In this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of... Show moreIn this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of change, accelerated since a decade or so. The theoretical concern of this paper is with issues of identity formation and continuity through the materiality of food and food systems, in the context of varying assumptions underlying discourses of development. The Suri people remain at the margins of the modernizing Ethiopian state and experienced a decline in food security, health and wealth in the last decade, coinciding with growing inter-group tension and new state developmental plans which devalue the agro-pastoral mode of life. State support or investment is in massive sugar and other mono-crop plantations and in enterprises by foreigners and private capitalists, not matched by parallel investment in local economies of agro-pastoralism and crop cultivation. Some of the effects on the production system, diet and ‘food sovereignty’ of the Suri are described so as to highlight the challenges they face, including growing internal differentiation, pressure on modifying their food system and the increasing sale and use of alcoholic drinks. Observing the, often ambivalent, changes in the Suri food pattern and food consumption shows the challenges they face in (re)defining group identity, responding to internal tensions and to state-capitalist modernizing schemes that impact their way of life. Show less
ABSTRACT In reflection upon the worthy work of Professor Shinya Konaka and his col- leagues, this contribution discusses the idea of “Localization of Humanitarian Assistance”. Several critical... Show moreABSTRACT In reflection upon the worthy work of Professor Shinya Konaka and his col- leagues, this contribution discusses the idea of “Localization of Humanitarian Assistance”. Several critical questions arise from a humanitarian situation where the needs are assessed: we have to know what people need and what they don’t need. We need to determine coping mech- anisms that need not substituted but rather facilitated. To not undermine and further marginal- ize we need to know what resources, skills and social capital East African pastoralists have and how they are activated, where and when. The discussion is organized in observations from on one hand, archaeological and heritage perspective and on the other, personal experience of refugees and IDP life in the East Africa. It concludes that people do not only need food and shelter to survive and that cultural heritage is a basic human need too. Without the traditional skills and coping mechanisms that are inherent in the cultural values that glue people together, it is difficult for East African pastoralists to survive. Violence and neglect against people and environment are related to the destruction and neglect of cultural and natural heritage, which are people’s means of livelihood and sources of identity and dignity. Show less
The author argues that Zambian rural anthropology is on the decline, and that this decline is related to the reliance, among anthropologists, on the tribe and ethnic group as the basic unit of... Show moreThe author argues that Zambian rural anthropology is on the decline, and that this decline is related to the reliance, among anthropologists, on the tribe and ethnic group as the basic unit of study in the past; that the one way to escape from the tribal model on the analytical plane without sacrificing the subjects' own organization of their experience, is to try to explain this experience as a form of consciousness emerging out of the dialectics of political incorporation and, even more fundamentally, the penetration of capitalism, in other words, the articulation of capitalism and a non-capitalist mode of production. The chapter is based on research among the Nkoya of western Zambia, an earlier version of it was published in 'Journal of Southern African Studies', vol. 8, no. 1, (1981/82), pages 51-81. Show less
The myth, the author focus upon, is that of Sidi Mhammad, a local saint venerated in N.W. Tunisia. After presenting the myth and briefly indicating the relatively ahistorical elements, the author... Show moreThe myth, the author focus upon, is that of Sidi Mhammad, a local saint venerated in N.W. Tunisia. After presenting the myth and briefly indicating the relatively ahistorical elements, the author builds up a framework which opens out the historical content for analysis. This framework is informed by an analysis of the social and religious organization of contemporary society and by historical evidence derived from other oral sources. The main aim is to show how the historical interpretation of myths should not be attempted in isolation, but against the background of much more comprehensive information about the past and the present of the society. Bibliogr., noten Show less
This collection of papers on theoretical and methodological perspectives in the study of African religion is the outcome of a conference held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, in 1979. It... Show moreThis collection of papers on theoretical and methodological perspectives in the study of African religion is the outcome of a conference held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, in 1979. It reviews the major classic and contemporary theoretical approaches to African religion. The individual papers deal with a variety of specific religions and locate them in their specific cultural, social and political context. These specific topics are used as stepping stones towards a converging theoretical perspective in which the various strands of contemporary religious research can be integrated. Contributors: Renaat Devisch (sub-Saharan Africa), Wauthier de Mahieu (Zaire), Andr‚ Droogers (Africa), Johannes Fabian (sub-Saharan Africa), Matthew Schoffeleers (Malawi), Wim van Binsbergen (Tunisia), John M. Janzen (the Kongo tradition of coastal Equatorial Africa), Richard P. Werbner (Southern Africa), Terence O. Ranger (Zimbabwe), Robert Buijtenhuijs (Kenya), Christian Coulon (Senegal). Show less
Aim of this volume, which brings together seven studies of religious change in Zambia, is to describe the processes of religious change in this country during the last few centuries. These studies... Show moreAim of this volume, which brings together seven studies of religious change in Zambia, is to describe the processes of religious change in this country during the last few centuries. These studies are: 1) Towards a theory of religious change in Central Africa. 2) Possession and mediumship in Zambia: towards a comparative approach. 3) Explorations in the history and sociology of territorial cults in Zambia. 4) Religious change and the problem of evil in Western Zambia. 5) Regional and non-regional cults of affliction in Western Zambia. 6) Ritual, class and urban-rural relations. 7) Cults of affliction in town, and the articulation of modes of production. Show less
