Elephants as actors in the political ecology of human–elephant conflict
Published version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Abstract
jats:pThis paper examines the agency of African elephants as important actors in the political ecology of human–elephant conflict, and in shaping the politics of land in post‐colonial Kenya. The paper is based on field research in Laikipia, northern Kenya. It considers the role of elephants, with their size, sagacity, hunger, mobility and complex interactions with people, as powerful actors in shared landscapes, and therefore in the politics surrounding their own conservation. The paper uses spatial data and interviews to explore elephant behaviour and movements through the landscape and their interactions with people, and explore the way in which those interactions affect the separation of “animal spaces” set aside for conservation and the “beastly places” of smallholder farming and crop‐raiding, and the conflict and transgressions involved when elephants cross from one to the other. The elephant is a lively actor in the inter‐species power play of Laikipia, and in the politics of conservation and of land. A mutually respectful multispecies politics in northern Kenya demands a clear understanding and acceptance of the needs of elephants.</jats:p>
Description
Keywords
Journal Title
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1475-5661
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) (EIPDS022)