Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1177/00020397231185158
B. Whitehouse
The neoliberal transformation of Mali's burgeoning capital city, Bamako, has undermined men's capacity to provide for their households and dependents even as it has boosted women's economic participation, leading senior males to express mounting anxieties over their declining economic power. As more men find themselves unable to assure economic stability for the women and children under their charge, many double down in their bid to exercise authority over women, particularly their wives. Some men use polygynous marriage as a means of performing certain masculine ideals, acquiring social prestige despite their diminished roles as breadwinners. Others find maintaining multiple female partners outside marriage similarly useful for offsetting their economic disadvantages. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with men and women in Bamako, this paper examines the extent to which modern masculinity in the city remains predicated on the control of women and their bodies.
{"title":"Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali","authors":"B. Whitehouse","doi":"10.1177/00020397231185158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231185158","url":null,"abstract":"The neoliberal transformation of Mali's burgeoning capital city, Bamako, has undermined men's capacity to provide for their households and dependents even as it has boosted women's economic participation, leading senior males to express mounting anxieties over their declining economic power. As more men find themselves unable to assure economic stability for the women and children under their charge, many double down in their bid to exercise authority over women, particularly their wives. Some men use polygynous marriage as a means of performing certain masculine ideals, acquiring social prestige despite their diminished roles as breadwinners. Others find maintaining multiple female partners outside marriage similarly useful for offsetting their economic disadvantages. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with men and women in Bamako, this paper examines the extent to which modern masculinity in the city remains predicated on the control of women and their bodies.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49384011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-23DOI: 10.1177/00020397231175170
J. Boulton
Over the past few years, the term ‘toxic masculinity’ has entered public debate in Namibia as a way to describe apparently problematic forms of masculine behaviour, particularly in the light of high levels of gender-based violence. Originating in Western discourse, the term itself is difficult as it can stifle meaningful and transformative conversations concerning men. Describing ‘toxic masculinity’ as a trope, and indicating that tropes of violence have been used and politicised before, this article proposes a different way of reading men: via the mask. To do this, the ‘tropological place’ is introduced as a space of intimacy and trust, in which the kinds of masks that men wear become visible. Although the introduction of ‘toxic masculinity’ into debates around masculinities in Namibia should be acknowledged as an important starting point for conversations, this article urges researchers to think beyond it, encouraging more lateral relations with those that we research.
{"title":"Beyond Toxic Masculinity: Reading and Writing Men in Post-Apartheid Namibia","authors":"J. Boulton","doi":"10.1177/00020397231175170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231175170","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past few years, the term ‘toxic masculinity’ has entered public debate in Namibia as a way to describe apparently problematic forms of masculine behaviour, particularly in the light of high levels of gender-based violence. Originating in Western discourse, the term itself is difficult as it can stifle meaningful and transformative conversations concerning men. Describing ‘toxic masculinity’ as a trope, and indicating that tropes of violence have been used and politicised before, this article proposes a different way of reading men: via the mask. To do this, the ‘tropological place’ is introduced as a space of intimacy and trust, in which the kinds of masks that men wear become visible. Although the introduction of ‘toxic masculinity’ into debates around masculinities in Namibia should be acknowledged as an important starting point for conversations, this article urges researchers to think beyond it, encouraging more lateral relations with those that we research.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42958374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-21DOI: 10.1177/00020397231173709
M. Marewo
This article examines the nature of labour exchange between A1 farmers with people in communal areas of origin based on kinship and friendship relations. While agrarian labour in Zimbabwe has attracted considerable interest in land reform debates, limited attention has been paid to agrarian labour exchange and livelihoods based on belonging to communal areas of origin under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Using a qualitative case study from Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe, I argue that belonging plays an important role in labour exchange and enabling livelihoods. This article illustrates that labour exchange in farm households still matter despite changes in land distribution and the economy. The article concludes that belonging-based labour exchange enhances agricultural production and livelihoods in a new land ownership and economic circumstances.
