Paper short abstract:

With this paper, I provide empirical evidence that pastoralists imagine the notions of a good life and sustainable land use in different ways: ones that remain hidden, unrecognized, or unappreciated by the mainstream. Fieldwork research was carried out in two Districts in northern Tanzania.

Paper long abstract:

With this paper, I provide empirical evidence that pastoralists imagine the notions of a good life and sustainable land use in different ways: ones that remain hidden, unrecognized, or unappreciated by the mainstream. The results of my interviews with members of Maasai pastoralists in Northern Tanzania, about their conceptions of a good life and desirable land use shed light on recent debates on bioeconomy or socio-ecological transformations. However, I do not generalize pastoralists as a homogeneous group: indeed, parts of them endorse the dominant conception about constituents of a good life and sustainable land use. Yet, parts of them endorse conceptions akin to the claims from the Degrowth movement in the Global North -that is radical transformation of the established socio-economic institutions (e.g., property rights, welfare systems). Degrowth advocates attack the established notions of “development”, “modernity”, or “progress”. They argue that these notions endorse a conception of a good life which neglects some essential constituents i.e., autonomy, care, and conviviality. Since the Maasai pastoralists regard these relational values and meaningful activities as essential constituents of a good life but are hardly realizable within capitalistic economies, some of their members reject accordingly a capitalistic organization of economies (land and livestock). I argue that this is not merely a replication of the global North’s Degrowth discourses but rather points to an alternative, indigenous development thinking, and practice grounded in the history of the Maasai pre-colonialism/capitalism.