Commoning in Practice? Exploring Etamam, the Traditional Karamojong Mechanism for Cooperation and Social Equity
17 February 2025
Online Event
Commoning practices are gaining traction as an alternative way to capitalist structures and a path towards a socioecological transformation based on solidarity, social equity and sustainability. While dominant economic systems heavily rely on resource extraction and commonly fall short of sustainability goals and social equity, Indigenous and other marginalised peoples all over the world have often managed to sustain their resources for generations to come, building relations of trust, respect and responsibility with each other as well as non-human beings. This Commoning Dialogue will specifically explore the traditional practice of Etamam, practiced by the Karamojong people in Uganda. Etamam is a traditional system that ensures cooperation, stewardship and social equity in access and use of scarce natural resources among the pastoralists in Karamoja. This dialogue will explore how traditional practices like Etamam continue to exist in a world shaped by (neo-)colonialism, extractivism and unprecedented environmental change, what the current context of these practices is and what challenges they face.
In this dialogue, Esther Atem Odong (Karamoja Herders of the Horn) and Sarah Mund (University of Cologne) will explore Etamam as a commoning practice in its context as a traditional system. Esther Atem Odong works for a society in which the rights of pastoralists are valued and respected and understands herself as a pastoralist rights activist. Sarah Mund is an anthropologist who has done her PhD research with Indigenous people on the West Coast of Canada on the topic of fisheries.
Zoom Information:
Zoom-Meeting beitreten
https://uni-koeln.zoom.us/j/92775206699?pwd=HmjvvJRPARw96vcM9nMGi87pa9YQjL.1
Meeting-ID: 927 7520 6699
Passwort: 486813
This dialogue is based on a cooperation between Infoe (Institut für Ökologie und Aktionsethnologie) and the Thematic Area "Commoning: Visions, Resources, Practices", Global South Studies Center (GSSC).