{"title":"Belonging and Agrarian Labour Exchanges in Zimbabwe: Navigating Between Communal Areas and Fast Track Villagised Settlements","authors":"M. Marewo","doi":"10.1177/00020397231173709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231173709","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the nature of labour exchange between A1 farmers with people in communal areas of origin based on kinship and friendship relations. While agrarian labour in Zimbabwe has attracted considerable interest in land reform debates, limited attention has been paid to agrarian labour exchange and livelihoods based on belonging to communal areas of origin under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Using a qualitative case study from Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe, I argue that belonging plays an important role in labour exchange and enabling livelihoods. This article illustrates that labour exchange in farm households still matter despite changes in land distribution and the economy. The article concludes that belonging-based labour exchange enhances agricultural production and livelihoods in a new land ownership and economic circumstances.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43869446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-15DOI: 10.1177/00020397231168903
Chloé Ould Aklouche
Prisons in Africa are usually depicted through their horrific conditions of detention or as institutions in need of reform. In this volume, Marie Morelle, Frédéric Le Marcis and Julia Hornberger bring together contributions to “break with the archetypal stereotypes – both monolithic and incomplete – frequently perpetuated about the prison in Africa, and offer instead a nuanced critique of prison experiences in diverse detention facilities across the continent” (xii). This collection is a result of the multidisciplinary research programme “Economy of Penalty and Prison in Africa” (2015–2019). More than 20 years after Bernault’s pioneering edited volume Enfermement, prison et châtiments en Afrique (1999) to historicise the emergence of prison in Africa, this collaboration revives prison studies on the continent by adopting a strong ethnographic approach. The contributors, mostly French and South African, share Jefferson, Martin and Bandyopadhavy’s (2014) concern to describe how prisons function and Wacquant’s (2002) willingness to conduct in-depth observations. In 10 countries and at different times, they aim to “analyse different architectural logics, as well as the gendered, racial, political, and economic valence of prisons and their symbolic ubiquity in nearly all imaginations of the state” (xiii). Due to certain barriers in accessing the prisons, some contributors have led their investigations outside of the prison walls. The editors offer a very interesting reflexive discussion on the epistemological and ethical consequences of the different methodological approaches. They demonstrate how the diversity of approaches allows us to grasp the prison in its full complexity. This volume is structured in four parts. Part I, “The carceral imprint,” mainly adopts a historical approach to show the mutual relation between prison and society and how they structure each other. Christine Deslaurier historicises the prison phenomenon in Burundi by showing how the colonial logics have shaped the language and design of the carceral system. Romain Tiquet focuses on the written complaints of Senegalese prisoners in mobile penal camps that bypass censorship to question the notion of reform. Sabine Planel explores the practice of confinement in a contemporary developmental regime, Ethiopia, where it is used to control the peasant reluctant to use fertiliser. In newly
{"title":"Book Review: Confinement, Punishment and Prisons in Africa by Morelle, Marie, Frédéric Le Marcis, and Julia Hornberger","authors":"Chloé Ould Aklouche","doi":"10.1177/00020397231168903","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231168903","url":null,"abstract":"Prisons in Africa are usually depicted through their horrific conditions of detention or as institutions in need of reform. In this volume, Marie Morelle, Frédéric Le Marcis and Julia Hornberger bring together contributions to “break with the archetypal stereotypes – both monolithic and incomplete – frequently perpetuated about the prison in Africa, and offer instead a nuanced critique of prison experiences in diverse detention facilities across the continent” (xii). This collection is a result of the multidisciplinary research programme “Economy of Penalty and Prison in Africa” (2015–2019). More than 20 years after Bernault’s pioneering edited volume Enfermement, prison et châtiments en Afrique (1999) to historicise the emergence of prison in Africa, this collaboration revives prison studies on the continent by adopting a strong ethnographic approach. The contributors, mostly French and South African, share Jefferson, Martin and Bandyopadhavy’s (2014) concern to describe how prisons function and Wacquant’s (2002) willingness to conduct in-depth observations. In 10 countries and at different times, they aim to “analyse different architectural logics, as well as the gendered, racial, political, and economic valence of prisons and their symbolic ubiquity in nearly all imaginations of the state” (xiii). Due to certain barriers in accessing the prisons, some contributors have led their investigations outside of the prison walls. The editors offer a very interesting reflexive discussion on the epistemological and ethical consequences of the different methodological approaches. They demonstrate how the diversity of approaches allows us to grasp the prison in its full complexity. This volume is structured in four parts. Part I, “The carceral imprint,” mainly adopts a historical approach to show the mutual relation between prison and society and how they structure each other. Christine Deslaurier historicises the prison phenomenon in Burundi by showing how the colonial logics have shaped the language and design of the carceral system. Romain Tiquet focuses on the written complaints of Senegalese prisoners in mobile penal camps that bypass censorship to question the notion of reform. Sabine Planel explores the practice of confinement in a contemporary developmental regime, Ethiopia, where it is used to control the peasant reluctant to use fertiliser. In newly","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46814128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-20DOI: 10.1177/00020397231162115
Chidiebube J. Ugwu
From the colonial days, the dibia (folk practitioner) in the Igbo-speaking southeast of Nigeria, as elsewhere, has been maligned by hegemonic Christianity and biomedicine. The consequent public reluctance to openly pursue indigenous healing remains a core part of the challenges to patronage the dibia has had to navigate. Drawing empirical materials from the Igbo town of Nsukka, this ethnographic account narrates how the dibia not only resists these hegemonic forces but even instrumentalizes their allures to advance folk healing. This I term forward or offensive agency, as against inclined or defensive agency along which lines decolonial and postcolonial discourses have ordinarily framed patterns of local reaction in much of today's South. In offensive agency, a smokescreen of change is projected by the locale, indicating, to an external eye, that change has happened while the core of the epistemic sphere in question remains shielded behind that façade of cosmetic change.
