Descripción de las actividades

Different nested aspects of socio-ecological systems operate at different temporal dimensions, where the pace of change can vary according to the scale (Turner et al. 2003; Holling, 2001; see Chapter 3).

A temporal dimension is necessary in order to have a deeper understanding of current contexts of vulnerability, to reduce the risks of an inanimate ‘snapshot’ analysis, and to help assess the origins of present-day vulnerability (Chapter 3; Knutsson & Ostwald, 2006).

A temporal dimension is thus important for a study adopting a complex systems perspective, such as this thesis (Chapter 3). Complexity thinking originated and still predominates in the natural and ecological sciences (Fussel, 2007; Schoon, 2005) but the concept is increasingly being adopted by social sciences to understand vulnerability, as there is growing recognition of the links between social and ecological systems (Turner et al. 2003; Metzer et al., 2005; Steffen et al., 2004). Complexity thinking is also increasingly being recognised as valuable to social sciences in general, asides from vulnerability research (Mathews et al., 1999; Scoones, 1999). Historical perspectives are increasingly seen as an important component of understanding social-environmental interactions (Scoones, 1999).

The rise in environmental consciousness and recognition of the ways in which social and ecological systems mutually affect one another led to the rise in environmental themes and understandings in historical writings (Carruthers, 2002; Nell, 2004). In South African historical narratives, vulnerability has generally been posited as arising from social systems; the ‘environment’ has largely been absent in these reflections (Carruthers, 2002; Nell, 2004). Historical narratives which link human

vulnerability to environmental causes have been rare in the past (Steyn, 1999; Nell, 2004). However, socio-ecological links drawing from South Africa’s history have emerged (Percival & Homer-Dixon, 1998; Hanlon, 2010; Giannecchini, 2007). In these narratives, access and availability of resources emerges as key to understanding present day human vulnerability in South Africa when assessing the country’s history.

In climate change adaption research, understanding the past, particularly in under-developed areas, has been highlighted as a valuable tool for assessing pathways for adaptation, based on historical coping and adaptive responses (Adger et al., 2003; Vincent, 2007). This suggestion raises debate around the limits of adaptation in South Africa, given the historically deeply-entrenched nature of vulnerability in the country. This debate further contributes to on-going debates relating to justice, development and the role of social protection in South Africa.

42 5.1.2 Rationale and key questions

This thesis attempts to understand how capital stocks are used to create livelihoods and respond to stress within the context of HIV/Aids and climate change (Chapters 1 and 3). This broad objective implies an initial understanding of how the historical context has shaped asset availability and use, to create the current context. This chapter contributes to answering the question - what defines or shapes vulnerability in the two sites - by adding a temporal dimension.

This question can be elaborated to incorporate the following additional questions:

1.) What are the origins of vulnerability in the two sites?

2.) How has the past influenced current vulnerability in the two sites?

3.) Are there different understandings of the historical vulnerability context?

To answer Questions 1 and 2, this chapter further contextualises the study sites and study objective by briefly exploring South Africa’s past to help describe its present state, with particular emphasis on the relevance of this history to rural assets and livelihoods. The history of changes in access to South Africa’s natural resources runs alongside the country’s rapid industrialisation and draws in concerns around the environment, health, disease, agriculture, land and food security and various politically or ideologically motivated decisions of its ruling elite. This historical overview of the origins of

vulnerability and the related impacts on livelihoods, where possible and/or appropriate, focuses discussion around the Eastern Cape, where this study’s sites are based. One of these sites used to be part of the former ‘homeland’ of the Transkei, which now forms part of the Eastern Cape, and so trends within the Transkei are frequently discussed.

This historical interpretation begins with accounts by elderly and youth detailing historical changes in each of the two sites derived through PLA. This allows for a comparison between important aspects addressed by literature and those addressed by participants. Participant’s accounts also contribute to furthering our understanding of vulnerability in the two sites, as new emphases that do not dominate the literary histories emerge and are explored. Looking at different interpretations of the past through different localities, generations and disciplines answers Question 3.

5.1.3 Methods

a) Participatory historical change timelines by the elderly

Historical timelines are a common PLA exercise, and are an effective tool for analysing the underlying drivers of vulnerability (Warrick, 2009) and have frequently been used to understand vulnerability to climate change (Christian Aid, 2009; Kelman et al., 2009; Bunce et al., 2010).

Timelines can track climatic, technological or social change, and are flexible to suit the research needs (Bunce et al., 2010).

43 For this study, the historical timeline was adjusted to record incremental changes in key areas of interest that related to the study. These areas of interest were the main livelihood or source of income in the area, weather or extreme weather events, population density, land use, main health concerns, general mood or atmosphere, and gender relations. These areas of interest were discussed in reference to the site by looking at what participants knew about the days before they were born, and

incrementally by decades from mid twentieth century to present.

In Lesseyton, this group consisted of two elderly women and three elderly men, all of whom had grown up in the area. Owing to general difficulties in participation in meetings and workshops in Gatyana, this group was much smaller, and comprised of two men and one woman, all of whom had been born in the area.

The group in Gatyana recalled their grandparents’ days, the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. For the Lesseyton group, in order to get a better idea of the distant past and the pace of change, participants recalled their grandparent’s grandparents’ days (i.e. what they had heard or understood about that time), their childhood, and then the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

b) Participatory identification of past, present and future problems by youth

In each site, high schools were visited after school hours to meet with a class of Grade 11 learners. In Lesseyton, 10 girls and 10 boys took part in the discussion. In Gatyana learners were eager to take part, and 53 learners of mixed gender crowded into a classroom.

Learners were asked to list and discuss past problems, causes to these problems and common responses, then present problems, causes and responses, and based on this, to think of what future problems, causes and responses there might be.

c) Trends in literature: South Africa’s past, present and future vulnerability

Desktop research was used to detail the origins of present-day socio-ecological vulnerability in South Africa. This covered Dutch and British colonisation of the land, to the era of segregation, to Apartheid and post-Apartheid, before introducing climate change as a future stressor contributing to the South African vulnerability context.

Across this history, pertinent academic and policy debates emerged. In particular, the complexity of social systems within socio-ecological systems became most apparent through the historiography of HIV/Aids discourse and academic writing in South Africa. As the importance of availability and access to a variety of different assets to support productive, sustainable livelihoods and reduce vulnerability becomes evident across this history, on-going debates relating to justice, development and social protection in South Africa enter as a key concern.

44 5.2 Results: Perspectives of historical change in the two sites