Disorderly development: Globalization and the idea of culture in the Kalahari Rene Sylvain, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Since Namibia became independent from South Africa in 1 !, the diverse ethnolinguistic groups "no#n as the San have progressively become an organi$ed political community and participate in international indigenous peoples rights forums% &nforming leadership around a pan'San identity, they are currently engaged in global activism and local struggles for rights as indigenous people% &ndependence and globali$ation bring #ith them liberali$ed trade mar"ets, flo#s of capital, the tourism industry and an array of NGO activity concerned #ith development pro(ects into Namibia, affecting local economies and social relations% )his results in opportunities of empo#erment *through recognition and redistribution+ but also in ne# sets of problems% )here are contradictions inherent to local identity politics and global activism in an enduring social situation of corruption, political disorder, racial segregation and class e,ploitation% )he San are visible in the media and international forums, but as their identity becomes globali$ed, the San are encouraged to self'promote a stereotypical image as isolated, pristine primitives, not unli"e the colonial representations of the -ushmen, and #hich may reproduce the same ine.ualities that have long affected them% /eified notions of culture are embedded in definitions of globali$ation% 01ocal cultures2 resist a 0#orld culture2 of global homogeni$ation by raising and fi,ing ethnic boundaries% )he intensification of local, primordiali$ed ethnic heterogeneity is assumed to be the normal response to universal, homogeni$ing tendencies% Dra#ing from Stuart 3all4s claim that globali$ation entails a homogeni$ing form of representation, Sylvain suggests that it is about a particular #ay of representing culture% &t is not, or not only, a 05estern culture2 that is being globali$ed, but also a 5estern idea of 0culture2% 0Cultures2 are seen as bounded, ahistorical 0facts of nature2% &ntensified ethnic and cultural assertions under globali$ation amount to the globali$ation of a particularly essentiali$ed idea of culture% /eassertion is less a reaction against globali$ation than an e,pression or even a product of globali$ation%

)he proliferation of grassroots activism by NGOs and identity politics advocates, such as the international indigenous peoples4 movement, results in the 0globali$ation'from'belo#2 of a 0sedentarist metaphysics2% &ndigeneity is a primordial, organic, ahistorical identity of a people as the first inhabitants #ith an enclosed landscape% &ndigenous advocates developed this from the institutional frame#or" of state nationalism% &dentity is lin"ed to the land% )erritorial metaphors ground a discrete, bounded, self'contained identity, naturali$ing and essentiali$ing it% &ndigenous identity grounds the claims for land after its dispossession by other incoming populations or colonial po#ers, but also forces many groups 6self'7 identified as indigenous to the 6self'7 imposition of e,ternali$ing an appearance of authenticity and even primitiveness, in order to gain recognition% )his leads to the parado,ical fact that rights'based indigenous activism contributes to the instrumentali$ation and the ensuing essentiali$ation of culture as a fact of nature% &t re'legitimi$es the 0separate development2 policies of Apartheid% Sylvain argues that the e,pressions of San identity as primordial reflect the globali$ation of the essentialist idea of culture #hich creates a particular environment for development in the 8alahari, influencing the San struggles for rights, recognition and resources% )he primordial, 0introverted2 idea of culture is instrumentali$ed in local conte,ts of disorder and corruption associated #ith administrative vacuums after independence, the proliferation of uncoordinated NGO activity and the imperative for authenticity of ethno'mar"eting ventures, largely bypassing any social and economic benefits for the San% A landscape of ine.uality, e,ploitation and dispossession shapes the 0place of recognition2 in #hich the San have to struggle for identity and social (ustice 60redistribution2, as in Nancy 9raser7% Sylvain argues that her case study in the Omahe"e region of Namibia among 0hybrid2 farm San sho#s ho# racial and ethnic stereotypes shape local systems of class e,ploitation but also ho# class shapes the cultural life of the San% )heir situation stems from a conflictive relation #ith the struggling 05hites2 and 0-lac"s2: the descendants of displaced or tre""ing German and Afri"aner leftover after coloni$ation and #ar, -antu'spea"ers as the 3erero and the )s#anas, and other 8hoisan groups as the Nama'Damaras% )hey act as e,ploitative employers and even as abusive masters still% )he San ta"e care of farms and cattle in e,change of unfair remuneration% Despite being

