Ontologies of climate change: Reconciling indigenous and scientific explanations for the lack of rain in Namibia

Abstract

In Namibia, both Damara pastoralists (ǂNūkhoen) and scientists agree that it rains less frequently than before. To explain their observations, however, scientists refer to carbon dioxide molecules, while the pastoralists point to social tensions, neoliberalism, and failures of the postcolonial state. To understand this discrepancy, I ask whether what scientists call precipitation and what Damara call ǀnanus are really the same thing. Engaging with phenomenological theories, I propose a worldliness continuum that reveals substantial ontological difference between the two. While precipitation occurs independently of humans, ǀnanus encompasses everything—it is life and death. If the two are different things, it is unsurprising that one needs different explanations for them. Acknowledging this creates space to navigate between the recognition of multiple ontologies and the politicization of carbon dioxide emissions. [climate change, ontology, phenomenology, world, knowledge, environment, drought, Namibia].