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This article explores the life histories of two Namibians who grew up in SWAPO's exile camps in Angola and their 'futuring' trajectories once they returned home to Namibia after independence. Presenting these actors' life histories of navigating Namibian society helps challenge a one‐sided economic interpretation of precariousness. More critical than asserting dichotomies between 'elite' and 'precariat' are the stratagems and choices shaping lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, scholarship on Southern Africa's exile history has maintained a largely national focus, organised around liberation movements and their narratives. Nevertheless, many exile experiences do not fit neatly within this frame. This article examines such experiences through 200 Namibians who lived in Zambia during the late 1970s and 1980s. These Namibians were among the guerrilla soldiers whom SWAPO detained during its internal crisis of 1976. Rather than 'confess' to betraying the liberation struggle and returning to SWAPO, they chose to leave SWAPO in 1977 and were transported by the Zambian army to UNHCR's Meheba Camp. Most left the camp within a few years, living primarily in the Copperbelt and Lusaka prior to their repatriation to Namibia in 1989. Drawing from Siegfried Groth's archives and the author's oral history interviews, the article traces a particular group of exiled Namibians and their experiences of insecurity and solidarity. As I argue, these 'dissident refugees' lived in uniquely insecure circumstances, vulnerable to declining socio-economic conditions in Zambia and openly threatened by SWAPO members, who targeted some of them with violence. At the same time, they co-created a global solidarity community that was largely distinct from the solidarity community supporting SWAPO and other liberation movements during the same period, enabling them to access humanitarian aid, education and protection. By drawing attention to these social dynamics, the article challenges assumptions about what it meant to be a 'Namibian refugee' during the late 1970s and 1980s. It advocates micro-historical research aimed at nuancing liberation movement-focused accounts of southern Africa's exile past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study deals with human-wildlife conflicts in the Namibian component of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA). The study reconstructs the historical occurrence of selected mammal species and adopts a socio-ecological approach to assess the impact of human dimensions in the KAZA TFCA. Our results reveal pronounced human–wildlife conflicts with considerable impacts on the livelihoods of communities. Human–wildlife conflict has the potential to become a significant contributor to the failure of the TFCA concept. Conflicts are influenced by a growing human population and large mammal species re-colonising formerly abandoned areas. Mapping the occurrence of selected mammal species over time reveals an interesting picture: although conservation initiatives have led to an increase in the population size of selected species, their occurrence is more restricted than in times of heavily decimated wildlife populations. The increasing restriction of wildlife to protected areas reduces the resilience of the ecosystem. To sustainably manage and conserve wildlife populations, a bigger picture including areas outside of the current borders of KAZA TFCA should be considered. This could support re-connecting ecologically important areas for congested populations to move to and reduces the concentration of wildlife and pressure on the land and people of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Biodiversity status of protected areas governed by indigenous peoples and local communities does not fit one standard formula • The contribution of local protected area governance is complementary to state governance • Community governed areas in Australia and Brazil show slower rate of forest loss than other protected area governance types and significantly larger mean size • Namibia's community protected areas have higher terrestrial coverage and represent higher ecoregional protection equality than other governance types [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of traditional leaders during Zimbabwe's war of liberation. Contrary to the generalisations that traditional leaders and their subordinates were either absolutely supportive of the liberation war or were against it supporting the Smith regime, this paper uses the case of Buhera District to demonstrate that traditional leaders and their subordinates contributed in various ways to Zimbabwe's war of liberation. Guided by a combination of primary and secondary sources, the article argues that traditional leaders were in a dilemma because they were victims of the contending forces. However, they employed various survival tactics as they faced equally dangerous conflicting forces who put them in complex, ambiguous and contradictory relationships. The article concludes that the strategies and tactics employed by the Rhodesian Security Forces and the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army guerrillas had debilitating effects on traditional leaders and their subordinates during the liberation war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses a historical case of politically induced flight. The so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR) children from Namibia are about 430 people brought to the GDR between 1979 and 1989. They came from Namibian refugee camps and were part of a solidarity project between South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) and the GDR. They were educated to become the Namibian elite once the country had been