BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20260807T070227EDT-5633v17gEm@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20260807T110227Z DESCRIPTION:Michael Bollig\, University of Cologne. In the first half of th e 19th century the Pokot became herders par excellence\, recruiting member s from different pastoral\, forager and agro-pastoral communities. Recent findings on East Africa's (Verschuren) climatic history suggest correspond ence between an inter-decadal mega-drought (about 1760-1840) and pastoral specialization. Pastoralization was rapid\, thorough and highly successful . By the end of the 19th century the pastoral Pokot were the dominant comm unity of the Baringo Basin and Kerio Valley. In comparative terms they wer e extremely successful: about 14 head of cattle made them one of East Afri ca's richest cattle keeping communities\; their wealth left a deep impress ion on colonial administrators. With intensification of pastoralism patter ns of social exchange were pastoralized and livestock became the preferred medium to institute social relations. Encapsulation brought about by colo nial administration contributed to pastoral specialization and the ethnica lly defined patterns of land tenure. Since the mid-20th century rapid popu lation growth\, rampant rangeland degradation and violence have brought ab out severe challenges for the highly specialized pastoral economy. These w ere met by an elaborate set of risk-management strategies. When they faile d Pokot economy and society changed rapidly and profoundly. Many Pokot hou seholds took up agriculture\, became more sedentary and many men and women engaged in some form of trade and service-supply in the past 20 years. Bu sh-markets spread and grew in importance and ever bigger parts of the popu lation straddle a life between pastoralism and poverty in rapidly growing villages. Stratification emerged rapidly as a consequence of new opportuni ties for capital accumulation and local politics were captured by a new el ite\, replacing local elders as decision-makers. Gerontocratic rule is rap idly being replaced by new forms of local governance. The paper argues tha t highly specialized pastoralism is a fairly recent and temporally restric ted (at most 200 years) phenomenon marked by highly specific social-ecolog ical relations. The switch towards pastoral specialization some 200 years ago and the changes towards more diversified forms of production have been rapid and abrupt. The guiding theoretical perspectives – historical ecolo gy and political ecology – ensure that (a) the relevance of dynamic human- environment relations is taken into account and that (b) political process es at different scales have framed these processes to a large degree. \n DTSTART:20071126T193000Z DTEND:20071126T193000Z LOCATION:Leacock Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 2T7\, 855 rue Sherbroo ke Ouest SUMMARY:Rapid social-ecological change in an East African pastoral communit y: The historical and political ecology of Pokot pastoralism URL:/channels/event/rapid-social-ecological-change-eas t-african-pastoral-community-historical-and-political-ecology-poko-27983 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR