Rethinking one`s own culture

African people reflecting on their own situation will frequently find themselves in a dilemma to identify with western and traditional values. A case study of the Burji (Ethiopia and Kenya) examplifies this. First a description is given of the Burji actively dealing with their problems, trying among other things to keep Burjiness alive. Then in presenting a semiotic model it is shown how the phenomenon of their changing group identity (which is not grasped by theories of ethnic group or ethnicity) can be analyzed. The model presented may be useful for analyzing similar cases in the Third World

Ecocultural Control of Natural Energy Resources in Southern Ethiopia

Dealing with resource problems, energy balance and sustainable climate protection have emerged as subjects of public interest. Indigenous knowledge and concepts, however, are seldom dealt with by western scientists. On the basis of exemplary cases from south-western Ethiopia the interdependence of technical, social and symbolic knowledge and experiences is demonstrated, from which a model can be derived. With the help of the model it can be shown, how, under certain cultural conditions, through controlled mastery of vital resources, a symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment can be developed which does not endanger the particular habitat. The decisive factor in this case is an ethos that places man in a context of space and time which goes beyond his own lifetime and provides a link to past and future generations. Counterexamples show the fragile character of the presented system of relationships