Overview

Humans, Other Beings and the Environment is an ethnographic study of the possibilities for the mutual, symbiotic co-existence of human beings, a unique species of forest insects and natural forests. The result of extensive fieldwork conducted over a period of thirteen months, the book highlights the continuum among humans, wild insects and environmental conservation outcomes in a specific environment of southeastern Norumedzo in rural Zimbabwe. In this respect, it describes interactions and relationships between humans, other beings and the natural forests to demonstrate how some aspects of the emerging body of literature in the posthumanities and relational ontologies can work to grasp the collaborative interactional space for different social actors in the cosmos, through which cognitive and knowledge communities can be extended. Furthermore, the book raises critical questions for conservation sciences, political ecology and environmental anthropology, as it demonstrates the extent of relevance and application of the Norumedzo conservation case study, with particular regard to conservational problems and asymmetrical relations between humans and other beings in other scenarios in Zimbabwe and beyond. Complicating many assumptions about knowledge production, nature and culture, the book offers independent and critical insights into the interpretation of modernist science, posthumanist ideas and indigenous epistemologies, and relates these to existing studies. As such, it will be of interest not only to anthropologists, but also to political scientists, environmentalists and policy makers in Zimbabwe, southern Africa and beyond.

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9781443882675

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Munyaradzi Mawere received a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Master’s and BA degrees in Philosophy from the University of Zimbabwe. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Culture and Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe University. Prior to taking up his current position, Dr Mawere was a Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and at Universidade Pedagogica, Mozambique, where he worked in various capacities as a Senior Lecturer, Assistant Research Director, Postgraduate Co-ordinator, and Associate Professor. He has more than 100 publications to his credit, including more than 20 books and over 80 book chapters and papers published in scholarly journals. His research interests include, but are not limited to, knowledge studies, environmental conservation, African studies, decoloniality, postcoloniality, African political systems, and culture and heritage studies.

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