{"title":"Amidst Clinical Dissonance: Offensive Agency as a Survival Strategy in Plural Southeastern Nigeria","authors":"Chidiebube J. Ugwu","doi":"10.1177/00020397231162115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231162115","url":null,"abstract":"From the colonial days, the dibia (folk practitioner) in the Igbo-speaking southeast of Nigeria, as elsewhere, has been maligned by hegemonic Christianity and biomedicine. The consequent public reluctance to openly pursue indigenous healing remains a core part of the challenges to patronage the dibia has had to navigate. Drawing empirical materials from the Igbo town of Nsukka, this ethnographic account narrates how the dibia not only resists these hegemonic forces but even instrumentalizes their allures to advance folk healing. This I term forward or offensive agency, as against inclined or defensive agency along which lines decolonial and postcolonial discourses have ordinarily framed patterns of local reaction in much of today's South. In offensive agency, a smokescreen of change is projected by the locale, indicating, to an external eye, that change has happened while the core of the epistemic sphere in question remains shielded behind that façade of cosmetic change.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"58 1","pages":"38 - 63"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46458513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-15DOI: 10.1177/00020397231158123
James Musonda
What can music used by politicians during campaigns tell us about their behaviour, character and their rule? The article responds to this question by analysing political songs used by Patriotic Front (PF) in Zambia, before winning the 2011 elections and the subsequent elections. This article argues that music can be an important unacknowledged tool for understanding the behaviour of political leaders, and in this case, their gatekeeping behaviour that aims at sustaining the ruling party in power by undermining the opposition.
{"title":"Gatekeeping Through Music: A Case of the Patriotic Front in Zambia","authors":"James Musonda","doi":"10.1177/00020397231158123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231158123","url":null,"abstract":"What can music used by politicians during campaigns tell us about their behaviour, character and their rule? The article responds to this question by analysing political songs used by Patriotic Front (PF) in Zambia, before winning the 2011 elections and the subsequent elections. This article argues that music can be an important unacknowledged tool for understanding the behaviour of political leaders, and in this case, their gatekeeping behaviour that aims at sustaining the ruling party in power by undermining the opposition.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"58 1","pages":"21 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45598466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-13DOI: 10.1177/00020397231160192
P. A. Atitianti, S. K. Asiamah
One of a government's primary responsibilities is to provide public goods and services for the benefit of citizens. A government that excels in such provision may therefore win favorable evaluations from its citizens. However, if external state and non-state actors through foreign aid issuance become providers of what citizens expect from their government, citizens may doubt their government's competence. In recent decades, China has become an important donor to Africa, providing the continent with several aid projects. Consequently, this study examines whether aid from China undermines citizens’ evaluations of government performance. Geocoded data on Chinese aid projects are matched to 4 waves of Afrobarometer survey respondents from 31 sub-Saharan African countries. Using an instrumental variable estimation, the findings indicate that Chinese aid undermines the evaluation of government performance. Testing for the mechanism through which this effect manifests, the results suggest Chinese aid engenders corruption perceptions and erodes trust.
