One question that has attracted considerable attention in recent years is the relation between ‘nature’ and ‘culture/society,’ and how (and if) to theorise it. This chapter provides one possible answer through a selective social history of the Ihanzu of north-central Tanzania, covering (roughly) the period from 1885–1995. Its central aim is to demonstrate the extent to which making rains and making reigns in this region have long been entangled. These entanglements raise questions about whether Euro-American concerns like ‘nature’ and ‘culture/society’ can ever adequately capture and explain others’ concerns. The chapter originally appeared as part of a larger ethnographic project on the Ihanzu, and was republished in this Reader as a contribution to ongoing conversations on the ‘co-production’ of knowledge in climatic and social histories.
Sanders, T. 2014. ‘The making and unmaking of rains and reigns.’ In Michael Dove (ed.) The Anthropology of Climate Change: An Historical Reader, pp. 276-297. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.