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This paper examines the development and implementation of a grassroots elephant conservation program based upon the Samburu people's perceptions and knowledge of elephants in the areas surrounding the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves in Northern Kenya. Ethnographic methods were used to understand these perceptions and demonstrated that strong customs and traditions for conserving wildlife, particularly elephants, exist among the Samburu people. It became evident that these customs are changing given various factors influencing Samburu culture and younger generations. The use of economic incentives is a widely accepted method to foster positive attitudes and behavior towards wildlife. The value of using ethnographic methods to reinforce positive indigenous knowledge about wildlife, however, is underestimated. This case study highlights the significance of using ethnographic methods in community conservation program design. The paper demonstrates that in local contexts where cultural perceptions and traditions towards elephants are largely positive, this is a viable approach for community based wildlife management that is complementary to economic incentives programs.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the case of M-PESA mobile payments service in Kenya, an ethnographic analysis of skilled and semi-skilled laborers in Casablanca, Morocco, and a study of community-based telecentersin India.

This article focuses on the case of M-PESA mobile payments service in Kenya. It critically analyzes the assumptions and cultural contradictions that underpin notions of the low-income consumer and their implications in practice for business strategy. The poor-as-consumer model assumes that, in order to target low-income groups, one needs to design products, services, and marketing specifically for the poor. We find a unifying notion of the consumer that is not based on income. Being an M-PESA consumer can enable low-income Kenyans to seemingly cross class boundaries and assume identities not linked to their traditional class status. Although the poor are price sensitive, our research shows the importance of not making them "feel" like they are, as a class, "the poor." By examining and building on these assumptions and contradictions, Safaricom successfully tapped into market messages that met individual consumers' desires and aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been referred to as "the great equalizer" between men and women. Our research in India and Chile explores how gender and class identities intersect with ICTs in the context of shared computing environments with telecentres. Our study indicates that although these shared-use projects are implemented in the name of targeting poor women, an "emerging middle class" of women, such as stay-at-home mothers and young, unmarried women, are user groups in these telecentres. Women are constructing identities, trying to cross perceived class boundaries, and maintaining middle class positions through the use of ICTs and their symbolic value. This symbolic value is tied to aspirations of progress, advancement, and upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]