A socio-environmental history of water in the Karoo c.1762-2012, with specific focus on Prince Albert and Williston

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the history of water in two small Karoo towns. The main argument ofthe thesis is that the availability of and access to water has played influential roles in thedevelopment of Williston and Prince Albert. The ambitions of this thesis are three-fold:firstly, the approach is socio-environmental history and therefore it provides insight into theenvironmental as well as the social history of the resource in each region. It consciouslyreflects on the notion of power and explores the manner in which access to water wasracialised by authorities in each town. Secondly, this thesis provides insight into thetechnological and legislative water supply and development of sanitation at both settlements,which is outlined in a broader national development to contextualise the local trajectories.Thirdly, through personal narratives it offers an ethnographic analysis of mind-sets such asfatalism and hopefulness in the face of extreme climatic conditions are examined. Theexperiences of the socially marginalised and underrepresented are intended to challenge thewhiggish celebration of anthropogenic ascendancy over nature in the historiography.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University