 , vital:37967 , DOI: 10.1080/14728028.2004.9752477
- Description: In southern Africa over the last twenty years, much attention has been given to the importance of NTFPs for rural livelihoods through their household consumption and sale. They have been classified as having either subsistence consumption or commercial values. These values are mostly related to their utilitarian functions, but recent studies show that NTFPs also hold strong cultural functions. Such cultural functions can play a role in both rural and urban livelihoods; consequently the values of NTFPs may be related to both utilitarian and cultural functions. This paper demonstrates the cultural functions of grass brooms in urban areas in South Africa and the impact of their trade on income generation in rural areas, and discusses the concept of culture as a significant factor in the understanding of the role of NTFPs in livelihoods, and their values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Plants for health, life and spirit in Africa : implications for biodiversity and cultural diversity conservation
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6617 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016225
- Description: [From Introduction] Natural resources are often only perceived as contributing to rural livelihoods through food production and household welfare. There is a growing wealth of information capturing the direct-use values of the environment and consequent recognition of natural resources as being “the poor man's overcoat”. These approaches, however, have failed to fully account for the various ways in which different groups of people make use of, and find value in biodiversity. New developments within the field of anthropology have begun to explore the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity. This view has largely come about because many of the areas of highest biological diversity are inhabited by indigenous and traditional people, providing what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an 'inextricable link' between biological and cultural diversity (Posey 1999). The term bio-cultural diversity was introduced by Posey in 1999 to describe the concept denoting this link. , Funding was received from the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) and the International Foundation of Science (IFS)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6617 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016225
- Description: [From Introduction] Natural resources are often only perceived as contributing to rural livelihoods through food production and household welfare. There is a growing wealth of information capturing the direct-use values of the environment and consequent recognition of natural resources as being “the poor man's overcoat”. These approaches, however, have failed to fully account for the various ways in which different groups of people make use of, and find value in biodiversity. New developments within the field of anthropology have begun to explore the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity. This view has largely come about because many of the areas of highest biological diversity are inhabited by indigenous and traditional people, providing what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an 'inextricable link' between biological and cultural diversity (Posey 1999). The term bio-cultural diversity was introduced by Posey in 1999 to describe the concept denoting this link. , Funding was received from the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) and the International Foundation of Science (IFS)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Growing of trees in home-gardens by rural households in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo Provinces, South Africa:
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Paumgarten, Fiona, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Paumgarten, Fiona , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141360 , vital:37965 , DOI: 10.1080/13504500509469647
- Description: Trees provide a wide range of goods and services to rural households which, when incorporated into their livelihood strategies, help reduce their vulnerability to adversity. Governments and policy makers often ignore the contribution made by trees and consequently resources are focussed on cash crops and livestock. Villagers in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo Province, South Africa utilise a range of trees from home-gardens for various purposes, although predominantly for fruit and shade. Trees are either planted or actively retained in households' home-gardens. There were noticeable differences between the villages in the Eastern Cape and those in Limpopo Province, particularly with respect to the overall density of trees per hectare and the number of species per household, both being significantly greater in Limpopo Province. The five most preferred species were listed for each village, revealing a preference for exotic fruit trees in Limpopo Province and a mix of exotic fruit trees and shade trees in the Eastern Cape. Households also retained useful indigenous species, predominantly fruit-bearing species. A range of factors constrain tree growing in home-gardens and households engage in practices to grow and maintain their trees. Not all of these constraints and practices were significantly different between the various localities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Paumgarten, Fiona , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141360 , vital:37965 , DOI: 10.1080/13504500509469647
- Description: Trees provide a wide range of goods and services to rural households which, when incorporated into their livelihood strategies, help reduce their vulnerability to adversity. Governments and policy makers often ignore the contribution made by trees and consequently resources are focussed on cash crops and livestock. Villagers in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo Province, South Africa utilise a range of trees from home-gardens for various purposes, although predominantly for fruit and shade. Trees are either planted or actively retained in households' home-gardens. There were noticeable differences between the villages in the Eastern Cape and those in Limpopo Province, particularly with respect to the overall density of trees per hectare and the number of species per household, both being significantly greater in Limpopo Province. The five most preferred species were listed for each village, revealing a preference for exotic fruit trees in Limpopo Province and a mix of exotic fruit trees and shade trees in the Eastern Cape. Households also retained useful indigenous species, predominantly fruit-bearing species. A range of factors constrain tree growing in home-gardens and households engage in practices to grow and maintain their trees. Not all of these constraints and practices were significantly different between the various localities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Cultural significance of biodiversity: the role of medicinal plants in urban African cultural practices in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141338 , vital:37963 , DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771(2006)26[60:CSOBTR]2.0.CO;2
