ABSTRACT Poverty is a persistent problem that characterises San communities in Botswana and beyond. As an indigenous and minority ethnic group in Botswana, the San find themselves trapped in unequal social relations with the Tswana-speaking groups. Since the societal structure is made of unequally perceived social statuses where the San are regarded as “inferior/subordinate” and Tswana speaking groups “superior/dominant,” this presents a complex relationship of privilege and disadvantage, which perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty for the San in Khwee and Sehunong settlements. Thus, this paper argues that San poverty is a phenomenon not only locked in lack of basic needs, but social relationships of power. Critical social theory, which argues that all social relations are power relations, and those who are dominant use their power to (re)produce their position of privilege, is used to provide a theoretical framework. A qualitative multiplecase study approach using semi structured interviews and focus groups was used to gather data. The findings centred on poverty as being a result of structural deficiencies and the understanding of poverty as an attribute. As such, this paper recommends that poverty alleviation policies and programmes need to address power issues for effective and efficient poverty alleviation efforts.

中文翻译：

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博茨瓦纳 San 贫困的关系观点：Khwee 和 Sehunong 的案例研究

摘要 贫困是博茨瓦纳及其他地区桑族社区的一个长期存在的问题。作为博茨瓦纳的土著和少数民族，桑人发现自己陷入与茨瓦纳语群体不平等的社会关系中。由于社会结构由不平等的社会地位构成，其中桑人被视为“下级/下级”，而茨瓦纳语群体被视为“上级/主导”，这呈现出特权和劣势的复杂关系，从而使贫困的恶性循环持续下去Khwee 和 Sehunong 定居点的 San 人。因此，本文认为，桑贫困不仅是一种基本需求不足的现象，而且是一种社会权力关系的现象。批判社会理论认为所有社会关系都是权力关系，那些支配者利用他们的权力（重新）创造他们的特权地位，被用来提供一个理论框架。使用半结构化访谈和焦点小组的定性多案例研究方法来收集数据。研究结果集中在贫困是结构性缺陷的结果以及将贫困理解为一种属性。因此，本文建议扶贫政策和计划需要解决权力问题，以实现有效和高效的扶贫工作。