Changing Environment and the Political Ecology of Authenticity in Heritage Tourism: A Case of the Ovahimba and the Ju/’Hoansi-San Living Museums in Namibia

Living museums are an exhibitionary museological format, which relies on a demonstration of everyday practices and is characterised by live interpretation. They are often established for stimulating socio-economic development in peripheral areas that offer limited livelihood options for rural communities. For tourists, living museums aim to offer a tactile experience of local culture and history while creating both narrative and physical spaces for visitors to insert themselves within the cultural production of heritage. However, while being spaces produced for touristic experiences, an important dimension of living museums and heritage tourism, in general, is the idea of authenticity. This chapter discusses how the heritage elements are produced and displayed by utilising the examples of Ovahimba and the Ju/’Hoansi-San living museums in Namibia. Furthermore, the chapter analyses how the displayed heritage tourism and its produced authenticity have been affected by environmental changes at the case study sites. The chapter utilises a political ecology perspective to understand the intertwined nature of local culture, ways of living and the environment.