Reformulating Identities: British Settlers in Early Nineteenth-Century South Africa

This paper examines the formation of a colonial identity among settlers from the British Isles who were relocated to the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony in 1820. It suggests that material aspirations united certain of the settlers in a political programme, and thus began the erosion of imported class (and other) divisions. However, it argues that their establishment as a capitalist colonial class is an insufficient explanation for their construction of a shared and emotive British settler identity. The settlers modified their inherited discourses of class, race, gender and nationality in order to forge solidarity, and the imperative for solidarity derived not so much from their mutual desire for accumulation, but from a corresponding collective insecurity. Not only were settlers afraid of Khoikhoi labour rebellion and Xhosa reprisals for land loss; they also feared abandonment by a seemingly unsympathetic metropole. Their aggressive capitalist endeavour, and collective fear of its destabilizing consequences, were two sides of the same coin, informing the development of a unifying social identity. The paper goes on to consider the mechanisms through which that identity was sustained, including acts of landscape representation, the textual generation of collective memory and the practice of communally binding, quotidian, gendered routines.     

Invisible Children fades away: What it means for the future of youth activism

The global reach of Invisible Children's viral video KONY 2012 supposedly established the efficacy of ‘spectacular humanitarianism’: sympathetic spectatorship of suffering others through the mediatization, commodification, and depoliticization of Western humanitarian action. However, their ‘brand’ of activism ultimately proved unsustainable, as Invisible Children announced in late 2014 that it was phasing out operations. Here I consider how Invisible Children, as a quintessential spectacular humanitarian movement, has shaped youth activists' subjectivities in the global North. Drawing on activism, media, and humanitarian studies critiques, as well as interviews with recent Invisible Children interns, I argue that though Invisible Children's approach can attract and launch young people into social activism, it can also hinder growth beyond the problematic confines of a spectacular humanitarian approach which reproduces, rather than transforms, global power relations. However, young activists can and do go on to cultivate a more critical and self‐reflexive approach to global social activism.     

Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) in the Lucayan Realm: Pre-Columbian Exploitation and Translocation

ABSTRACT

Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) are endemic to The Bahamas. The skeletal remains of this species have been recovered from multiple Lucayan-associated archaeological sites in the region, suggesting that it was an important source of human food. This study explores the role of pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in the geographic distribution of Bahamian hutias, and the possibility of intentional management of the animal. We provide an overview of archaeological occurrences of Bahamian hutia and present new skeletal morphometric data comparing modern museum-curated Bahamian hutia specimens with archaeological specimens from the Palmetto Junction site on Providenciales located in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bahamian hutia do not exist in the fossil record in the Turks and Caicos, indicating their translocation to the islands by humans. Our data show that individual hutia at Palmetto Junction were larger than modern specimens. This size variation may be due to anthropogenic influence; however, there is limited information regarding either natural size variation within the species or environmental factors possibly influencing size. Continued research on anthropogenic influences related to Bahamian hutia populations, coupled with isotopic studies of the Bahamian hutia diet, may further elucidate the practice of pre-Columbian management of the species.