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Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2017 BOSTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Dissertation “WISDOM DOES NOT LIVE IN ONE HOUSE”: COMPILING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN LESOTHO, SOUTHERN AFRICA, C.1880-1965 By CHRISTOPHER R. CONZ B.S., University of Hartford, 1999 M.Ed., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2004 M.A., Boston University, 2013 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 ProQuest Number:10267447 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10267447 Published by ProQuest LLC ( 2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 © Copyright by CHRISTOPHER R. CONZ 2017 Approved by First Reader ______________________________________________________ James C. McCann, Ph.D. Professor of History Second Reader ______________________________________________________ Diana Wylie, Ph.D. Professor of History Third Reader _______________________________________________________ Joanna Davidson, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Anthropology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was possible only because of others to whom I owe tremendous gratitude. A Fulbright Student Grant and a Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship from Boston University funded my research in 2014-2015. My two homes at Boston University, the Department of History and the African Studies Center and Library, provided me with the intellectual space for sharing my work with graduate students and faculty. My advisor James McCann offered his insight on African environmental history as well as the moral support necessary for seeing this project to completion. Diana Wylie steered me through the labyrinths of southern African studies, encouraging me to pose new questions. To help strengthen the transnational dimensions of this work, Sarah Phillips guided me in studies of American agricultural and environmental history. Anthropologist Joanna Davidson gave pertinent advice for my fieldwork and writing. Peter Quella of the African Studies Center, with his expertise on Lesotho’s language and culture, provided both logistical and academic support. As a mentor and friend, Adam Kuper commented on drafts and nudged me along. John Gay gave generously of his time and of his deep knowledge of Lesotho. As colleagues, John Aerni-Flessner and Sam Severson discussed the depths of Lesotho’s past with me. There were many others who commented on drafts, especially those in HI 900 at BU, the Walter Rodney Seminar at BU, the North Eastern Workshops on Southern Africa, the Workshop on the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology, and Science, and the African Environments & their Populations workshop at Georgetown University. iv In the archive and university settings in Lesotho I enjoyed strong support. At the Morija Museum & Archives, Stephen Gill provided consultation, expertise, and friendship. David Ambrose, the sage of all things Lesotho, gave his time generously at his home in Ladybrand. At the National University of Lesotho, Motlatsi Thabane of the Department of Historical Studies encouraged me in my research interests. In the Department of African Languages and Literature, Lehlohonolo Phafoli and Madira Thetso instructed me in Sesotho language. ‘Me Madira welcomed me into her home and answered my many questions. At the NUL archives Sekhonyana Molapo was most helpful. At Our Lady’s House in Roma, the resident brothers and sisters treated me as family, making my time there comfortable, even in winter. Emmanuel Ntsekhe spoke of agriculture with his keen humor. Father Abel Phohlo shared his knowledge of history and culture, also assisting with translations. Soka Sechele, a friend and fellow teacher, helped with translating and transcribing my oral interviews. For my rural fieldwork, I am indebted to the people of Ha Makhaola, where I lived as a Peace Corps Volunteer and where I did research for this project. The village residents, along with my former colleagues at Tsoelike Secondary School, taught me important lessons. Special thanks to Mokhafisi Kena, who was an exceptional friend, mentor, and oral historian until his death in 2016. Kena’s family, too, welcomed me in Lesotho and in South Africa. Maletepata Makhaola provided a glimpse into the world of chiefs. While visiting in 2012 I asked her permission to live in the village again for research. She responded simply: ke haeno (it’s your home). v Lebuajoang Lerotholi, Clement Shata, and Tumisang Khalala, in various ways, taught me about the lives of Basotho farmers and workers. Phoka Mohapi helped me to sharpen my interview questions into local Sesotho. I thank all my interviewees for sharing their time and stories with me. I am most grateful to the Ramatseka family with whom I lived as a Peace Corps Volunteer and again as a researcher. ‘Me Mapoloko Ramatseka, the mother of the house, opened my eyes to Basotho women’s lives. Her daughters Maleshoane and Matseliso looked after me like a brother. Sadly, Maleshoane passed away during my research in 2015 and ‘Me Mapoloko died shortly after I returned to Boston. Robalang ka khotso bo-‘me, ke lebohile. Finally, no project that requires such time, energy, and persistence would be possible without support from family. My mother Patricia Conz has continued to give her unwavering support for all that I do in life. My two big brothers have also encouraged me along this path. The intellectual and moral support from my brother Brian Conz, a cultural geographer, has been essential. Indeed, the work ethic and life wisdom that we learned from our late father guides me always. Undoubtedly, I owe the most gratitude to my wife and best friend, Christina Balch, for all of her patience, love, and listening during this process. Kea leboha mokopu oa ka! All of these people have contributed immensely to this dissertation, yet they bear no responsibility for its weaknesses. Any shortcomings belong to me alone. vi “WISDOM DOES NOT LIVE IN ONE HOUSE”: COMPILING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN LESOTHO, SOUTHERN AFRICA, C.1880-1965 CHRISTOPHER R. CONZ Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2017 Major Professor: James C. McCann, Professor of History ABSTRACT This dissertation reconstructs a history of the greater Qacha’s Nek district of Lesotho, southern Africa from 1880 when farmers first settled the area, until 1965 on the eve of independence from Great Britain. This place-based study speaks to broader questions. How have people incorporated new and often foreign ideas into existing beliefs and practices? How did a person’s social position affect how they interacted with new ideas? How have people applied knowledge to make and remake environments such as in gardens and fields? This study is based on field research in Lesotho, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The author examined archival materials including colonial records, agricultural reports and surveys, national council proceedings, and vernacular newspapers. During four months of rural fieldwork in Lesotho the author collected oral histories, took photographs, and participated in village life. The approach focuses on colonial government interventions into agriculture and pastoralism. These interventions serve as sites for examining historical changes in how Basotho people engaged with the non-human world. In so doing, the study makes three main interventions. First, the claims are situated within scholarly vii conversations about local knowledge, science, and environment under colonialism. Second, the stories of chiefs, farmers, and government employees told here extend the literature on Lesotho’s political and economic history by highlighting the nuance of local politics, ecology, and agency. Finally, to contribute to the environmental historiography on Africa and rural places in general, the study probes the interplay of culture and nature. To do this, it narrates how people deployed eclectic knowledge to build, rebuild, and redefine environments. The dissertation argues that the compilation of environmental knowledge must be understood as a historical process that encapsulates the meanings that people have imbued the landscape with, for example, by building homesteads, along with how people have understood the landscape as a system of resources to be used economically for subsistence and market purposes. These aspects of knowing are part of a single process that has unfolded, and continues to unfold, along a temporal trajectory that has varied across different social groups, such as men and women and chiefs and commoners. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MAPS & FIGURES ................................................................................................................. xii ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................
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