In this article we explore how adolescent self-identifying Chewa girls in Mbare, Harare, negotiate traditional and contemporary sources of sexual knowledge through the lens of chinamwali, a female initiation rite performed to prepare girls for marriage. We examine how initiates interpret, adapt and recontextualise the rite's teachings in an era where digital technologies, such as WhatsApp, Facebook and other internet platforms circulate competing sexual scripts. During four months of ethnographic fieldwork, we drew on qualitative methods involving fifteen purposively selected participants. These included in-depth life history interviews with ten adolescent girls who had undergone chinamwali, as well as key-informant interviews with five older self-identifying Chewa women (anamkungwi) who serve as custodians of the initiation rite. We reveal both continuity and transformation in the meaning and practice of this form of initiation. While some initiates (anamwali) rely on digital media to supplement or reinforce ritual knowledge, others express ambivalence about the rite's contemporary relevance. We show that chinamwali is undergoing symbolic and structural reconfigurations in its duration, secrecy and normative authority. Rather than a rupture between tradition and modernity, we show that young women actively synthesise teachings from chinamwali with digital knowledge, producing hybrid identities that reflect a dynamic interplay between cultural rites and contemporary urban life in Zimbabwe.
South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) requires private renewable energy firms to invest 1% to 1.5% of project revenue in local socio-economic development. In this article I examine how these obligations are enacted in practice by focusing on community liaison officers (CLOs), corporate employees tasked with mediating between Independent Power Producers and host communities. Drawing on social field research in the Northern Cape, I argue that the outcomes of the REIPPPP's social investment model are shaped less by formal procurement rules and more by the discretionary brokerage of CLOs. Positioned inside the corporation yet embedded in local communities, CLOs translate policy mandates, negotiate competing expectations, and materially shape socio-economic development priorities. However, their agency is structured by corporate risk management and compliance imperatives. While CLOs enable locally responsive and relational forms of engagement, they also stabilise a conservative and depoliticised development agenda. By locating the broker within the corporation itself, I extend brokerage theory and offer a grounded account of how socio-economic development outcomes and corporate legitimacy are co-produced within South Africa's just energy transition.
In this article we explore how artisanal gold miners in Western Kenya "look for life" in a landscape where precarity is not exceptional but part of everyday life. Drawing on ethnographic interviews with artisanal gold miners and participant observation, we examine how miners sustain both their livelihoods and lives whilst navigating precarity through relational, financial, practical, material and cosmological interventions in an agentive gold-mining landscape. We demonstrate how the phrase "looking for life," which they use to describe their reasons for being artisanal miners, reflects more than the pursuit of livelihoods. It embodies an ongoing relational pursuit of crafting a viable life beyond mere survival. We argue that such viability is not a fixed economic metric but a fluid and relational state that is constantly recalibrated through the interplay of economic aspirations, social networks, skills, material conditions and cosmological forces that sustain livelihoods and life. Neste artigo, exploramos como os mineiros de ouro artesanais do oeste do Qu & eacute;nia "procuram a vida" num contexto em que a precariedade n & atilde;o & eacute; uma exce & ccedil;& atilde;o, mas sim parte do quotidiano. Com base em entrevistas etnogr & aacute;ficas com mineiros de ouro artesanais e na observa & ccedil;& atilde;o participante, analisamos como os mineiros sustentam tanto os seus meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia como a pr & oacute;pria vida, ao lidarem com a precariedade atrav & eacute;s de interven & ccedil;& otilde;es relacionais, financeiras, pr & aacute;ticas, materiais e cosmol & oacute;gicas num contexto de minera & ccedil;& atilde;o de ouro marcado pela ag & ecirc;ncia. Demonstramos como a express & atilde;o "procurar a vida," que utilizam para descrever as suas raz & otilde;es para serem mineiros artesanais, reflete mais do que a busca de meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia. Ela encarna uma busca relacional cont & iacute;nua pela constru & ccedil;& atilde;o de uma vida vi & aacute;vel para al & eacute;m da mera sobreviv & ecirc;ncia. Argumentamos que tal viabilidade n & atilde;o & eacute; uma m & eacute;trica econ & oacute;mica fixa, mas um estado fluido e relacional que & eacute; constantemente recalibrado atrav & eacute;s da intera & ccedil;& atilde;o entre aspira & ccedil;& otilde;es econ & oacute;micas, redes sociais, compet & ecirc;ncias, condi & ccedil;& otilde;es materiais e for & ccedil;as cosmol & oacute;gicas que sustentam os meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia e a vida.
