Berghahn Books At Home in the Okavango: White Batswana Narratives of Emplacement and Belonging

"[This book] is a beautifully written, well argued, and insightful piece of work, full of fascinating and important observations. It addresses key issues in Africa, including those surrounding questions of identity, belonging, and citizenship." · Robert K. Hitchcock, University of New Mexico at Albuquerque "The ethnography presented in this important book is original and rich, analyzed in a theoretically well-informed way. It reveals very well how a white minority in this region - which is marred by ethnic violence and racism - has developed a sense of belonging and peaceful relationships within the larger community, where black people form the great majority." · Ørnulf Gulbrandsen, University of Bergen An ethnographic portrayal of the lives of white citizens of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, this book examines their relationships with the natural and social environments of the region. In response to the insecurity of their position as a European-descended minority in a postcolonial African state, Gressier argues that white Batswana have developed cultural values and practices that have allowed them to attain high levels of belonging. Adventure is common for this frontier community, and the book follows their safari lifestyles as they construct and perform localized identities in their interactions with dangerous wildlife, the broader African community, and the global elite via their work in the nature-tourism industry. Catie Gressier is a McArthur Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.