Connections and Change: The Ju/'hoansi of the Kalahari

In trying to understand how participative decision making works in small-scale communities, our journey took us to Nyae Nyae in the far north-east of Namibia, one of the few remaining places where the Ju/‘hoansi of the San people still practise elements of the hunter-gathering lifestyle of their fore-bearers. For the majority of human history, the San and their broader genetic relations sustained themselves through a pragmatic connection with their environment and a confidence in its perpetual provision for their needs.  The elders still remember the days of living purely off the land, when dependence on each other was instinctual and prosperity within their means gave a true meaning to sustainability. The village of Den/ui, is a small-scale community that values material equality, shared decision-making and communal effort made possible by a symbiotic relationship with their surroundings. But their experience with modernity has been traumatic and they face a huge challenge to adapt to the pressures that concepts such as private property and money bring to their traditions and identities. Today, the town of Tsumkwe in Nyae Nyae is home to a small population of Ju/’hoansi living under the shadow of poverty cycles and the constant allure of alcohol to escape the feeling of hopelessness. Perhaps understandable given the rapid and intense change from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to being a minority group in a free market nation state within three generations. However, their attitudes to harmonious co-existence, consensus-based decision making and knowing when enough possessions really are enough, provide lessons for us all.