A New Way of Looking at the Sahara Desert
Dr. Judith Scheele joins in to talk about the desert we only thought we knew
My work as a historian sits at the nexus of two fields of history: environmental history and Indigenous history. Both fields are actually fairly new in the run of things, which means I’m always looking for inspiration beyond the borders of North America. That led me to social anthropologist Dr. Judith Scheele, who has been researching the Sahara Desert for decades. She’s the author of a new book entitled Shifting Sands: A Human History of the Sahara, along with several other books on the region. When I saw her work, I knew we had to have her on.
What you’ll in this episode are the many misconceptions surrounding the Sahara,its diverse cultures, the challenges of mapping the region, and its complex political landscape. Judith has spent so much time in the Sahara and she talks about her experiences living among the people of the Sahara, highlighting their resilience, adaptation strategies, and the vital role of oases and camels in their lives (I freaking love the parts about camels in her book). Our pod also touches on issues of migration, human trafficking, and the impact of colonialism, as well as the future challenges posed by climate change and political instability.
In the clip below, Judith talks about popular misconceptions of the Sahara Desert:
About our guest
Dr. Judith Scheele is professor of social anthropology at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, EHESS). She has spent almost two decades living in and researching Saharan societies. The author of three previous books, she now lives in Marseille, France.
Own her book
Find Shifting Sands here on Amazon or wherever you get your books.
Find the podcast
And without further ado, find our conversation with Dr. Judith Scheele on Spotify below or wherever you listen to your pods.
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Jason
There are so many things we won’t know until we go and find out. Or trust a scientist to tell us. Thank you for this.
Hello, Jason
Sahara means desert in Arabic, I think. If I'm right, then writing Sahara Desert is redundant. Like ATM machine, or Sierra mountains, or Pizza pie. I'm glad you call it the Sahara through most of your essay but it always drives me nuts when folks in the West stumble into what must seem to folks in and around the world's largest desert like a very silly thing to say.