liberated. Their stay was to be temporary, with the children identified as Namibian by SWAPO and GDR. The article reconstructs culturalist and biological-racist forms of othering as characteristic biographical experience of the young people which deny them belonging to GDR and Namibia. Simultaneously it examines how the young people irritate the categories of othering and create spaces of agency. They build a new hybrid language “Oshi German” thereby breaking culturalization and staying together as a collective in search of a place of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese-Namibian relations are by both governments classified as an "all-weather friendship". Based on the Chinese support to the anticolonial liberation struggle, the strong political and economic links emerged since the turn of the century. The Chinese presence in Namibia has added to the new socio-economic realities to an extent, which provokes strong and differing responses from Namibians. While the new elite is in favour and support of the exchanges, among ordinary Namibians resentments bordering to xenophobia are clearly visible. This article takes stock of the Chinese activities in Namibia and offers an assessment of their impact as well as a summary concerning the anti- Chinese sentiments. It concludes with an analysis of the nature of a development state and its absence from Namibian governance and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Across cultures, fosterage has been shown to impact child health. Contextual factors, such as the reason for fosterage and the relationship between foster parent and child, are known to magnify variance in nutritional outcomes for foster children. Another important, but less studied, factor is the role of gender. Sex-biases in physiology and cultural norms are both known to affect child nutrition, and we posit these effects might be magnified in the presence of fosterage. In this study, we investigate how sex interacts with fosterage to affect nutritional outcomes among Namibian pastoralists. Methods Anthropometrics for children and adults were collected using standard procedures, and linear models were used to predict the effects of age, sex, and fosterage on height, weight, and body mass index Z-scores. Semi-structured interviews with adults provided context for understanding sex specific reasons for fosterage and biases in investment. Results Boys in this population have lower nutritional scores than girls, and fostered boys have lower weight and BMI Z-scores than nonfostered boys. Fostered girls have lower height Z-scores and are more likely to be stunted and underweight than nonfostered girls. These effects extend into adulthood, with fostered women being shorter than their nonfostered counterparts. Conclusions Sex plays a role in the nutritional impact of fosterage among Himba children. These differences could be related to differential child labor demands, investment patterns, and the divergent reasons girls and boys are placed into fosterage. Future studies should consider how fosterage can magnify existing biases, like sex, when studying its impact on child health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-occurrence patterns (studied by C-score, number of checkerboard units, number of species combinations, and V-ratio, and by an empirical Bayes approach developed by Gotelli and Ulrich, 2010) are crucial elements in order to understand assembly rules in ecological communities at both local and spatial scales. In order to explore general assembly rules and the effects of biome and spatial scale on such rules, here we studied a group of beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae), using Namibia as a case of study. Data were gathered from 186 sampling sites, which allowed collection of 74 different species. We analyzed data at the level of (i) all sampled sites, (ii) all sites stratified by biome (Savannah, Succulent Karoo, Nama Karoo, Desert), and (iii) three randomly selected nested areas with three spatial scales each. Three competing algorithms were used for all analyses: (i) Fixed-Equiprobable, (ii) Fixed-Fixed, and (iii) Fixed-Proportional. In most of the null models we created, co-occurrence indicators revealed a non-random structure in meloid beetle assemblages at the global scale and at the scale of biomes, with species aggregation being much more important than species segregation in determining this non-randomness. At the level of biome, the same non-random organization was uncovered in assemblages from Savannah (where the aggregation pattern was particularly strong) and Succulent Karoo, but not in Desert and Nama Karoo. We conclude that species facilitation and similar niche in endemic species pairs may be particularly important as community drivers in our case of study. This pattern is also consistent with the evidence of a higher species diversity (normalized according to biome surface area) in the two former biomes. Historical patterns were perhaps also important for Succulent Karoo assemblages. Spatial scale had a reduced effect on patterning our data. This is consistent with the general homogeneity of environmental conditions over wide areas in Namibia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how and why social movement organizations negotiate their presence in, and demands on, multiple public spheres. We analyse the strategies of two social movement organizations, Free Gender in Cape Town, South Africa, and Sister Namibia in Windhoek, Namibia. Free Gender elected to withdraw participation from a governmental task team convened to address the issue of homophobic violence, despite the opportunity this offered the organization to participate in national politics. Sister Namibia, by contrast, decided to maintain its public presence despite experiencing