Mavhunga expertly applies African-based theoretical innovations to extend the new mobilities paradigm and histories of technology and, in doing so, to generate new ways of thinking about mobility–far beyond the sociotechnological novelties that animate the West. Drawing on his deeply experiential understanding of the material, philosophical, and spiritual bases of the hunting practices of the vaShona and maTshangana people, he shows how they created pathways and ways of working together that he calls 'transient workspaces.' In a gracefully executed pivot, he uses this understanding to challenge Western understandings of mobility, technology, wildlife conservation, and biodiversity management.
Mimi Sheller, Director of the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, Drexel University; author of Aluminum Dreams: The Making of Light Modernity
Clapperton Mavhunga's study is important for weaving together concepts from mobility studies, environmental history, studies in the diffusion of technology (in this case firearms), colonial and post-colonial studies of Africa, and the history of technology to understand the past two centuries of life in what is today Zimbabwe. His accounts joins many others that have shown why Western technologies often cannot be successfully introduced from the outside. Rarely, however, have the results of ignoring local residents during the transfer process been sketched in such stark and forceful terms. Mavhunga's account upends traditional understandings of everything from African independence movements to poaching to what we think we know about technological innovation.
Bruce E. Seely, Dean, College of Sciences and Arts, Michigan Technological University
This fascinating narrative describes how vaShona and maTshangana hunters exercised significant 'bottom-up' control over colonizers' efforts to eradicate the tsetse fly in southern Africa. The author masterfully blends archival interviews and colonial records to show how indigenous culture shaped the use of European weapons in ways that illumine current efforts to control wild animal poaching in the region.
Donald E. Klingner, Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Adroitly blending the traditional and the modern, this refreshing history of Zimbabwe offers an original interpretation of African technology. Using an environmental motif, Mavhunga's novel approach is an important contribution, highlighting the agency of ordinary people, their mobility, their ingenuity, and their knowledge both of humanity and the natural and spiritual environment.
Jane Carruthers, Emeritus Professor, University of South Africa; author of The Kruger National Park: A Social and Political History
