Why Cattle Matter: wealth, health and society in eastern and southern Africa

Abstract

Across eastern and southern Africa, cattle continue to play a central, and often very visible, role in everyday life. Many people live alongside cattle - even, sometimes, in urban areas; some people still live lifestyles that revolve around cattle; social obligations are often still imagined - and sometimes realised - in terms of exchanges of cattle. Yet at the same time, the growth of markets for dairy and beef products and the enclosure and division of pasture land have made cattle ownership a more challenging and contested pursuit - financially and in terms of managing human and animal health. In this seminar, Professor Hannah Brown (Anthropology), Dr Emily Webster (Philosophy), Professor Justin Willis (History) will set out the research questions that inform our project on these challenges - asking why cattle matter, in so many ways, and what the consequences are. 

Places are limited and so any academic colleagues or students interested in attending in person must register here for a place. 

More information about this IAS Major project.