political homophobia from the ruling party, the South West African People’s Organisation. We contribute to the literature on public spheres and social movements by demonstrating the need to consider the overlapping nature of public spheres in South Africa and Namibia at the local, national, and transnational levels to account for activists’ strategic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas a number of studies exists on the causes and impacts of inequality, poverty and unemployment, in which the majority of Namibians are trapped, very few, if any, of these studies cared to interrogate the role and place of the constitution in aiding the status quo. Most of the studies, even those on the constitution, are often disinterested in the question of political economy, and how it relates to the constitution. A constitution can be understood as a set of fundamental laws determining the orientation (values and principles), structure and power of the state. To understand the economic system of a given state, the constitution ought to be the first point of call. In Namibia the picture is not as clear as it should be. The theory and the practice on the question of political economy do not necessarily intertwine. This text is concerned with the question of political economy. It analyses the constitutional principle of "Mixed Economy", with the view to understand - and explain - the triumph of neoliberalism in Namibia. It impenitently concludes that, given the lack of clarity of the principle of "Mixed Economy" - a principle this text renders suspect - there is a need to relook at the constitution of the Republic of Namibia in order to address the question of political economy. The finding, however, is clear: Namibia is a neoliberal state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorite deposits provide a source of fertilizer to feed an increasingly populated world and they provide a record of paleoceanographic changes in upwelling systems linked to climate. The Benguela Upwelling System (BUS) is among the most productive today and is associated with major phosphorite deposits exposed over an area of 24,700 km 2 on the Namibian shelf. Analyses of cores associated with recent offshore mineral exploration provide new insights into the age and origin of these phosphorite deposits. The deposit consists of coarsening upward muddy to gravelly pelletal phosphorite sand, up to several meters thick, on the middle to outer shelf (190 and 350 m water depth) offshore of Lüderitz and Walvis Bay. Less extensive and less continuous deposits occur offshore of Walvis Bay as far north as the Kunene River mouth on the inner to middle shelf (50 and 250 m water depth). Pelletal phosphorite sand (some concentrically banded) and concretionary phosphorite pebbles are the dominant grain types consisting of up to 90 wt.% carbonate fluorapatite (francolite) cement and inclusions of organic matter, pyrite and terrigenous mud. Strontium isotope stratigraphy and foraminiferal biostratigraphy indicate that phosphogenesis was initiated in the latest Miocene but that most phosphorite formed in the Plio/Pleistocene during early burial diagenesis of organic-rich mud as it does today in the Holocene diatomaceous mud belt. The highly-condensed, coarsening-upward succession reflects increasingly high-amplitude Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations. Phosphorite formation correlates to terrestrial aridification as well as to marine proxies of intensified coastal upwelling in the 600 m thick equivalent successions on the upper slope. Repeated phosphorite formation and reworking over Pleistocene glacial to interglacial cycles resulted in the economic concentration of phosphorite, with an estimated total resource of 7800 million tons of phosphate rock at an average grade of 19 wt.% P 2 O 5 on the Namibian shelf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Namibian Khwe Bushmen live in the Bwabwata National Park, where they are highly affected by the park's history and conservation activities. Following Ingold's dwelling perspective, the world comes into being because a person is continuously interacting with his/her environment. This contrasted with building, in which (wo)man constructs the world cognitively before (s)he can live in it. We apply a third notion, lodging, to refer to a situation in which people live in an essentially foreign environment. In this, many changes in the environment of the Khwe are triggered beyond their control, instead of through their interaction with their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Namibian continental margin marks the starting point of the Tristan da Cunha hotspot trail, the Walvis Ridge. This section of the volcanic southwestern African margin is therefore ideal to study the interaction of hotspot volcanism and rifting, which occurred in the late Jurassic/early Cretaceous. Offshore magnetotelluric data image electromagnetically the landfall of Walvis Ridge. Two large-scale high resistivity anomalies in the 3-D resistivity model indicate old magmatic intrusions related to hot-spot volcanism and rifting. The large-scale resistivity anomalies correlate with seismically identified lower crustal high velocity anomalies attributed to magmatic underplating along 2-D offshore seismic profiles. One of the high resistivity anomalies (above 500 Ωm) has three arms of approximately 100 km width and 300 km to 400 km length at 120° angles in the lower crust. One of the arms stretches underneath Walvis Ridge. The shape is suggestive of crustal extension due to local uplift. It might indicate the location where the hot-spot impinged on the crust prior to rifting. A second, smaller anomaly of 50 km width underneath the continent ocean boundary may be attributed to magma ascent during rifting. We attribute