Gaping Holes : Towards Multispecies Histories and Ethnographies of Mining in Southern Africa / edited by Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning, Harry Wels.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gewald, Jan-Bart, editor.

Luning, Sabine, editor.

Wels, Harry, editor.

Series:

African Dynamics ; 18.

Social Sciences E-Books Online, Collection 2026.

African Dynamics ; 18

Social Sciences E-Books Online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Studies.

Biology & Environmental Sciences.

Biology.

History.

Sociology & Anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (196 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Towards Multispecies Histories and Ethnographies of Mining in Southern Africa

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

For much of the 20th Century, industrial mining in southern Africa stood at the very forefront of modernity, where it promised progress and economic development. Yet in the present, southern Africa is bedevilled by the toxic legacy of economic collapse, societal upheaval and environmental ruin. Industrial mining has transformed southern Africa at all levels, from its flora and fauna to its water and air. Globally, it has become clear that mineral extraction, once heralded as the epitome of progress, is central to the Climate Crisis in the Anthropocene. In this volume, the contributors acknowledge this and attempt to contribute to histories and ethnographies of mining in southern Africa in which the human is decentred. As such, the various chapters focus on animals and plants in relation to mining, and thus show a way forward for further research in southern Africa and beyond. Contributors are Innocent Dande, James R. Fairhead, Jan-Bart Gewald, Jan Jansen, Sabine Luning, Ettore Morelli, Joseph Mujere, Iva Peša, Jabulani Shaba, Saskia Stehouwer, Sandra Swart and Harry Wels.

Contents:

Front Cover

Half Title

Series Information

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Figures

Notes on Contributors

Introduction

Part 1 Pre-colonial Contexts

Chapter 1 Teaming Up with Termites: Appraising Termites' Contributions to Earth Technologies in West Africa

Chapter 2 Into the Black Hole: Life, Death, and the Python in Central Southern Africa

Part 2 Colonial Contexts

Chapter 3 Quaggas and Diamonds: the Possible Relations between Diamond Mining and Species Extinction

Chapter 4 'Jaws Full of Nails': How South Africa Invented the World's Most Terrifying Police Dog

Part 3 Contemporary Contexts

Chapter 5 Diamonds, Animals, and Artisanal Miners: towards a Multispecies History of Diamond Mining in Chiadzwa, Zimbabwe

Chapter 6 Tracing Gold Mining and Multispecies Assemblages in Mazowe, Zimbabwe

Chapter 7 A History of the Copperbelt through Plants

maple leaf

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-74932-2

9789004749320

OCLC:

1564378121

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004749320 DOI