- Description: Since the International Convention on Biodiversity in 1992 conservation biologists, ecologists and conservationists have devoted considerable attention to the conservation of biodiversity. With this has come the realization that solutions to biological problems often lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems. This shift has emphasized the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity, or what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an “inextricable link” between biological and cultural diversity. The term biocultural diversity was introduced by Posey to describe the concept denoting this link. To date this concept has been used only in reference to “indigenous people” who, as part of their traditional lifestyles, use biodiversity to sustain their cultural identity. Our research, however, demonstrates that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) living in an urban context in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa continue to use wild plants for cultural purposes and often access these through commercial trade. We suggest that recognition of the cultural and spiritual values associated with wild plants would greatly enhance biodiversity conservation efforts. Recognition of the significant role that wild plants play in fulfilling cultural needs for urban Xhosa people would go a long way towards achieving this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141338 , vital:37963 , DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771(2006)26[60:CSOBTR]2.0.CO;2
- Description: Since the International Convention on Biodiversity in 1992 conservation biologists, ecologists and conservationists have devoted considerable attention to the conservation of biodiversity. With this has come the realization that solutions to biological problems often lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems. This shift has emphasized the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity, or what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an “inextricable link” between biological and cultural diversity. The term biocultural diversity was introduced by Posey to describe the concept denoting this link. To date this concept has been used only in reference to “indigenous people” who, as part of their traditional lifestyles, use biodiversity to sustain their cultural identity. Our research, however, demonstrates that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) living in an urban context in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa continue to use wild plants for cultural purposes and often access these through commercial trade. We suggest that recognition of the cultural and spiritual values associated with wild plants would greatly enhance biodiversity conservation efforts. Recognition of the significant role that wild plants play in fulfilling cultural needs for urban Xhosa people would go a long way towards achieving this.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Household attributes promote diversity of tree holdings in rural areas, South Africa:
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Paumgarten, Fiona, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Paumgarten, Fiona , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141301 , vital:37960 , DOI: 10.1007/s10457-007-9066-5
- Description: Trees within the homestead area provide many functions to rural households. However, within the semi-arid regions of southern Africa, there has been only limited examination of the correlates between the socio-economic attributes of rural households and the density, species richness and types of trees they keep. This paper reports on a multivariate analysis of household attributes in relation to homestead tree holdings from six rural villages in South Africa. In terms of density of trees per household, gender of the household head was the only significant correlate, with female-headed households having significantly fewer trees than their male-headed counterparts. This was especially so for the density of indigenous trees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Paumgarten, Fiona , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141301 , vital:37960 , DOI: 10.1007/s10457-007-9066-5
- Description: Trees within the homestead area provide many functions to rural households. However, within the semi-arid regions of southern Africa, there has been only limited examination of the correlates between the socio-economic attributes of rural households and the density, species richness and types of trees they keep. This paper reports on a multivariate analysis of household attributes in relation to homestead tree holdings from six rural villages in South Africa. In terms of density of trees per household, gender of the household head was the only significant correlate, with female-headed households having significantly fewer trees than their male-headed counterparts. This was especially so for the density of indigenous trees.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
What is biocultural diversity?: a theoretical review
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141475 , vital:37975 , ISBN 9781441957009 , DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-5701-6_5
- Description: Over the past decade, scholars from various fields have increasingly emphasized the detrimental effects of global socioeconomic processes on biodiversity. The industrial revolution, the demographic explosion of Homo sapiens, and the rise of the global exchange economy are all implicated as major factors that influence the loss of species diversity. From the late 1980s onward, biosystematics and conservation biology have successfully brought this concern to the attention of the public. Biodiversity is increasingly recognized as an essential resource on which families, communities, and nations depend. Biologists, ecologists, and conservationists have further recognized that solutions to biological problems lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems, which has led to attempts to place a monetary value on species and ecosystems to calculate the cost of using and conserving biodiversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141475 , vital:37975 , ISBN 9781441957009 , DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-5701-6_5
- Description: Over the past decade, scholars from various fields have increasingly emphasized the detrimental effects of global socioeconomic processes on biodiversity. The industrial revolution, the demographic explosion of Homo sapiens, and the rise of the global exchange economy are all implicated as major factors that influence the loss of species diversity. From the late 1980s onward, biosystematics and conservation biology have successfully brought this concern to the attention of the public. Biodiversity is increasingly recognized as an essential resource on which families, communities, and nations depend. Biologists, ecologists, and conservationists have further recognized that solutions to biological problems lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems, which has led to attempts to place a monetary value on species and ecosystems to calculate the cost of using and conserving biodiversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
The Cultural Use of the Wild Olive Tree by the amaXhosa People in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa:
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141314 , vital:37961 , DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.v2i3.292
