ABSTRACT
In this contribution I try to explore the effect ecological changes and pressures have had on the adaptation of the Dogon in Mali.1 The general angle will be that of cultural ecology, in which a particular society is viewed from the perspective of its interaction with its physical as well as social environment. This interaction is of a complex nature, and in fact constitutes the subject of this chapter. It bears some features of a system, but the coherence of the variables should not be overestimated. In any case, the interaction is not a homeostatic one. Periodic upheavals of a physical nature (droughts, locusts) as well as of a socio-political nature (slave raiding, demographic growth) periodically upset any survival strategy developed by the population.