a low resistivity anomaly east of the continent ocean boundary and south of Walvis Ridge to the presence of a rift basin that formed prior to the rifting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Namibians often find themselves in situations of litigation where they need person-related records to defend their rights and privileges. Such person-related records include birth, adoption, marriage, or divorce or deceased estates. It has been observed that the institution where such records should be expected, the National Archives of Namibia often cannot retrieve person-related records of persons previously classified as non-whites under colonial and apartheid laws. Many native Namibians end up losing property or have problems claiming their constitutional rights due to lack of evidence. The purpose of this paper was to explore whether the existing archival literature can guide National Archives of new and emerging African nations on how to handle challenges brought about by gaps in inherited colonial archives. Using a literature survey to explore the state of what is written on the content and usage of colonial archives in post-colonial era, this article argues that the content and use of colonial archives in Africa do not feature prominently in the literature of archival science. Although there has been a rising interest on the subject during the last decade, none of this emerging literature has systematically studied archives in depth with a view on what these archives contain for the non-academic user, what they neglect and what they lack altogether in serving the needs of all citizens in post-colonial states. It recommends that archival scholars as well as archival institutions increase research into this neglected area. Raising awareness may produce academic discourse to help archivists in newly decolonised countries to competently support users whose inquiries currently cannot be answered by the inherited colonial archives collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grasslands on the sandy soils of the eastern edge of the Namib Desert of Namibia are strikingly punctuated by millions of mostly regularly-spaced circular bare spots 2 to 10 m or more in diameter, generally with a margin of taller grasses. The causes of these so called fairy circles are unknown, but several hypotheses have been advanced. In October 2009, we set up experiments that specifically tested four hypothesized causes, and monitored these 5 times between 2009 and 2015. Grass exclusion in circles due to seepage of subterranean vapors or gases was tested by burying an impermeable barrier beneath fairy circles, but seedling density and growth did not differ from barrier-less controls. Plant germination and growth inhibition by allelochemicals or nutrient deficiencies in fairy circle soils were tested by transferring fairy circle soil to artificially cleared circles in the grassy matrix, and matrix soil to fairy circles (along with circle to circle and matrix to matrix controls). None of the transfers changed the seedling density and growth from the control reference conditions. Limitation of plant growth due to micronutrient depletion within fairy circles was tested by supplementing circles with a micronutrient mixture, but did not result in differences in plant seedling density and growth. Short-range vegetation competitive feedbacks were tested by creating artificially-cleared circles of 2 or 4 m diameter located 2 or 6 m from a natural fairy circle. The natural circles remained bare and the artificial circles revegetated. These four experiments provided evidence that fairy circles were not caused by subterranean vapors, that fairy circle soil per se did not inhibit plant growth, and that the circles were not caused by micronutrient deficiency. There was also no evidence that vegetative feedbacks affected fairy circles on a 2 to 10 m scale. Landscape-scale vegetative self-organization is discussed as a more likely cause of fairy circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism and tourism images are an integral part of our daily lives. Images in tourism promotion also participate in cultural production that can create discourses of people and places and affect the way we perceive the world around us. This article discusses the ethnic representations produced in tourism promotion and reviews the features of the tourism images and historical aspects of the representations of Africa and its people. The article analyzes the representations of the Ovahimba, ethnic group living in Namibia. The focus is on the depictions of the Ovahimba culture, its members and their encounters with tourists in Namibian tourism promotion. Also, the various roles an ethnic group can have in place promotion is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cause and maintenance of the fairy circle phenomenon of the Namibian pro-desert have not yet been satisfactorily explained. Several diverse hypotheses have been put forward, but none have universally been accepted. In the current study a possible link between the barren patches (fairy circles) of the Garub region (southern Namibian pro-desert) and Euphorbia gummifera was investigated, by determining if a characteristic compound(s) from this poisonous plant is present inside the fairy circles. With the use of GCMS trace analysis it was possible to identify euphol, a characteristic triterpenoid of the Euphorbia genus, in substantial quantities in 19 out of 20 soil samples from inside fairy circles in the Garub region. Only trace amounts of euphol could be found in 3 of 20 samples from outside the fairy circles. This implies that E. gummifera was present where there are now fairy circles. A comparison of the size of the fairy circles and E. gummifera found within the same area (Garub) additionally