- Description: The cultural meanings of harvested plants have for the most part been ignored in academic research on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in southern Africa. Historically scientists have tended to ignore the complex relationships between nature and culture. Given the country's unique political and economic past and the current search for sustainable use of natural resources, a focus on the convergence of natural science and cultural diversity is important at this time. Empirical data on cultural practices is being collected in order to develop fresh and relevant insights into the complex relationships between culture and bítKÜversity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the concept of culture needs to be brought into our understanding of the role of NTFPs. We dtxrument the use and value of a specific tree, Olea europaea L. subsp. africana (Mill.) P,S. Green, called Umiicjuma in the Xhosa language, for cultural purposes, by both rural and urban households.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141314 , vital:37961 , DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.v2i3.292
- Description: The cultural meanings of harvested plants have for the most part been ignored in academic research on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in southern Africa. Historically scientists have tended to ignore the complex relationships between nature and culture. Given the country's unique political and economic past and the current search for sustainable use of natural resources, a focus on the convergence of natural science and cultural diversity is important at this time. Empirical data on cultural practices is being collected in order to develop fresh and relevant insights into the complex relationships between culture and bítKÜversity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the concept of culture needs to be brought into our understanding of the role of NTFPs. We dtxrument the use and value of a specific tree, Olea europaea L. subsp. africana (Mill.) P,S. Green, called Umiicjuma in the Xhosa language, for cultural purposes, by both rural and urban households.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Fuelwood harvesting and selection in Valley Thicket, South Africa
- Pote, J, Shackleton, Charlie M, Cocks, Michelle L, Lubke, Roy
- Authors: Pote, J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L , Lubke, Roy
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005972
- Description: The Thicket Biome is the second smallest biome in South Africa, and is renowned for its high biodiversity. Yet, less than 5% of the biome is in formal conservation areas. Much of the currently intact thicket outside protected areas is threatened by land transformation to commercial agriculture or heavy use by rural communities. There is limited understanding of the ecological structure and function of thicket communities and their response to these human pressures. This paper reports on a study to characterize the woody communities in Valley Thicket and Thornveld surrounding a rural village. We also examined the demand and selection for specific woody species. There was a marked selection for key species for different uses, including fuelwood, construction timber, and cultural stacks. There was also strong selection for specific size classes of stem, especially those between 16–45 cm circumference. The density, biomass and species richness of woody species was reduced close to the village, and increased with distance away from human settlement. A similar trend was found for the basal area of preferred species, but not for the basal area of all species. The strong selectivity for both species and size class means that the anthropogenic impacts are not uniform within the woody strata, leading to marked changes in community structure and floristics at a local scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Pote, J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L , Lubke, Roy
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005972
- Description: The Thicket Biome is the second smallest biome in South Africa, and is renowned for its high biodiversity. Yet, less than 5% of the biome is in formal conservation areas. Much of the currently intact thicket outside protected areas is threatened by land transformation to commercial agriculture or heavy use by rural communities. There is limited understanding of the ecological structure and function of thicket communities and their response to these human pressures. This paper reports on a study to characterize the woody communities in Valley Thicket and Thornveld surrounding a rural village. We also examined the demand and selection for specific woody species. There was a marked selection for key species for different uses, including fuelwood, construction timber, and cultural stacks. There was also strong selection for specific size classes of stem, especially those between 16–45 cm circumference. The density, biomass and species richness of woody species was reduced close to the village, and increased with distance away from human settlement. A similar trend was found for the basal area of preferred species, but not for the basal area of all species. The strong selectivity for both species and size class means that the anthropogenic impacts are not uniform within the woody strata, leading to marked changes in community structure and floristics at a local scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Biocultural diversity: moving beyond the realm of ‘indigenous’ and ‘local’ people
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010681
- Description: During the past decade the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity has received increased attention, resulting in the identification of what the Declaration of Belém calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. Although the term biocultural diversity, introduced to denote this link, is being used increasingly, there has been little critical reflection on what it precisely refers to. I argue that it is used with particular reference to ‘indigenous traditional’ people, but that there is scope for extending its application within biocultural discourse. I therefore review the concept of culture and discuss what constitutes cultural values of the natural environment. I conclude that the concept of culture must be understood as involving a dynamic process of transcultural exchange and constant re-articulations of tradition resulting in the persistence of certain cultural practices. This approach ultimately reveals that the concept of biocultural diversity is also applicable to non-indigenous traditional communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010681
- Description: During the past decade the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity has received increased attention, resulting in the identification of what the Declaration of Belém calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. Although the term biocultural diversity, introduced to denote this link, is being used increasingly, there has been little critical reflection on what it precisely refers to. I argue that it is used with particular reference to ‘indigenous traditional’ people, but that there is scope for extending its application within biocultural discourse. I therefore review the concept of culture and discuss what constitutes cultural values of the natural environment. I conclude that the concept of culture must be understood as involving a dynamic process of transcultural exchange and constant re-articulations of tradition resulting in the persistence of certain cultural practices. This approach ultimately reveals that the concept of biocultural diversity is also applicable to non-indigenous traditional communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006