Drawing on an archive of approximately 300 ethnographic entries, as well as the author's long-term fieldwork in the rural Eastern Cape, this article explores and theorises a connection between intimacy, materiality and gender-based violence (GBV) in the region. It takes up a current anthropological and Southern Africanist analytical interest in intimacy, exploring how violence can, within the region's social, political, cultural and economic context of the contemporary rural Eastern Cape, be perceived and experienced by rural women as not incompatible with and, in cases, even an element of intimacy between partners. Through analysis of women's narratives, it also builds on literature on provider love and the materiality of intimacy to explain why and how GBV in the context of intimate relationships appears advantageous, even desirable, to at least some women because of the material and interpersonal benefits that accrue when violent intimate partners feel remorse in the aftermath of violence. The article contributes towards a nuanced understanding of what is at stake for rural women in violent relationships, and of why GBV is so pervasive in the region. Such insights are important for violence-prevention. Com base num arquivo de cerca de 300 registos etnogr & aacute;ficos, bem como no trabalho de campo de longa dura & ccedil;& atilde;o na zona rural do Cabo Oriental, & Aacute;frica do Sul, este artigo explora e teoriza uma liga & ccedil;& atilde;o entre intimidade, materialidade e viol & ecirc;ncia baseada em g & eacute;nero (VBG) na regi & atilde;o. Aborda um interesse anal & iacute;tico antropol & oacute;gico atual sobre a intimidade, explorando como a viol & ecirc;ncia pode, no contexto social, pol & iacute;tico, cultural e econ & oacute;mico da regi & atilde;o rural contempor & acirc;nea do Cabo Oriental, ser percebida e vivida pelas mulheres rurais como n & atilde;o incompat & iacute;vel com a intimidade entre parceiros e, em alguns casos, at & eacute; mesmo como um elemento dessa intimidade. Atrav & eacute;s da an & aacute;lise de narrativas das mulheres e da literatura sobre o amor do provedor e materialidade da intimidade, o artigo explica por que e como a (VGB) no contexto das rela & ccedil;& otilde;es & iacute;ntimas parece vantajosa, ou mesmo desej & aacute;vel, pelo menos para algumas mulheres, devido aos benef & iacute;cios materiais e interpessoais que adv & ecirc;m quando os parceiros & iacute;ntimos violentos sentem remorso ap & oacute;s a viol & ecirc;ncia. Contribui para uma compreens & atilde;o matizada do que est & aacute; em jogo para as mulheres rurais em rela & ccedil;& otilde;es violentas e o motivo pelo qual a viol & ecirc;ncia de g & eacute;nero & eacute; t & atilde;o generalizada na regi & atilde;o. Contudo, tais insights s & atilde;o importantes para a preven & ccedil;& atilde;o contra a viol & ecirc;ncia.
