The power of meaning : people and the utilization and management of coastal resources in Saadani village, Tanzania
Doctoral Thesis
2001
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This study examines the natural resource utilisation and management patterns of people in the coastal village of Saadani in Tanzania, in light of the individuals' social and economic power. The study was conducted between August 1997 and March1999. It focuses on people's access to and control of natural resources both within and beyond the household. It was prompted by the need to examine how pressures arising from external factors such as shifts in macro-economic orientation and environmental management policies which initiated new utilisation practices have impinged on coastal people's livelihoods and on their ways of using natural resources. At the same time, internal dynamics of the local society have created new interpretations on claims to and use of those resources. Applying contemporary understandings on power, the study explores the different ways in which individuals as social actors, construct their lives in ways that empower them and employ strategies to achieve goals that they define within their particular historical and social contexts to overcome the limitations that are generated by these various processes. Gender is also recognised as an important analytical category because it makes it possible to engage in the diversities in local power that go beyond the state versus local opposition.
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Bibliography: leaves 250-268.
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Mwaipopo-Ako, R. 2001. The power of meaning : people and the utilization and management of coastal resources in Saadani village, Tanzania. University of Cape Town.