At Home In The Okavango: White Batswana Narratives Of Emplac

Description: An ethnographic portrayal of the lives of white citizens of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, this book examines their relationships with the natural and social environments of the region. In response to the insecurity of their position as a European-descended minority in a postcolonial African state, Gressier argues that white Batswana have developed cultural values and practices that have allowed them to attain high levels of belonging. Adventure is common for this frontier community, and the book follows their safari lifestyles as they construct and perform localized identities in their interactions with dangerous wildlife, the broader African community, and the global elite via their work in the nature-tourism industry.

Review: "The complexities associated with White Batswana belonging are well explored, and the outcome is certainly an endorsement both of the anthropological tradition of participant observation and the author's excellent fieldwork skills." * SITES - A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies

Contents: List of Maps Acknowledgments Introduction: Waiting for the Flood Chapter 1. Connections to the Natural Environment Chapter 2. Photographic Tourism, Emplacement and Belonging Chapter 3. Hunting and Ambiguity in Belonging Chapter 4. Belonging and the Nation Chapter 5. Race Relations and Community Ties in the Okavango Conclusion: Making a Plan to Belong Bibliography Index



Author Biography: Catie Gressier is a McArthur Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.