Egalitarianism and the Cash Economy among the Central Kalahari San Essa

Egalitarianism and the Cash Economy among the Central Kalahari San Jiro Tanakas 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 capture and gathering existence to a more sedentary way of life. She put in that though there were differences in the everyday lives of the San, they were able to preserve their language, heathenish identity, and egalitarian ideals. Tanaka attributes the changes in the San society to influences by the government and Christian missionaries in the 1970s. Tanakas research, which occurred in the 1980s, rear that the Sans views on labor, the way goods were attached and received, and their value system had altered as a result of their gather 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 lifest yles built around villages which included schools, medical facilities, a permanent water supply supply, and agricultural systems. The changes in the San society were far reaching. Sedentary living meant that high concentrations of people were living in smaller areas, and the gatherers soon found the embed resources almost depleted in the area around the settlement. In addition, incorporated equestrian hunting gained prominence over solo bow-and-arrow hunting. Though any(prenominal) families use up 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 ascendent 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 confining the accumulation of wealth and power (1993174). Thus, like Tanaka, Lee believes that though they countenance altered their lifestyle, the Dobe have not abandoned their fundamental ideal of egalitarianism. They have managed to assert some(a) control over the degree to which their society is modernizing. The analyses organize 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 modernisation 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.