Becoming wilderness : a topological study of Tarangire, Northern Tanzania 1890-2004

Based on field and archival research, Becoming Wilderness analyses the fluid constructs of game preservation and their effect within networks and landscapes on the west of Tarangire National Park from the late 19th Century until the present. History writing on African protected areas often argues that these spaces constitute an imperial imposition of wilderness. This thesis queries the notion of an "imposition of wilderness" and suggests that vast tracts of Tanzania's protected areas have in fact gradually become wilderness within heterogeneous networks, rooting themselves in ways that are far more tricky to oppose than had they suddenly been imposed. Through a topological investigation, it shows Tarangire's transformation from peripheral to central and the simultaneous transformation of peopled landscapes from centres to borderlands. As such it is a contribution to the understanding of root causes of conservation vs. People conflicts existing today.