Showing papers in "The Journal of African History in 2003"
TL;DR: The authors argued that the case for colonial invention has often overstated colonial power and ability to manipulate African institutions to establish hegemony, and that tradition was a complex discourse in which people continually reinterpreted the lessons of the past in the context of the present.
Abstract: Exploring a range of studies regarding the ‘invention of tradition’, the ‘making of customary law’ and the ‘creation of tribalism’ since the 1980s, this survey article argues that the case for colonial invention has often overstated colonial power and ability to manipulate African institutions to establish hegemony. Rather, tradition was a complex discourse in which people continually reinterpreted the lessons of the past in the context of the present. Colonial power was limited by chiefs' obligation to ensure community well-being to maintain the legitimacy on which colonial authorities depended. And ethnicity reflected longstanding local political, cultural and historical conditions in the changing contexts of colonial rule. None of these institutions were easily fabricated or manipulated, and colonial dependence on them often limited colonial power as much as facilitating it.
344 citations
TL;DR: The authors describes food production in the southern African late Stone Age and argues in favor of re-introducing the term Neolithic to the subcontinent, arguing that the continued absence of a Neolithic may say more about the politics of South African archaeology than about its prehistory.
Abstract: As the exception on the continent, southern Africa has no Neolithic period. In the 1920s, when the term came to mean Stone Age with food production, Neolithic was dropped in South Africa for lack of evidence for farming or herding in Stone Age sites. But since the late 1960s many sheep bones have surfaced in just such sites. Now, the continued absence of a Neolithic may say more about the politics of South African archaeology than about its prehistory. This paper describes food production in the southern African late Stone Age and argues in favor of (re-)introducing the term Neolithic to the subcontinent.
131 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of African colonial intermediaries in the functioning of the colonial state in French West Africa has been investigated and the contributions of these African employees to the daily operations of the French colonial state show that scholars have long overlooked a cadre of men who played a significant role in shaping colonial rule.
Abstract: This article investigates the role of African colonial employees in the functioning of the colonial state in French West Africa. Case studies from the 1890s and early 1900s demonstrate that in the transition from conquest to occupation, low-level African colonial intermediaries continually shaped the localized meanings that colonialism acquired in practice. Well-placed African colonial intermediaries in the colonies of Guinee Francaise and Soudan Francais often controlled the dissemination of information and knowledge in the interactions of French colonial officials with local elites and members of the general population. The contributions of these African employees to the daily operations of the French colonial state show that scholars have long overlooked a cadre of men who played a significant role in shaping colonial rule.
56 citations
50 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide an overview of the emerging genre of historical and cultural studies of the African diaspora of which they are a part, and the contributions of an academic enterprise that is apparently settling into a permanent place on the scholarly and curricular scene.
Abstract: RECENT studies addressing the ‘African diaspora’ have sought to provide global context for the experience of people of African descent. The two books under review – each a major contribution to studies of the African diaspora – provide an opportunity to take stock of the emerging genre of historical and cultural studies of which they are a part. The perspective of the African diaspora has the advantage of locating movements and connections of Africans around the world, and in so doing has the power to inform and sometimes surprise. From such a perspective, for instance, Alberto da Costa e Silva notes that during the 1860s a French bookseller in Rio de Janeiro sold a hundred copies of the Qur'an each year, mainly as clandestine sales to slaves and ex-slaves. This evidence confirms the continuing significance of Islam in Brazil, and raises the possibility that the religious practice was sustained through continuing contacts with West Africa. Over a century later, novelist Alice Walker launched a headline-grabbing campaign against female circumcision in Africa. As Joseph McLaren shows, Walker's campaign reflected not the shock of an African-American's initial encounter with the complex social practices of the African continent, but her considered judgment after decades of visits to East Africa. These examples suggest the range and interest of linkages across wide distances that may be elicited through studies of the African diaspora. They reflect the contributions of an academic enterprise that is apparently settling into a permanent place on the scholarly and curricular scene.