linked the barren patches to E. gummifera . The circles in this area have an average diameter of 3.53 m and the plants 3.44 m. This study partially supports the first published hypothesis by Theron in 1979, that the fairy circles are caused by Euphorbia spp. or their remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Discourse: Journal of Childhood & Adolescense Research / Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This study describes and categorizes the preservable, and thus predominantly molluscan, component of the macrofauna death assemblages of sub-environments within the northern Benguela upwelling system. This is especially important for assembling actualistic data that can later serve for identifying similar settings in the geological record. A total of 16 samples were examined. Contrary to stereotypes, benthic communities are present but highly variable across the high-productivity tract and are characterized by distinctive community structures. Benguela system document a decrease in body size of chemosymbiotic bivalves (lucinids) and percent of chemosymbionts and deposit-feeders, and an overall increase in species richness and epifaunal-infaunal ratio. This trend is in accordance with the upwelling facies-gradient from diatomaceous ooze in areas of maximum upwelling intensity outward to the aerated but food-abundant carbonate oozes and spatially coexisting phosphorite concentrations. Differences in seafloor oxygen concentration along with variable food availability played major roles in structuring the death assemblages under the Benguela upwelling system. The ecologic data provide ways to distinguish between facies of low and high shell production along an increasing oxygen gradient, and also between assemblages with moderate and higher species richness associated with time-averaging. The data support the existence of a wider range of time averaging in the formation of molluscan sand and gravel samples in the northern Benguela than previously appreciated. Given the scarcity of information on macrobenthic ecology from modern high-productivity settings, these death assemblages can represent a "modern" analog. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Obesity leads to reduced lifer expectancy, increased likelihood of a wide range of diseases Obesity also lowers self-esteem and has negative consequences on the cognitive and social development of a person. World-wide, obesity is a leading yet preventable cause of death and its prevalence both in children and adults is increasing day by day. Compared to men, women have a relatively higher burden of disease attributable to overweight and obesity. This paper establishes the socio-economic factors influencing obesity in women in Namibia using logistic regression. The outcome variable was Obesity (1 for Obese, 0 for Not obese). The independent variables included the total number of children ever born to the woman, her place of residence; current age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, age of the woman at first birth, place of residence, region, and religion. Results indicate that in Namibia, obesity of a woman is associated with the age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, and the age of the woman at first birth. Policy and intervention programs to reduce obesity should focus on encouraging women to delay onset of child-bearing, to embark on lifelong regular exercise and diet programs. Even though smoking was inversely related to obesity, women should be encouraged to stop smoking because of its other devastating health eff ects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In settings such as Namibia with a high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drug-resistant (DR) tuberculosis (TB) co-infection, interactions and adverse events associated with second-line anti-TB and antiretroviral medicines pose a unique challenge in the treatment of both infections. Objective: The main objective of this study was to compare the absolute risks and risk factors for commonly observed adverse events (occurring in >20 % of patients) during DR-TB treatment in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of patients treated for DR-TB between January 2008 and February 2010 at the Kondja DR-TB ward in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Data were anonymously collected from patients' treatment records, using a structured form. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, while 2 × 2 contingency tables stratified by HIV status were employed to examine specific risk factor and adverse event relationships, using Epi Info 3.4.3 statistical software. Eighteen adverse events were studied but, because of the small sample size of patients, only the four most frequent ones (occurring in >20 % of patients) were included in the risk factor analysis. The risk factors were a treatment period of <4 weeks; treatment with any highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen; specific treatment with a zidovudine (AZT)-based HAART regimen, a cycloserine-based DR-TB regimen or an amikacin-based DR-TB regimen; female gender; baseline body weight ≤45 kg; and age 30 ≥years. Results: Of the 57 DR-TB patients who were included in the analysis, 31 (53 %) were co-infected with HIV. When stratified by HIV status, DR-TB patients had similar exposure to specific DR-TB medicines and comparable demographic and clinical characteristics, except for age, as HIV-infected patients were on average 6.5 years older than HIV-uninfected patients ( P = 0.007). Of the 18 studied adverse events, tinnitus (40 %), joint pain (26 %), hearing loss (23 %) and nausea (21 %) were the four most commonly observed events. Only for abdominal pain was there a statistically significant difference in the risk of occurrence between HIV-infected