{"title":"Aid and Governance: Impact of Chinese Aid on the Evaluation of Government Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"P. A. Atitianti, S. K. Asiamah","doi":"10.1177/00020397231160192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231160192","url":null,"abstract":"One of a government's primary responsibilities is to provide public goods and services for the benefit of citizens. A government that excels in such provision may therefore win favorable evaluations from its citizens. However, if external state and non-state actors through foreign aid issuance become providers of what citizens expect from their government, citizens may doubt their government's competence. In recent decades, China has become an important donor to Africa, providing the continent with several aid projects. Consequently, this study examines whether aid from China undermines citizens’ evaluations of government performance. Geocoded data on Chinese aid projects are matched to 4 waves of Afrobarometer survey respondents from 31 sub-Saharan African countries. Using an instrumental variable estimation, the findings indicate that Chinese aid undermines the evaluation of government performance. Testing for the mechanism through which this effect manifests, the results suggest Chinese aid engenders corruption perceptions and erodes trust.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"58 1","pages":"64 - 88"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41478374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-13DOI: 10.1177/00020397231155244
Maurice Beseng, G. Crawford, N. Annan
Since 2017, an armed conflict has been raging in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon between separatist forces and the Cameroonian military. This review analyses the historical origins and root causes of the conflict; the trigger mechanism of rising protests and state repression in 2016; the emergence and evolution of the armed conflict over the past 5 years; its impact on civilians; and hopes for peace. However, there is currently little prospect for conflict resolution as the Cameroon government appears intent on ignoring limited international pressure, maintaining the charade that the “security crisis” is over and reconstruction is underway, while continuing its counter-insurgency strategy to militarily defeat the armed separatist groups. We note that, while the desire for peace is profound, the political status quo is no longer tolerable nor acceptable, with conflict resolution dependent on political changes that provide, at a minimum, the Anglophone regions with greater autonomy and protection of their particular identity and institutions.
{"title":"From “Anglophone Problem” to “Anglophone Conflict” in Cameroon: Assessing Prospects for Peace","authors":"Maurice Beseng, G. Crawford, N. Annan","doi":"10.1177/00020397231155244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231155244","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2017, an armed conflict has been raging in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon between separatist forces and the Cameroonian military. This review analyses the historical origins and root causes of the conflict; the trigger mechanism of rising protests and state repression in 2016; the emergence and evolution of the armed conflict over the past 5 years; its impact on civilians; and hopes for peace. However, there is currently little prospect for conflict resolution as the Cameroon government appears intent on ignoring limited international pressure, maintaining the charade that the “security crisis” is over and reconstruction is underway, while continuing its counter-insurgency strategy to militarily defeat the armed separatist groups. We note that, while the desire for peace is profound, the political status quo is no longer tolerable nor acceptable, with conflict resolution dependent on political changes that provide, at a minimum, the Anglophone regions with greater autonomy and protection of their particular identity and institutions.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"58 1","pages":"89 - 105"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41420843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-24DOI: 10.1177/00020397231151967
A. Banerjee
Although the anti-apartheid struggle witnessed the involvement of women revolutionaries and members from several other ethnic groups, its grand narrative highlights the idea that it was basically a conflict between the white male oppressors and black male revolutionaries. As this overarching male-centric binary remained at the centre of apartheid historiography, women’s contribution and their immense sacrifice have remained largely undermined. This treatment of subservience results in a flawed and inadequate representation, and, therefore, requires critical intervention. It is within this context thatWomen in Solitary by Shanthini Naidoo offers a compelling narrative of the struggle and resistance shown by the women revolutionaries and “weaves their experiences into the historical development of the anti-apartheid movement” (iii). Combining her years of journalistic experiences and academic research, the author develops this investigative anthology and brings to light an alternate history with all its subtleties and nuances. The “women” in the title refers to apartheid activists Joyce Sikhakhane, Shanthie Naidoo, Rita Ndzanga and Nondwe Mankahla. The life and times of Winnie Mandela is also recorded based on her shared lived experiences with them. In fact, Winnie has an abiding influence in the inception of this anthology. The prologue sets the backdrop as the author, along with photographer Alan Skuy, went to explore Winnie’s time in the Pretoria Central Prison as part of a media coverage shortly after Winnie’s death. She came upon the virtually obscure record of Trial of 1969 that involved 22 revolutionaries, detained due to their alleged activities under the Suppression of Communism Act. The prologue is followed by 12 chapters and a conclusion. These chapters capture in detail the testimonies of the women revolutionaries and inform of a past, filled with unimaginable horrors of incarceration and bloodshed. Instead of providing mere facts and figures regarding the trial, the author digs deeper into the journeys of these women as they relate their experiences of negotiating the terrible consequences of solitary confinement. In the first chapter, the author claims that even after the abolition of apartheid, its lingering effects have led to other forms of discrimination. The failure of South African state-administration, judiciary and media in acknowledging the contribution of the women activists has resulted in severe epistemological injustice. Disregarding this part
