The Impact of Economic Systems on the Ju/'hoansi Bushmen

Perhaps the greatest mystery to people is themselves. Out of this mystery comes knowledge. Anthropology, an example of this knowledge, exists specifically to seek answers about people themselves. A danger to the solving of this mystery is globalization. Globalization conforms the unique. The unique are essential to the general answer. As exemplified by the Ju/'hoansi, economic globalization negatively impacts local food-foraging cultures in that it quickly alters long-established subsistence practices, economic arrangements, and social organizations.

To begin, economic globalization has a negative impact on the long-established subsistence practices of food-foragers. Economic globalization can impact the resources available to the small culture. Consider the Ju/'hoansi of southern Africa. When they were removed from their native lands, the resources, especially the food resources, available to them significantly changed. In a food-foraging culture that relies on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods for subsistence, knowing the locations of resources is vital to survival. When resources change, food foragers are unable to survive with their previous subsistence practices, and must change their mode of subsistence including their entire way of life. Technologies, as well as resources, also change due to globalization. Tools used by food foragers are relatively few and small due to the constant mobility of these groups. Because food foragers are always on the move, it makes no sense for them to amass possessions. When the Ju/'hoansi way of life was transformed from a highly mobile food-foraging society to a settled farming community, the Ju/'hoansi were able to accumulate luxuries and surplus goods. This may not seem to be a negative effect when looked at from the materialistic American perspective. However, nonetheless, it is destructive to the society's unique way of life. The food-foraging lifestyle is the oldest mode of subsistence known to humankind. It is also the most endangered way of life thanks to the globalizing world. In addition to changes in technologies, changes in work arrangements also occur when globalization unleashes itself upon these small foraging cultures. The work done by food-foraging cultures directly provides for subsistence. They hunt, fish, and gather wild plant foods so that they may survive. While some work done by food-producing societies directly provides for subsistence, the majority of societies have political authorities that govern and control economic activities for regulation and taxation purposes. Under this administration, individuals may work for a wage which enables them to buy food and other goods even though these individuals do not aid in the production of the resources. Under the control of the government of Namibia, the Ju/'hoansi worked for wages and later attempted to produce their own food through farming. The wages earned by the Ju/'hoansi were often not enough to live from. And attempts of the Namibia government in teaching the Ju/'hoansi farming techniques often did not work because the Ju/'hoansi way of life never included such practices. The changes in work arrangements resulted in starvation (of some) and hostility within the group. Economic globalization is harmful to the subsistence practices of food-foraging peoples.

Globalization is also harmful to the economic arrangements of food-foragers. Firstly, economic globalization has negative effects on the production of goods. For food-foraging peoples, raw materials, including land and water resources, are often controlled by kinship groups; a variety of tools are produced and shared or loaned out upon request; and work arrangements prevalent have a flexible division of labor by gender and a rigid division of labor by age. As demonstrated by the Ju/'hoansi who were removed from their native lands and original ways of life, raw materials necessary to produce goods commonly used became unavailable, the introduction of new tools used for farming replaced the tools normally used for food-foraging, and work arrangements changed from having a flexible division of labor by gender to having a rigid division of labor by gender. This change in lifestyle represents the destruction of the unique culture of the Ju/'hoansi. Economic globalization has negative effects on the distribution of goods, as well as the production of goods. For the Ju/'hoansi, goods, like food and water, are distributed relatively equally among individuals to ensure the wellbeing of the group. Goods such as tools crafted by the Ju/'hoansi are often shared. Other goods used come from the natural environment. When removed from their homelands, goods were distributed much as they are in America. Wages earned are used to buy products. The Ju/'hoansi had difficulties in adjusting to this new lifestyle. They often could not make enough to provide for their families. To aid the Ju/'hoansi, the government distributed cornmeal to the individuals. Up until that point, cornmeal did not even exist as a food source for the Ju/'hoansi. Moreover, the consumption of goods also was effected. Before materialistic ideals set in, the Ju/'hoansi didn't aspire to own items. Consumption was limited to needs and emphasis was placed on survival. Globalization is destructive to the economic arrangements of food-foraging peoples.

Moreover, economic globalization is destructive to the social organizations deep-rooted in food-foraging cultures. First off, it is destructive to the characteristic of group size. Typically, food-foraging cultures, like the Ju/'hoansi, arrange themselves into small groups in order to stay below the carrying capacity of the lands. With the new globalizing ideals, however, land gets stripped of its natural resources. Additionally, globalization brings about a more rigid division of social classes within the culture. Since industrial societies place great importance on self-reliance and competition, those that rely on the dependence of the group are at odds in the society. The Ju/'hoansi are an example of this type of egalitarian group, thus resulting in problems among the group: starvation, death, disease, hostility, etc. Furthermore, the division of labor by gender within the groups of food-foraging cultures is significantly affected. As aforementioned, the Ju/'hoansi, in being egalitarian, had a flexible division of labor by gender. This flexibility allowed for cooperation of the group. Neither gender is superior over the other. In a society with social rankings one tends to dominate over the other, giving the genders special roles in society. These special roles do not form in egalitarian societies because every individual is important to the society. There is no need for special roles. Social organizations are deeply impacted by economic globalization.

Economic globalization adversely impacts the long-established subsistence practices, economic arrangements, and social organizations of food-foraging peoples. Without maintenance of a culture's unique way of life, a chapter of human diversity dies, leaving a missing piece to the puzzle known as man. Though the cultures cease to exist, the mystery remains...

Sources:
William A. Haviland, Harald E.L. Prinns, Dana Walrath. Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge Video Series: Economic Systems