patients and HIV-uninfected patients (26 versus 4 %, P = 0.02). The risk ratios (RRs) for the association between treatment with a cycloserine-based DR-TB regimen and occurrence of joint pain did not differ much between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients (RR 4.3 in HIV-infected patients, P = 0.03; RR 5 in HIV-uninfected patients, P = 0.08). Similarly, although some differences in the RRs were observed between the two HIV status groups, the differences were not statistically significant for tinnitus, hearing loss or nausea. In some instances, HIV status appeared to modify the effect of the association of some of the risk factors and adverse event occurrence, but the wide and overlapping confidence intervals were inconclusive. Conclusion: Generally, the absolute risks and risk factors for adverse events were similar between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected patients treated for DR-TB in our Namibian cohort of 57 patients. Although our findings of comparable adverse event risks between DR-TB and DR-TB/HIV co-infected patients are encouraging, they are inconclusive because of the low statistical power of our study. We recommend a prospective study with a larger sample size that would increase the power and therefore the confidence in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Flowers and fruits of the monotypic Namibian endemic Marlothiella gummifera were examined to explore anatomical variation and to highlight problems associated with the homology of certain character states. Some unusual new features observed in the fruits and ovaries raise questions regarding the homology of fruit heteromorphy, rib oil ducts, vittae and carpophores in subfamily Apioideae. These include the irregular occurrence of heterocarpic ovaries, oil ducts on both the internal and external sides of the vascular bundles (the inner dwarf ducts), short ducts in the commissural area, and carpophores (only rarely present). The fruits of Marlothiella share several unusual features with the genus Lichtensteinia, namely concentric rings of cells around the rib oil ducts, of which the innermost are irregular in size and shape, very small vascular bundles that are usually comprised of two separate strands, and the occurrence of heteromorphy in fruits and ovaries. These two genera are morphologically very different and it is encouraging to find anatomical data to support their presumptive relationship based on molecular studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the historical activities of imperial German troops in former German Southwest Africa, now Namibia. Details on the military conduct of Africans as well as biographical facts from the diary of German lieutenant Lother von Trotha are presented, the role of the German Imperial Defense Troops in the persecution and oppression of Namibians is described, and the role of native Africans in the German imperial army is analyzed. The leadership of von Trotha and officer Alfred von Schlieffen against the Nama and Herero tribes are criticized.

Copyright of Politique Africaine is the property of Karthala Editions Diffusion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on elements of spatial theory, this article examines the establishment and development of Namibian tourism. Current literature on Namibian tourism covers the period since the Second World War only. This article seeks to fill the gaps between the experience of the early explorers and the formal beginning of Namibian tourism in the 1950s. Travel planning, guide books, travel brochures, advertising and publicity, as well as the congress of the "South African Publicity Association" offer a variety of perspectives for the period between the 1920s and the 1950s. Namibian tourist spaces were homogenised and - at the same time - differentiated. These spaces do not have to show compelling common characteristics with real spaces on site, but are idealised tourist dream worlds, temporarily realised tourist utopias. In tourism, safe spaces and spaces of adventure, or spaces of modernity and wilderness, are no longer seen as opposites. Thus, tourism has made possible the imagination and construction of more and more tourist spaces and forged the perception of today's Namibia as a tourist destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article outlines a development project carried out in Namibia in 2006–2010 by the Icelandic International Development Agency and the Namibian Ministry of Education. The project aimed primarily to empower deaf people by building capacity in deaf education and developing Namibian Sign Language. Strong emphasis was placed on strengthening government structures and services to contribute towards equal rights and participation in society. The article contextualises project activities and the lessons they offer with discussion on disability, development and deaf education, emphasising the importance of working closely with government and enlisting wide stakeholder participation to achieve sustainability. Les signes sont aussi éloquents que les mots : autonomisation des sourds en Namibie Cet article décrit un projet de développement mené en Namibie entre 2006 et 2010 par l'Agence islandaise pour le développement international et le ministère namibien de l'Éducation. L'objectif principal de ce projet était d'autonomiser les sourds en renforçant les capacités en matière d'éducation des sourds et en mettant au point le langage des signes namibien. L'accent a été fortement mis sur le renforcement des structures et des services gouvernementaux afin de contribuer à l'égalité des droits et à la participation au sein de la société. L'article contextualise les activités de projet et les enseignements qui en découlent, avec une discussion sur le handicap, le développement et