35 citations
TL;DR: In the early 1940s, Gusiiland (Kenya) underwent a series of transformations that pushed bridewealth to unheralded levels as discussed by the authors, and many young couples could not afford a proper marriage and eloped.
Abstract: From the early 1940s Gusiiland (Kenya) underwent a series of transformations that pushed bridewealth to unheralded levels. As a result, many young couples could not afford a proper marriage and eloped. Some fathers forced their daughters into marriages with men wealthy enough to give cattle; many of these women ran off instead with more desirable men. In the hundreds of resulting court cases, Gusii debated the relative weight to be given to bridewealth, parental approval and female consent in marriage. Young people did not reject marriage, but fought against senior men who would ignore women's wishes. Gusii court elders usually agreed with fathers and husbands but also believed that female consent did carry some significance.
35 citations
29 citations
TL;DR: The implications of an emir of Kano's decision to forbid women from inheriting houses and farms in 1923 and a successor's reversal of that policy in 1954 are discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This article focuses on the implications of an emir of Kano's decision to forbid women from inheriting houses and farms in 1923 and a successor's reversal of that policy in 1954. The earlier emir justified his policy by claiming that women inheritors were becoming prostitutes and the later one argued that women's re-enfranchisement would ameliorate the poverty of destitute elderly women. Both these events appear to have been radical innovations for their time and reflect continuous anxiety over women living outside of male control and a longer-term attack on women's public role. While the emirs' explanations do not fully comprehend the political logic of their decisions, both the proclamations and the way they were explained illustrate contradictions and ambiguities within Hausa conceptions of gender.
26 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the dimensions of indigenous political structures that sustained local governance in colonial Yorubaland and finds that traditional and modern political leaders deployed strong communal ideologies and traditional themes that defined competing Yoruba communities as natives and outsiders.
Abstract: This article examines the dimensions of indigenous political structures that sustained local governance in colonial Yorubaland. Legitimated by reconstructed traditional political authorities and modern concepts of development, Yoruba indigenous political structures were distorted by the system of indirect rule. Conversely, obas (Yoruba monarchs), baales (head chiefs), chiefs, Western-educated Christian elites and Muslim merchants embraced contending interpretations of traditional authorities to reinforce and expand their power in a rapidly shifting colonial context. With a strong emphasis on development and governance, collective political action also entailed the struggle over the distributive resources of the colonial state. Traditional and modern political leaders deployed strong communal ideologies and traditional themes that defined competing Yoruba communities as natives and outsiders.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a methodological framework for studying the collapse of European domination in the continent, and explain the independence of Equatorial Guinea, in 1968, as a result of the interaction between three different factors: international, metropolitan and colonial.
Abstract: The demise of Spanish colonialism in Central Africa has to be understood as part of the general process of African decolonization. In accepting the methodological framework proposed by some historians for studying the collapse of European domination in the continent, we can explain the independence of Equatorial Guinea, in 1968, as a result of the interaction between three different factors: international, metropolitan and colonial. This article delineates the decolonization of the only Spanish colony south of the Sahara, its main argument being that, in the case of Equatorial Guinea, the international factor – specifically, the role of the United Nations – is fundamental to the understanding of the timing, the actors' strategies and the results.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, people interviewed, mostly rural civilians from south-east Angola who lived under MPLA control, suggested many links between treason and witchcraft, yet at the same time differentiated between these accusations.
Abstract: Accusations, trials and executions of witches and sell-outs frequently occurred at the MPLA's Eastern Front in Angola (1966-75). These events do not fit the general self-portrayal of the MPLA as a socialist, secular movement that was supported by the Angolan population without recourse to force. The people interviewed, mostly rural civilians from south-east Angola who lived under MPLA control, suggested many links between treason and witchcraft, yet at the same time differentiated between these accusations. Witchcraft cases were often initiated by civilian families and the accused were mostly people who had a long-standing reputation of being a witch. While the MPLA leadership was often suspicious of the accusations of witchcraft, many civilians regarded the trials of witches as more legitimate than those of treason. Civilians held that the accusation of treason was often used by the guerrillas to get rid of political or personal rivals and/or to control the population. The accusations showed few patterns and cannot be interpreted as deliberate attempts to overcome structural forms of domination, of chiefs over followers, men over women or old over young.
