Egalitarianism and the Cash Economy among the Central Kalahari San Essa

Egalitarianism and the Cash Economy among the Central Kalahari San Jiro Tanaka’s research on the Central Kalahari San explored the changes in the San society and determined the overall effects on the culture. Tanaka looked at a group of people who had recently switched from a hunting and gathering existence to a more sedentary way of life. She found that though there were differences in the everyday lives of the San, they were able to preserve their language, cultural identity, and egalitarian ideals. Tanaka attributes the changes in the San society to influences by the government and Christian missionaries in the 1970s. Tanaka’s research, which occurred in the 1980s, found that the San’s views on labor, the way goods were given and received, and their value system had altered as a result of their contact with outside groups. The groups promoting these changes were attempting to modernize the San. The various groups in the Central Kalahari began to lead sedentary lifestyles built around villages which included schools, medical facilities, a permanent water supply, and agricultural systems. The changes in the San society were far reaching. Sedentary living meant that higher concentrations of people were living in smaller areas, and the gatherers soon found the plant resources almost depleted in the area around the settlement. In addition, collective equestrian hunting gained prominence over solo bow-and-arrow hunting. Though some families have been successful at livestock raising and cultivation of crops, Tanaka found that these are not significant contributors to the economy of the San. The idea of a dominant cash economy was completely new to the San. Before the 1980s, they had only traded on a sm... ...bility to reproduce themselves as a society while limiting the accumulation of wealth and power" (1993:174). Thus, like Tanaka, Lee believes that though they have altered their lifestyle, the Dobe have not abandoned their fundamental ideal of egalitarianism. They have managed to assert some control over the degree to which their society is modernizing. The analyses formed by Lee and Tanaka leads one to question to role of the hunter-gatherer society in the present mindset of those who study these cultures. Do we feel as if modernization de-romanticizes our conception of hunter-gather societies? Is it possible that groups are happier in with their new lifestyles? Is it possible for us to decide what is best for these groups? Was change inevitable? These are just some of the questions which come to mind when exploring the changes in different cultural groups.