l'éducation des sourds, en soulignant l'importance du travail en étroite collaboration avec le gouvernement et en s'assurant la participation de parties prenantes très diverses afin de parvenir à la durabilité. Os sinais falam tão alto quanto as palavras: empoderamento de deficientes auditivos na Namíbia Este artigo apresenta um projeto de desenvolvimento realizado na Namíbia em 2006–2010 pela Agência de Desenvolvimento Internacional da Islândia e o Ministério da Educação da Namíbia. O projeto visou principalmente empoderar deficientes auditivos, capacitando-os por meio do ensino e desenvolvendo a Linguagem de Sinais da Namíbia. Uma grande ênfase foi dada no fortalecimento das estruturas e serviços governamentais para contribuir para direitos iguais e participação na sociedade. O artigo contextualiza atividades de projeto e as lições que elas oferecem, discutindo sobre deficiência, desenvolvimento e educação de deficientes auditivos e enfatizando a importância do trabalho realizado de maneira próxima com o governo e de uma ampla participação das partes envolvidas para se alcançar a sustentabilidade. Los signos hablan más que las palabras: el empoderamiento de personas sordas en Namibia Este ensayo describe un proyecto de desarrollo realizado en Namibia de 2006 a 2010 por la Agencia de Desarrollo Internacional de Islandia y el Ministerio de Educación de Namibia. El objetivo principal del proyecto era empoderar a personas sordas por medio de la creación de capacidades en educación especial para sordos y del desarrollo del Lenguaje de Signos de Namibia. Se insistió especialmente en el fortalecimiento de estructuras y servicios gubernamentales a fin de contribuir a alcanzar iguales derechos y participación en la sociedad. El ensayo enmarca las actividades del proyecto y sus aprendizajes en un contexto de diálogos sobre discapacidades, desarrollo y educación para personas sordas, y subraya la importancia de trabajar en cercana coordinación con el gobierno y de lograr una amplia participación de los grupos de interés para alcanzar la sostenibilidad. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines a conflict that occurred within the Namibian liberation movement, SWAPO, in Zambia between 1974 and 1976. It considers the conflict, sometimes misleadingly referred to as ‘the Shipanga Crisis’, from the perspective of the SWAPO-administered camps. Although previous studies indicate that the conflict manifested itself in these camps, they tend to depict the camps as a series of places where residents were influenced by individuals, such as Andreas Shipanga, and events, such as calls for a SWAPO congress, rather than as a kind of space which moulded social relations among the entire Namibian exile community. In contrast, this article focuses on practices in and around ‘the camp’, highlighting the extent to which it enabled SWAPO officials to shape allegiances and manage tensions among Namibians living in Zambia during the mid-1970s. In so doing, the piece offers a new perspective both on how some members of SWAPO consolidated power during a period when their authority was contested and on the significance of the camps for Southern Africa, and Southern African studies more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented which focuses on the social conditions and international relations of exiled Namibians living at the Kongwa Camp, a camp located in the town of Kongwa, Tanzania, which was established in the fight for the liberation of South Africa beginning in 1964. The author contends that an ability-based social hierarchy established among the Namibians in the camp enabled the forming of relationships with non-Namibians in the camp.

Abstract: The present paper explores cross-cultural variation in spatial cognition by comparing spatial reconstruction tasks by Dutch and Namibian elementary school children. These two communities differ in the way they predominantly express spatial relations in language. Four experiments investigate cognitive strategy preferences across different levels of task-complexity and instruction. Data show a correlation between dominant linguistic spatial frames of reference and performance patterns in non-linguistic spatial memory tasks. This correlation is shown to be stable across an increase of complexity in the spatial array. When instructed to use their respective non-habitual cognitive strategy, participants were not easily able to switch between strategies and their attempts to do so impaired their performance. These results indicate a difference not only in preference but also in competence and suggest that spatial language and non-linguistic preferences and competences in spatial cognition are systematically aligned across human populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Presented here are stable nitrogen isotope data from a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens from northwestern Namibia that record a series of rapid aridification events beginning at ca. 3800cal yr BP, and which mark a progressive decrease in regional humidity across the Holocene. Strong correlations exist between this record and other terrestrial and marine archives from southern Africa, indicating that the observed pattern of climate change is regionally coherent. Combined, these data indicate hemispheric synchrony in tropical African climate change during the Holocene, with similar trends characterising the termination of the ‘African Humid Period’ (AHP) in both the northern and southern tropics. These findings run counter to the widely accepted model of direct low-latitude insolation forcing, which requires an anti-phase relationship to exist between the hemispheres. The combined dataset highlights: 1) the importance of forcing mechanisms influencing the high northern latitudes in effecting