This thesis uses aspects of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) to investigate how global trends and national eco-political factors in Botswana impact the livelihood strategies or actions of a group of individuals who identify as !Kung Group Basarwa in a small village called Ngwatle, located in the south western Kalahari. These global and national forces produce and reproduce institutions, structures and processes that constitute the particular vulnerability context in which Ngwatle is couched. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, a key component of SLAs, is used here as a tool of analysis to identify barriers and constraints to livelihood aspirations. Basarwa, known as Bushmen or San people more generally, have a history of strained relationships with more powerful majority groups including the Setswana (or Tswana) who account for 79% of the population as well as wealthy cattle owning minority groups. This history, understood in a wider global context, makes livelihood construction extremely difficult for people living in Ngwatle. The research is exploratory in nature and seeks to contextualize a problem or a set of problems given a particular set of circumstances rather than establish categorical causality between variables. The approach of this research has been methodologically investigated by answering three primary research questions. The first question seeks to establish the major activities undertaken in Ngwatle households that help people in the community to make a living. In this regard, the research clearly establishes that several specific livelihood actions, such as making crafts and conducting cash-generating entrepreneurial activities are performed on a daily basis in Ngwatle. The second research question asks whether resources (assets) are constrained by institutions, structures and processes and if so, how. In fact, resources are constrained by these factors and are informed by historical precedence. The third research question focuses on how institutions, structures and processes impact livelihood strategies in Ngwatle in more detail. Links are established between the macro (global), meso (national) and micro (community) economic and political environments. The suggestion is that aspects of capitalism and neo-liberalism at the global and State levels have informed and strengthened various mechanism of control designed to manipulate and direct the movement of individuals (bio-politics). In essence prejudices and discriminatory practices have served to radically alter Basarwa social systems and seriously undermine livelihood strategies. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This research project examines the relevance of Kenneth Arrow's (1951) Impossibility Theorem as a criterion for assessing post-modern critical approaches to development media theories (Servaes, 200 I; Melkote and Steeves, 2000). Comparing two distinct indigenous minorities' experiences with struggles for cultural autonomy, those of Norway's Sami and Botswana's Basarwa, it was found that the media discourses used by NGOs frequently exploit a narrative that validly permits development to be treated as a species of social welfare implementation. Applying Arrow's (1951) conditions for the democratic summation of diverse preferences, and treating cultural, political, and civil society groups as 'voters', it was found that indigenous minority concerns may be best accommodated by linking them to broader issues that exploit historical ties between peoples, with a special emphasis on episodes that have led to coordination in achieving independent ends. Popular memories of such coordination appear to moderate relations between minorities and their national cohabitants, reducing the need for radicalization of indigenous issues and smoothing the path to autonomy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The key research question explored in this study is: can a state attain its national economic development objectives and at the same time advance the rights of indigenous groups? Examines the tensions and prospects of the coexistence of both the rights of indigenous peoples in Africa and sustainable development with reference to selected case studies and approaches adopted by World Bank (WB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).The broad objectives of the study are: (a) To examine the link between indigenous peoples’ rights and sustainable development, (b) To explore the manner in which the international legal framework and African human rights system responds to the problem of indigenous in development, (c) To analyse key case studies of indigenous rights and development in Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa and explore emerging approaches by the WB and UNDP, (d) To make proposals on mechanisms for mediating indigenous peoples’ rights and national development aspirations. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Angelo Matusse of the Faculty of Law, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM