Conserved Spaces, Ancestral Places: Conservation, History and Identity among Farm Labourers in the Sundays River Valley, South Africa

Combining a rich ethnography with social and political history, this book examines 300 years of social conflict over land in South Africa's frontier-like Sundays River Valley, the scene of multiple displacements and the location of the extended Addo Elephant National Park. Conserved Spaces, Ancestral Places tells how the historical relationships among farm workers, owners, and conservationists have produced a dynamic and uniquely hybrid zone. The book argues that close ties exist between farming and wildlife conservation and shows how local inhabitants challenge the boundaries created by the narrative of wildlife ecology. It asks: Have residents around the new conservation zones in South Africa really benefitted from models of co-management? The subtle and deep reading of the agrarian and environmental history of the Sundays River Valley carries important implications for policy and practice related to conservation of protected areas in South Africa and relates it to international thought. The book will appeal to readers interested in environmental and agrarian history, political ecology, displacement, as well as space, place, and identity. ** "...a carefully researched work that crosses the boundaries between agrarian studies and political ecology and makes unique contributions to the ethnography of the Eastern Cape and southern Africa more broadly. It problematizes notions of displacement, particularly in relation to protected areas." -- Derick Fay, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UC Riverside [Subject: African Studies, Ethnography, Social History, Conservation, Environmental Studies, Development Studies, Agricultural Studies]