low-latitude climate change in Africa, and 2) the potential importance of solar forcing and variations in the Earth''s geomagnetic shield in determining both long-term and rapid centennial-scale climate changes, identifying a possible mechanism for the variations marking the AHP termination in both the southern and northern tropics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Identifying and explaining bottlenecks in organic carbon mineralization and the persistence of organic matter in marine sediments remain challenging. This study aims to illuminate the process of carbon flow between microorganisms involved in the sedimentary microbial food chain in anoxic, organic-rich sediments of the central Namibian upwelling system, using biogeochemical rate measurements and abundances of Bacteroidetes, Gammaproteobacteria, and sulfate-reducing bacteria at two sampling stations. Sulfate reduction rates decreased by three orders of magnitude in the top 20 cm at one sampling station (280 nmol cm-3 d-1 - 0.1 nmol cm-3 d-1) and by a factor of 7 at the second station (65 nmol cm-3 d-1 - 9.6 nmol cm-3 d-1). However, rates of enzymatic hydrolysis decreased by less than a factor of three at both sampling stations for the polysaccharides laminarin (23 nmol cm-3 d-1- 8 nmol cm-3 d-1 and 22 nmol cm-3 d-1- 10 nmol cm-3 d-1) and pullulan (11 nmol cm-3 d-1- 4 nmol cm-3 d-1 and 8 nmol cm-3 d-1- 6 nmol cm-3 d-1). Increasing imbalance between carbon turnover by hydrolysis and terminal oxidation with depth, the steep decrease in cell specific activity of sulfate reducing bacteria with depth, low concentrations of volatile fatty acids (less than 15 μM), and persistence of dissolved organic carbon, suggest decreasing bioavailability and substrate limitation with depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a model of the southern Kalahari landscape that in the past gave clues for orientation and usability to Taa-speaking hunter-gatherers. Lexical and conceptual changes are detected with respect to what was formerly the most important landform for survival: pans as water sources and sites suitable for camping and foraging. A part-to-whole-change in lexical semantics is paralleled by a conceptual change from a predominance of notions of utility to a predominance of perceptual salience. These changes reflect changes in land-use patterns and were discovered by comparing statements from people of different ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study examines people's values and beliefs about nature and environmental conservation that connect with their background and experiences. Interviews with a small sample of local people and North Americans in the Kunene Region of Namibia, a remote area rich in wildlife, considers three aspects of environmental beliefs and values: (a) extrinsic and intrinsic valuing of nature, (b) environmental identity, and (c) inclusion of nature in the scope of justice. Both North American and Namibian respondents expressed a deep love of nature and the desire to protect it. North Americans described a universal and abstract view of nature, emphasizing its intrinsic over extrinsic qualities. Namibian respondents described how both extrinsic and intrinsic valuing of nature can be consistent with concerns for conservation. North Americans described an environmental identity emerging from childhood experiences; Namibians described younger people as more environmentally conscious than older people. Both North American and Namibian respondents expressed concerns about environmental degradation and poverty and saw education and collective action as effective ways to extend fairness toward nature. Our empirical findings, which offer evidence of contextual influences on environmental philosophies, should be understood in light of socioeconomic realities of any environmental context. Local knowledge and values, we argue, should inform environmental conservation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines 'asset stripping' which is said to occur particularly in matrilineal societies when young widows are stripped of their late husband's possessions. Contrary to many scholars who see asset stripping as a recent phenomenon and who believe that recent moves by traditional Owambo leaders to protect widows is a product of enlightenment induced by contemporary human rights activism, this paper shows that 'asset stripping' has deep historical roots and was a subject of contention even in the earliest mission accounts of over a century ago. Moreover, the historical records show that leaders, both traditional and Church, have long tried to improve the situation for widows, but have not achieved the success they desired. The relative failure of these legal innovations to protect widows is described and analysed. The problem is a structural one exacerbated by recent State efforts at gender equity. Finally, given the historical structural nature of the issue, questions are raised about the current proclivity to use rapid assessment techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropology in southern Africa is conducted under a political climate charged with land and resource claims. Focusing on a recent ethnography of Namibian Haillom. I explore the implications both of asserting the difference of the anthropological "other" in these circumstances. and of choices made regarding what constitutes the identity of "the other." I celebrate publication of this monograph in a context in which anthropology increasingly is marginalised. However, I also question affirmation of a Haillom identity which may be problematic in relation to constructed ideas of indigeneity and "Bushman-ness," and the invoking of these in official discourses concerning land and institutional resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]