in the minority, other dispersed and mobile San communities are able to engage in hunting and gathering% )hey attract the favour of the international community #ith their more seemingly primordial -ushman #ay of life% ;thnicity can be displayed and recogni$ed opportunistically in the 8alahari #hen employment or supporting "in net#or"s are available, but primordialism is fossili$ing this fle,ibility% )he Omahe"e San )rust 6OS)7 NGO has been established to further educational programmes, build 0traditional2 leadership and development pro(ects #ith a heavy emphasis in cultural aspects% )#o representatives of each one of the <= San communities recogni$ed in Omahe"e are entitled to membership% -ut <> of these communities consist of a minority of scattered San #ho seasonally live off the farms, #hile t#o thirds of the San population are allocated to only 1 community of farm'#or"ers and domestic servants% )he most e,ploited ma(ority 0hybrid2 community has a lesser say% ?olitical disorder and cultural primordialism combine to sustain systems of ine.uality for an underclass of Omahe"e San, sho#ing a convergence bet#een ethno'development and the commodification of culture in the tourism industry% ;ssentiali$ation and instrumentali$ation mas" the class'shaped culture of the San and continue their marginali$ation and e,ploitation, even if San cultural and ethnic pride is re'asserted and they do too discover its added value as a social and economic asset% -esides e,cluding from political representation the 0hybrid2 groups #ith a lesser resemblance to the ideali$ed pristine image of the -ushmen, the #idely embraced stress on essentiali$ed ideas of culture mas"s the intersectionality of systems of gender, racial, ethnic and class ine.ualities% Cultural identity is politici$ed, but class is depolitici$ed, naturali$ing the dispossessed social situation of the San% &n the face of social and class ine.ualities that are (ustified by ideologies of hierarchy, the globali$ed concept of a fossili$ed cultural identity and the e,pected San identification #ith it, conspire #ith local ethno'development and ethno'tourism pro(ects in perpetuating the underclass status% Culture has become an instrument in the struggles for resources% &ndigenous identity is grounded in a uni.ue relationship to the land% Discrete and bounded communities attract donors and ethno'development pro(ects% )here are strong e,pectations of agencies and tourists to be satisfied #ith displays of primitive authenticity% )ourism is a booming industry in Namibia, promoted by supranational organi$ations li"e the &nternational @onetary 9und% )ransnational Governmentality means in the 8alahari also a chaotically implemented succession of uncoordinated developmental pro(ects carried by NGOs% )hey

eventually fail or are forgotten, based in the proclaimed and perceived cultural needs and talents of the primordial San% Capital indeed flo#s in #hen the San present themselves as the -ushmen so lin"ed to nature% -ut this "ind of 6mis7recognition becomes even more problematic #hen it is not the San #ho act as their o#n cultural bro"ers or actual beneficiaries% -et#een them and the development initiatives, stands the corruption of others acting as ethnic entrepreneurs, capitali$ing from San labour% San #or" in farms, or as cultural performers of traditional dances, 0ecological' friendly2 animal trac"ing and hunts, and e,hibitions of semi'nudity for the demand of commoditi$ed e,oticism from tourists% )he fruit of their labour is still e,propriated by the descendants of German and Afri"aner settlers, 3erero farmers and cattle'o#ners, and even the Nama'Damaras 68hoi, 3ottentots7 so closely related to the San, but #ho en(oy a better position in the ethnic'class system% Contrary to the e,pectations of the tourist and the donors, San have a class consciousness% )hey recogni$e infrastructural needs as food, #ater, health programmes and employment% )hey are able to see the performance of identity as income'opportunity and not 6only7 as cultural reassertion% &n conclusion, the interface bet#een culture and class must al#ays be ta"en as problematic% &s ethnic reassertion dooming or dignifying for the SanA 5ill recognition eventually lead to better redistributionA )he San themselves have the burden of deciding it% &n a fe# years since the late 1 !s, Sylvain has noticed a similar shift to that that )erence )urner observed among the 8ayapB of the southern Ama$on basin bet#een the 1 =!s and the 1 C!s% &n her first visits to the 8alahari in 1 =, the San #ere eager to pose for photographs in their best clothes holding their most valued commodities as e,pression of their personal pride% -ut as a result of the global shifts, the local dynamics and the advocacy of NGOs, Sylvain no# finds them ready to shed their contemporary clothes, and eager to pose in animal s"ins and bead#or" as a genuine e,pression of #hat they value%