TL;DR: The authors argued that an innovative religious movement in postwar French Soudan (Mali) led some French administrators and military officers to adopt a new and more open stance towards local religious practices even as they fought hard to limit conversion to Islam and to counteract Muslim reform.
Abstract: This article argues that an innovative religious movement in postwar French Soudan (Mali) led some French administrators and military officers to adopt a new and more open stance towards local religious practices even as they fought hard to limit conversion to Islam and to counteract Muslim reform. Meanwhile, although the founder of the movement advocated submission to local authorities, young men claiming to be his messengers attacked elders and sorcerers. The article suggests that the religious sphere in the Western Sudan was broader than historians have recognized, and that religious identities were particularly important in the troubled transition from subjects to citizens.
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of developing ethnicities in the Mambila region of the Nigeria-Cameroon borderland is presented from a fractal perspective: five levels of the history of this region, covering different time, population and physical scales, as well as different objects of explanation for each, are explored.
Abstract: This paper explores the notion of fractals – structures that display a similar degree of complexity at whatever scale they may be viewed – in relation to investigating African history. A case study of developing ethnicities in the Mambila region of the Nigeria–Cameroon borderland is presented from a fractal perspective: five levels of the history of this region, covering different time, population and physical scales, as well as different objects of explanation for each, are explored. Our general conclusion is that the different scales, or levels, at which one may view history may contain features or imply generalizations that mask features found in, or generalizations implied by, other levels.
TL;DR: The main reason for the large number of Yao volunteers was probably the simple fact that the recruitment office was near Yao areas as discussed by the authors, which led to active encouragement to enlist the Yao, which in turn made military service ever more attractive among this group.
Abstract: During the colonial period, the Yao formed the main source of recruits for the King's African Rifles Nyasaland (Malawi) battalions. Originally, the main reason for the large number of Yao volunteers was probably the simple fact that the recruitment office was near Yao areas. However, due to prevailing racial ideals the British colonial military interpreted this as a sign of a ‘martial spirit’. This led to active encouragement to enlist the Yao, which in turn made military service ever more attractive among this group. They became the ‘martial race’ of Nyasaland, a concept which continued to affect British recruitment policies until the Second World War.
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between experiences and the physical and discursive constructions of space in colonial urban settings, and found that African immigrants maintained a sense of autonomy within the space of New Bell, and remained largely ignorant or apathetic toward colonial law within the quarter, ultimately enabling the community to thrive.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between experiences and the physical and discursive constructions of space in colonial urban settings. African immigrants and the colonial regime imagined Douala's immigrant quarter, New Bell, as an African space but the actual meaning of this classification was highly fluid over time. Colonial ineffectiveness in approaching New Bell was evidenced by half-hearted and flawed surveillance efforts including the failed use of identity cards, informants and pass laws. Residents maintained a sense of autonomy within the space of New Bell, and remained largely ignorant or apathetic toward colonial law within the quarter, ultimately enabling the community to thrive.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the move of the Ovambo into central and southern Namibia during the First World War by tracing the impact of war and drought on Ovambo societies, following Ovambo famine migrants on their route south, and discussing the reception and treatment of Ovambo migrants in the Karibib settlement.