Anthropogenic climate change through fossil-fuel reliance has necessitated decarbonisation on a global scale. The "Just Transition," as a concept embedded in a particular and shifting discursive context, weighs up environmental ambitions against material livelihood impacts, and is increasingly gaining significant political currency. It is, however, often implemented in a top-down techno-managerial manner that flattens out localised socio-ecological and contextually specific dynamics. By thinking from the Waterberg Coalfield in Limpopo, South Africa, we explore the tensions between local livelihoods dependent on fossil-fuel capital and those that are historically foreclosed and are at increased future risk due to the South African government's continued commitment to coal economies. By embedding debates about future "justice" in the history of injustice, racialised dispossession and enclosure, we explore how the political ecologies of land, water and energy are folded into a politics of a just transition from below. A granular and relational analysis of these divergent livelihoods and their socio-ecological bases offers the possibility for transformative pathways of "just" futures for the Waterberg and beyond. As altera & ccedil;& otilde;es clim & aacute;ticas antropog & eacute;nicas decorrentes da depend & ecirc;ncia dos combust & iacute;veis f & oacute;sseis tornaram necess & aacute;ria a descarboniza & ccedil;& atilde;o & agrave; escala global. A "Transi & ccedil;& atilde;o Justa", enquanto conceito inserido num contexto discursivo espec & iacute;fico e em constante evolu & ccedil;& atilde;o, pondera as ambi & ccedil;& otilde;es ambientais face aos impactos concretos nos meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia, e est & aacute; a ganhar cada vez mais relev & acirc;ncia pol & iacute;tica. No entanto, & eacute; frequentemente implementada de forma tecnocr & aacute;tica e descendente, o que uniformiza as din & acirc;micas socioecol & oacute;gicas locais e contextualmente espec & iacute;ficas. Partindo da reflex & atilde;o sobre a Bacia Carbon & iacute;fera de Waterberg, em Limpopo, & Aacute;frica do Sul, exploramos as tens & otilde;es entre os meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia locais dependentes do capital dos combust & iacute;veis f & oacute;sseis e aqueles historicamente exclu & iacute;dos e que enfrentam um risco futuro acrescido devido ao compromisso cont & iacute;nuo do governo sul-africano com as economias do carv & atilde;o. Ao inserir os debates sobre a "justi & ccedil;a" futura na hist & oacute;ria da injusti & ccedil;a, da expropria & ccedil;& atilde;o racializada e do cercamento, exploramos como as ecologias pol & iacute;ticas da terra, da & aacute;gua e da energia se integram numa pol & iacute;tica de "transi & ccedil;& atilde;o justa" a partir da base. Uma an & aacute;lise granular e relacional destes meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia divergentes e das suas bases socioecol & oacute;gicas oferece a possibilidade de caminhos transformadores para futuros "justos" para Waterberg e para al & eacute;m.
In the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa, ceremonies depend on the unpaid labour of young wives (omakoti). The expectation that omakoti will perform this work is connected to patriarchal and gerontocratic social norms. During the Covid-19 pandemic, ceremonies were banned temporarily. The impact that this had on omakoti's unpaid labour was variable: those whose households adhered to lockdown policies enjoyed a respite from this work, while those whose households ignored the rules experienced more dangerous unpaid working conditions. In this article, we explore the impact of these pandemic-related changes, in omakoti's working conditions at ceremonies, on their attitudes towards gendered unpaid labour expectations at rituals. We pay particular attention to how this impact was differentially experienced by uneducated rural wives (traditional omakoti) and so-called modern omakoti who struggle to balance paid work with unpaid domestic labour. We also explore the tactics that these subcategories of omakoti deployed to navigate the challenges of upholding gendered labour expectations. In so doing, we contribute to broader anthropological conversations about changing meanings and community-level negotiations about rural women's unpaid labour under conditions of gerontocracy and patriarchy, about the impact of the pandemic on social life, and about the unintended impacts of South Africa's Covid-19 policies. Na zona rural do Cabo Oriental, na & Aacute;frica do Sul, as atividades cerimoniais dependem do trabalho n & atilde;o remunerado das (jovens esposas) omakoti. A expectativa de que elas realizem