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The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa

Rat infestation torments people in poor communities. This is evident in the selling and circulation of agricultural pesticides that are repurposed as rodenticides in the informal settlements of Cape Town. The use of ‘street pesticides' has sparked debates about poor urban infrastructures that give r...

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Main Author: Clements, Thulasizwe
Other Authors: Levine, Susan
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Social Anthropology 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Clements, Thulasizwe
author2 Levine, Susan
author_browse Clements, Thulasizwe
Levine, Susan
author_facet Levine, Susan
Clements, Thulasizwe
author_sort Clements, Thulasizwe
collection Thesis
description Rat infestation torments people in poor communities. This is evident in the selling and circulation of agricultural pesticides that are repurposed as rodenticides in the informal settlements of Cape Town. The use of ‘street pesticides' has sparked debates about poor urban infrastructures that give rise to rodent infestations on one hand and concerns about animal welfare on the other. This research investigates the connection between the complex issue of rodent management and the inequalities faced by people living in Strand. Thinking about the ‘animal turn' in anthropology, this thesis considers the multifaceted issues around human-rat relations, poverty and race inequality in South Africa. The lack of service delivery and the subsequent proliferation of rats and other disease carrying pests negatively impacts the lives of people in poor communities. It is difficult to imagine that within this context the welfare of the rat emerges as a significant discourse in the Western Cape, especially in light of the ways in which political, cultural and socio-economic inequalities are reinscribed by colonial legacies that manifested themselves in the issue of rats and the many divides faced by poor people as highlighted in this research.
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id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36582
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:35.758Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Social Anthropology
publisherStr Social Anthropology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36582 The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa Clements, Thulasizwe Levine, Susan Social Anthropology Rat infestation torments people in poor communities. This is evident in the selling and circulation of agricultural pesticides that are repurposed as rodenticides in the informal settlements of Cape Town. The use of ‘street pesticides' has sparked debates about poor urban infrastructures that give rise to rodent infestations on one hand and concerns about animal welfare on the other. This research investigates the connection between the complex issue of rodent management and the inequalities faced by people living in Strand. Thinking about the ‘animal turn' in anthropology, this thesis considers the multifaceted issues around human-rat relations, poverty and race inequality in South Africa. The lack of service delivery and the subsequent proliferation of rats and other disease carrying pests negatively impacts the lives of people in poor communities. It is difficult to imagine that within this context the welfare of the rat emerges as a significant discourse in the Western Cape, especially in light of the ways in which political, cultural and socio-economic inequalities are reinscribed by colonial legacies that manifested themselves in the issue of rats and the many divides faced by poor people as highlighted in this research. 2022-06-29T13:27:50Z 2022-06-29T13:27:50Z 2022 2022-06-29T12:46:54Z Master Thesis Masters MSocSci http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36582 eng application/pdf Social Anthropology Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Social Anthropology
Clements, Thulasizwe
The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
title_full The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
title_fullStr The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
title_short The unequal multispecies entangled human-rat relation: How rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of Lwandle/Nomzamo in Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
title_sort unequal multispecies entangled human rat relation how rodent control reveals colonial legacies in the lives of people of lwandle nomzamo in strand cape town south africa
topic Social Anthropology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36582
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