{"title":"Book Review: Women in Solitary: Inside South Africa's Female Resistance to Apartheid by Shanthini Naidoo","authors":"A. Banerjee","doi":"10.1177/00020397231151967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231151967","url":null,"abstract":"Although the anti-apartheid struggle witnessed the involvement of women revolutionaries and members from several other ethnic groups, its grand narrative highlights the idea that it was basically a conflict between the white male oppressors and black male revolutionaries. As this overarching male-centric binary remained at the centre of apartheid historiography, women’s contribution and their immense sacrifice have remained largely undermined. This treatment of subservience results in a flawed and inadequate representation, and, therefore, requires critical intervention. It is within this context thatWomen in Solitary by Shanthini Naidoo offers a compelling narrative of the struggle and resistance shown by the women revolutionaries and “weaves their experiences into the historical development of the anti-apartheid movement” (iii). Combining her years of journalistic experiences and academic research, the author develops this investigative anthology and brings to light an alternate history with all its subtleties and nuances. The “women” in the title refers to apartheid activists Joyce Sikhakhane, Shanthie Naidoo, Rita Ndzanga and Nondwe Mankahla. The life and times of Winnie Mandela is also recorded based on her shared lived experiences with them. In fact, Winnie has an abiding influence in the inception of this anthology. The prologue sets the backdrop as the author, along with photographer Alan Skuy, went to explore Winnie’s time in the Pretoria Central Prison as part of a media coverage shortly after Winnie’s death. She came upon the virtually obscure record of Trial of 1969 that involved 22 revolutionaries, detained due to their alleged activities under the Suppression of Communism Act. The prologue is followed by 12 chapters and a conclusion. These chapters capture in detail the testimonies of the women revolutionaries and inform of a past, filled with unimaginable horrors of incarceration and bloodshed. Instead of providing mere facts and figures regarding the trial, the author digs deeper into the journeys of these women as they relate their experiences of negotiating the terrible consequences of solitary confinement. In the first chapter, the author claims that even after the abolition of apartheid, its lingering effects have led to other forms of discrimination. The failure of South African state-administration, judiciary and media in acknowledging the contribution of the women activists has resulted in severe epistemological injustice. Disregarding this part","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44653853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-18DOI: 10.1177/00020397221149037
Yahya Sseremba
Intervening in the enduring debate on the origins of the African state, this article examines the processes of producing custom in the Ugandan societies of precolonial Bunyoro and colonial Toro to trace the development of despotism. The participatory nature of generating customary truth in Bunyoro before European domination reflects the diffusion of power in a manner that hindered absolute rule. On the contrary, in colonial Toro, the inclusive mechanisms for making custom gave way to customary law produced by the colonial government and its native chiefs. This monopoly to determine customary law disguised as custom constituted the heart of the despotism of Toro Native Authority. Derivatively, the Rwenzururu resistance against Toro domination equally assumed a despotic character because it organised itself along the logic of the authority it confronted. The study interrogates the resurgent literature that associates the contemporary African state with precolonial history.
{"title":"The History of Dictatorship: Custom, Authority, and Power in Precolonial and Colonial Uganda","authors":"Yahya Sseremba","doi":"10.1177/00020397221149037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397221149037","url":null,"abstract":"Intervening in the enduring debate on the origins of the African state, this article examines the processes of producing custom in the Ugandan societies of precolonial Bunyoro and colonial Toro to trace the development of despotism. The participatory nature of generating customary truth in Bunyoro before European domination reflects the diffusion of power in a manner that hindered absolute rule. On the contrary, in colonial Toro, the inclusive mechanisms for making custom gave way to customary law produced by the colonial government and its native chiefs. This monopoly to determine customary law disguised as custom constituted the heart of the despotism of Toro Native Authority. Derivatively, the Rwenzururu resistance against Toro domination equally assumed a despotic character because it organised itself along the logic of the authority it confronted. The study interrogates the resurgent literature that associates the contemporary African state with precolonial history.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"58 1","pages":"3 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46170121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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