este trabalho est & aacute; ligada a normas sociais patriarcais e gerontocr & aacute;ticas. Durante a pandemia de Covid-19, essas cerim & oacute;nias foram temporariamente proibidas. O impacto dessa proibi & ccedil;& atilde;o no trabalho n & atilde;o remunerado das omakoti foi vari & aacute;vel: aquelas em que as fam & iacute;lias aderiram & agrave;s pol & iacute;ticas de confinamento tiveram uma pausa neste trabalho, enquanto outras cujas fam & iacute;lias ignoraram as regras enfrentaram condi & ccedil;& otilde;es de trabalho n & atilde;o remunerado mais perigosas. Neste artigo, exploramos o impacto p & oacute;s-pandemia nas condi & ccedil;& otilde;es de trabalho das omakoti em cerim & oacute;nias, nas suas atitudes e expectativas em rela & ccedil;& atilde;o ao trabalho n & atilde;o remunerado baseado em g & eacute;nero. Damos especial aten & ccedil;& atilde;o & agrave; forma como esse impacto foi vivenciado de forma diferenciada pelas esposas sem instru & ccedil;& atilde;o (omakoti tradicionais) e pelas designadas (omakoti modernas), que lutam para equilibrar o trabalho remunerado com o trabalho dom & eacute;stico n & atilde;o remunerado. Exploramos tamb & eacute;m as t & aacute;ticas que estas subcategorias de omakoti utilizaram para lidar com os desafios de cumprir as expectativas de trabalho baseadas em g & eacute;nero. Ao faz & ecirc;-lo, contribu & iacute;mos para debates antropol & oacute;gicos mais amplos sobre a evolu & ccedil;& atilde;o dos significados e as negocia & ccedil;& otilde;es a n & iacute;vel comunit & aacute;rio sobre o trabalho n & atilde;o remunerado das mulheres rurais em contexto de gerontocracia e patriarcado, sobre o impacto da pandemia na vida social, e sobre os impactos indesejados das pol & iacute;ticas da & Aacute;frica do Sul relativas & agrave; Covid-19.
Investments in critical raw mineral mining and green transition investments (GTIs) are expected to grow substantially worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This creates a dilemma: while GTIs are essential to address global climate change, they often break down in the face of community resistance stemming from local people's superficial inclusion. We argue that GTIs mirror traditional extractivism because they prioritise monetary compensation and accumulation over local communities' own notions of value. Theoretically, we adopt an economic anthropology perspective on value that includes, as valuable, social identities and relational exchanges that underpin livelihoods. Viewing value through social relations challenges the presently dominant assumption that monetary compensation is a generic or universal measure of worth. We show that the buying out logic of extractivist investments reflects market driven resettlement and compensation schemes. Our analysis of GTIs in Kenya and South Africa demonstrates how diverse local interests and extant socio-political structures expose both the potential and limitations of what such projects can realistically achieve. Prev & ecirc;-se que os investimentos na explora & ccedil;& atilde;o de minerais essenciais e da transi & ccedil;& atilde;o ecol & oacute;gica (GTIs) cres & ccedil;am substancialmente a n & iacute;vel mundial, particularmente na & Aacute;frica Subsariana. Isto cria um dilema: embora os (GTIs) sejam essenciais para combater as altera & ccedil;& otilde;es clim & aacute;ticas globais, muitas vezes fracassam face & agrave; resist & ecirc;ncia das comunidades, resultante de uma inclus & atilde;o superficial das popula & ccedil;& otilde;es locais. Defendemos que os GTIs refletem o extrativismo tradicional, pois priorizam a compensa & ccedil;& atilde;o monet & aacute;ria e a acumula & ccedil;& atilde;o em detrimento das pr & oacute;prias no & ccedil;& otilde;es de valor das comunidades locais. Teoricamente, adotamos uma perspetiva da antropologia econ & oacute;mica sobre o valor que inclui, como valiosas, as identidades sociais e as trocas relacionais que sustentam os meios de subsist & ecirc;ncia. Encarar o valor atrav & eacute;s das rela & ccedil;& otilde;es sociais desafia a suposi & ccedil;& atilde;o atualmente dominante de que a compensa & ccedil;& atilde;o monet & aacute;ria & eacute; uma medida gen & eacute;rica ou universal de valor. Neste artigo, mostramos que a l & oacute;gica de compra de terras dos investimentos extrativistas reflete esquemas de reassentamento e compensa & ccedil;& atilde;o orientados pelo mercado. A nossa an & aacute;lise das GTIs no Qu & eacute;nia e na & Aacute;frica do Sul demonstra como os diversos interesses locais e as estruturas sociopol & iacute;ticas existentes exp & otilde;em tanto o potencial como as limita & ccedil;& otilde;es do que tais projetos podem realisticamente alcan & ccedil;ar.