Abstract: Namibian politics and society are today dominated by people who trace their descent from the settlements and homesteads of Ovamboland in southern Angola and northern Namibia. Yet, prior to 1915, very few Ovambo had settled in areas to the south of the Etosha Pan. In 1915, a Portuguese expeditionary army defeated Kwanyama forces in southern Angola, and unleashed a flood of refugees into northern Namibia. These refugees entered an area that was already overstretched. Since 1912 the rains had failed and, on account of the First World War, trade and migration had come to a standstill. As a result the area was experiencing its most devastating famine ever. Unable to find sanctuary in Ovamboland, thousands of people trekked southwards into central Namibia, an area which had only just come under the control of South Africa. The famine allowed for the easy entrance of South African military administrators and labour recruiters into Ovamboland and heralded the demise of Ovambo independence. By focusing on developments in the central Namibian town of Karibib between 1915 to 1916, the article explores the move of the Ovambo into central and southern Namibia. It traces the impact of war and drought on Ovambo societies, follows Ovambo famine migrants on their route south, and discusses the reception and treatment of Ovambo famine migrants in the Karibib settlement. It argues that the refugee crisis heralded the establishment of Ovambo in modern central and southern Namibia. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
TL;DR: The Sereer-Safen are a minority population in a predominantly Wolof and Muslim region as discussed by the authors, who converted to Islam during the First World War, and their conversion has been studied by focusing on long-term Islamization rather than the moment of conversion.
Abstract: The Sereer-Safen are a minority population in a predominantly Wolof and Muslim region. During the colonial period the Safen were ruled by Wolof chiefs, who treated them as a conquered population. Until the First World War, Safen resistance was based on preserving a separate religious and ethnic identity, symbolized by the village shrine and matrilineal descent. Conversion to Islam had its roots in the crisis created by military recruitment. When the Safen were forced to give soldiers to the French, ‘maternal uncles’ used their authority over their ‘nephews’ to recruit soldiers. Today this act is remembered as a ‘betrayal’ that called into question the legitimacy of the matrilineal system of labor and inheritance. Conversion to Islam has been studied by focusing on long-term Islamization rather than the moment of conversion. Oral testimony from converts emphasizes changes in behavior, funeral rites, inheritance and patterns of labor and power in the village community.
TL;DR: A partir de sources orales et d'archives foncieres, fiscales et administratives, cet essai sur la propriete africaine rend compte des pratiques fonceres, residentielles et sociales d'un groupe de commercants africains who investirent, durant la periode coloniale, les quartiers europeens de Ouagadougou et de Bobo-Dioulasso en Haute-Volta as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A partir de sources orales et d'archives foncieres, fiscales et administratives, cet essai sur la propriete africaine rend compte des pratiques foncieres, residentielles et sociales d'un groupe de commercants africains qui investirent, durant la periode coloniale, les quartiers europeens de Ouagadougou et de Bobo-Dioulasso en Haute-Volta. La comparaison de ces villes inegalement inserees dans les circuits de l'economie coloniale renseigne sur les marges de manœuvre de ces commercants, et notamment de leurs aptitudes a jouer des differentes reglementations foncieres alors en vigueur. Au-dela des comportements collectifs qui revelent generalement un double investissement residentiel (centre europeen/quartiers africains), les strategies individuelles temoignent des liens frequents entre l'assise fonciere des proprietaires, leur envergure sociale et leur role politico-administratif.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the apparent discrepancies between oral tradition and other kinds of historical evidence in the western Serengeti, Tanzania, result from a rupture in time and space.
Abstract: The A. argues that the apparent discrepancies between oral tradition and other kinds of historical evidence in the western Serengeti, Tanzania, result from a rupture in time and space. As people were incorporated into a metaethnic region to the east dominated by the Maasai in the last half of the nineteenth century, they created new ways of calculating time and organizing space based on new kinds of age-sets. Within this larger context of widespread disasters the small, unconsolidated western Serengeti ethnic groups that are known as Nata, Ikoma, Ishenyi and Ngoreme formed their identities. New generational and gender contests of power came into play as western Serengeti peoples responded creatively to the pressures of the late nineteenth century by mobilizing their own internal cultural resources.