'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900

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dc.contributor.advisorVan Sittert, Lanceen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorD'Arcy Nell, Dawnen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-08T07:10:57Z
dc.date.available2016-02-08T07:10:57Z
dc.date.issued1998en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 83-94.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis study investigates the tensions surrounding livestock enumeration in the Cape Colony in the late nineteenth century. The study situates livestock statistics in an historical context which is intended to provide some indication of what these statistics meant for contemporary actors. This study looks at the significance of the enumeration oflivestock by the state, both for the state and for farmers, and focuses specifically on the semi-nomadic 'trekfarming' population ofthree districts of the Cape Colony - ClanwiHiam, Calvinia and Namaqualand - referred to for the purposes of this study as the North-western Cape. Livestock enumeration was considered a central component of the officially-sanctioned fund of 'knowledge' on the colony's livestock that was used as the basis of state policy and pastoral reform interventions. Livestock statistics were also a contentious issue in the colony during this period. While certain sectors of the inhabitants of the colony viewed statistics as an indispensable aspect of 'modern' life and put pressure on the colony's civil service to provide more reliable statistics, other sectors of the population viewed enumeration with suspicion. This thesis looks at the tensions surrounding agricultural statistics, and argues that this contest had its roots in the fact that statistics had come to be regarded as a symbol of the 'progressive' agriculture that was sweeping the colony during this period. Ultimately, however, the effectiveness of state knowledge on livestock throughout this period would prove to be constrained by the state's particular preoccupation with the growth of 'progressive' agriculture. Gaps existed in official knowledge on agriculture in the colony which would allow farmers in outlying regions such as the North-western Cape a degree of liberty in their farming practices and use of natural resources.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationD'Arcy Nell, D. (1998). <i>'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16851en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationD'Arcy Nell, Dawn. <i>"'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16851en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationD'Arcy Nell, D. 1998. 'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - D'Arcy Nell, Dawn AB - This study investigates the tensions surrounding livestock enumeration in the Cape Colony in the late nineteenth century. The study situates livestock statistics in an historical context which is intended to provide some indication of what these statistics meant for contemporary actors. This study looks at the significance of the enumeration oflivestock by the state, both for the state and for farmers, and focuses specifically on the semi-nomadic 'trekfarming' population ofthree districts of the Cape Colony - ClanwiHiam, Calvinia and Namaqualand - referred to for the purposes of this study as the North-western Cape. Livestock enumeration was considered a central component of the officially-sanctioned fund of 'knowledge' on the colony's livestock that was used as the basis of state policy and pastoral reform interventions. Livestock statistics were also a contentious issue in the colony during this period. While certain sectors of the inhabitants of the colony viewed statistics as an indispensable aspect of 'modern' life and put pressure on the colony's civil service to provide more reliable statistics, other sectors of the population viewed enumeration with suspicion. This thesis looks at the tensions surrounding agricultural statistics, and argues that this contest had its roots in the fact that statistics had come to be regarded as a symbol of the 'progressive' agriculture that was sweeping the colony during this period. Ultimately, however, the effectiveness of state knowledge on livestock throughout this period would prove to be constrained by the state's particular preoccupation with the growth of 'progressive' agriculture. Gaps existed in official knowledge on agriculture in the colony which would allow farmers in outlying regions such as the North-western Cape a degree of liberty in their farming practices and use of natural resources. DA - 1998 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1998 T1 - 'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900 TI - 'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16851 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16851
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationD'Arcy Nell D. 'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 1998 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16851en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Historical Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherHistorical Studiesen_ZA
dc.title'You cannot make the people scientific by Act of Parliament' : farmers, the State and livestock enumeration in the North-western Cape, c. 1850-1900en_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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