This study traces the history of the Sawaba movement in Niger and its rebellion against the French-protected regime during the 1960s. Tracing the story from a social history perspective, the book... Show moreThis study traces the history of the Sawaba movement in Niger and its rebellion against the French-protected regime during the 1960s. Tracing the story from a social history perspective, the book places an entire generation of activists, removed from the offical record, back into mainstream Nig‚rien history. It analyses Sawaba's guerrilla campaign and failure, followed by the movement's destruction. The book is based on interviews with survivors and a vast range of archival resources, including those of France's secret service. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This book deals with political changes and internal debates about political changes within Tamasheq (Tuareg) society in Mali from the late 1940s to the present. These debates focus on political... Show moreThis book deals with political changes and internal debates about political changes within Tamasheq (Tuareg) society in Mali from the late 1940s to the present. These debates focus on political structures introduced to Tamasheq society from outside and their impact on and incorporation into local concepts of politics. The book discusses the relationship between the Malian State and Tuareg society, which has been characterized by three violent uprisings against the Malian State: between 1963 and 1964, between 1990 and 1996, and between 2006 and 2009. Social and political tensions are highlighted which haunt all of the Sahel today: the heritage of slavery, local and European concepts of race and the racialization of social and political relations, and the presence of competing nationalist forces in a postcolonial State. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This article deals with the rebellion of 'Sawaba' against the PPN (Parti progressiste nigeI_rien) regime in Niger. Sawaba was a political party that represented a social movement and formed the... Show moreThis article deals with the rebellion of 'Sawaba' against the PPN (Parti progressiste nigeI_rien) regime in Niger. Sawaba was a political party that represented a social movement and formed the first autonomous government of Niger during the last years of French suzerainty (1957-1958). For a number of reasons, the French assisted in Sawaba's removal from government. Together with the new regime, they proceeded to persecute the Sawaba party, which was driven underground. Sawaba organized a clandestine domestic opposition and made preparations for a violent take-over with the help of friendly countries such as Ghana, Algeria and Mali. Assisted with arms, money and training, its commandos invaded Niger from the south and west in the autumn of 1964. Despite Algerian support before the invasion, the revolt failed and Sawaba was condemned to the political wilderness. This article focuses on the Algerian dimension of the revolt. It discusses the political evolution of Niger from the spring of 1957 to independence in August 1960 and how this connected to developments in Algeria. It then discusses Niger's security situation and how this was linked to control over its nomadic population and incursions made by the two countries across their common frontier. Subsequent sections analyse Sawaba's clandestine organization and the support provided by Algeria, discussing Sawaba's cell in Tamanrasset (southern Algeria) and its military training further to the north. The conclusion assesses the consequences of the failure of the revolt for the relations between Niger and Algeria. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] Show less
This article is a repsonse to Thandika Mkandawire's article on violence against the African peasantry in Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 40, no. 2 (2002). In this article, Mkandawire takes... Show moreThis article is a repsonse to Thandika Mkandawire's article on violence against the African peasantry in Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 40, no. 2 (2002). In this article, Mkandawire takes exception to suggestions by the author concerning the antecedents of the 1990s civil war in Liberia, describing his views as 'essentialist' and 'poorly veiled racist'. The author argues that these tags are inaccurate. He suggests that the method he has used to analyse the violence of the Liberian civil war could be usefully applied to any violent situation in any part of the world. Accordingly, he first considers Mkandawire's suggestion as to why particular forms of violence occur in African wars, explaining why it is generally unsatisfactory, after which he considers an alternative method for examining the question of large-scale violence in Africa. Bibliogr., notes. (Rejoinder by Mkandawire, p. 477-483.) [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
There has been a state of near-permanent revolt in Somali society since 1991. This chapter offers a cultural analysis of patterns of political and military activity from the precolonial era... Show moreThere has been a state of near-permanent revolt in Somali society since 1991. This chapter offers a cultural analysis of patterns of political and military activity from the precolonial era through the Italian and British colonial period, and State independence (1960-1991), to the present period of Statelessness. The focus is on a comparison of elements in the campaigns of revolt against the colonial States between 1900 and 1920 with those in the late Siyad Barre period (1988-1991) and the era of Statelessness (1991 onwards). A transformation of ideas of revolt and violent action has occurred in which Somali notions of egalitarian social order, kinship and local leadership have taken on a different shape. This prevented the institutionalization of crosscutting alliances and the emergence of a wider political arena - except in certain regions such as Somaliland and Puntland. The cultural and social unity of Somali society has always been overestimated. Somali political culture is by nature centrifugal, preventing the institutionalization of a legitimate leadership at State level but not at a regional clan level. Notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract] Show less
One of the least-studied revolts in postcolonial Africa, the invasion of Niger in 1964 by guerrillas of the outlawed Sawaba party, was a dismal failure and culminated in a failed attempt on the... Show moreOne of the least-studied revolts in postcolonial Africa, the invasion of Niger in 1964 by guerrillas of the outlawed Sawaba party, was a dismal failure and culminated in a failed attempt on the life of President Diori in the spring of 1965. Personal aspirations for higher education, access to jobs and social advancement, probably constituted the driving force of Sawaba's rank and file. Lured by the party leader, Djibo Bakary, with promises of scholarships abroad, they went to the far corners of the world, for what turned out to be guerrilla training. The leadership's motivations were grounded in a personal desire for political power, justified by a cocktail of militant nationalism, Marxism-Leninism and Maoist beliefs. Sawaba, however, failed to grasp the weakness of its domestic support base. The mystifying dimensions of revolutionary ideologies may have encouraged Djibo to ignore the facts on the ground and order his foot soldiers to march to their deaths. Notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract] Show less
One of the least-studied revolts in postcolonial Africa, the invasion of Niger in 1964 by guerrillas of the outlawed Sawaba party, was a dismal failure and culminated in a failed attempt on the... Show moreOne of the least-studied revolts in postcolonial Africa, the invasion of Niger in 1964 by guerrillas of the outlawed Sawaba party, was a dismal failure and culminated in a failed attempt on the life of President Diori in the spring of 1965. Personal aspirations for higher education, access to jobs and social advancement, probably constituted the driving force of Sawaba's rank and file. Lured by the party leader, Djibo Bakary, with promises of scholarships abroad, they went to the far corners of the world, for what turned out to be guerrilla training. The leadership's motivations were grounded in a personal desire for political power, justified by a cocktail of militant nationalism, Marxism-Leninism and Maoist beliefs. Sawaba, however, failed to grasp the weakness of its domestic support base. The mystifying dimensions of revolutionary ideologies may have encouraged Djibo to ignore the facts on the ground and order his foot soldiers to march to their deaths. Includes bibliographical references, notes, and summary. Show less
Between 1831 and 1872, the Dutch government recruited 3,000 Africans from the Gold Coast and Ashanti (Ghana) for service in the colonial army in the Netherlands East Indies. The majority of them... Show moreBetween 1831 and 1872, the Dutch government recruited 3,000 Africans from the Gold Coast and Ashanti (Ghana) for service in the colonial army in the Netherlands East Indies. The majority of them were ex-slaves but were promised that their conditions of service would be the same as those of Europeans. With the 'equal treatment' clause, the Dutch government defended itself against British accusations that the recruitment operation amounted to a covert form of slave trading. While this policy made sense in the context of the precolonial relations prevailing in the Gold Coast, its merits were less obvious in the East Indies. The colonial army here was the instrument of empire building but mutinies among African troops stationed on Java and Sumatra caused it to rethink its policy concerning African soldiers. This chapter explores the background to these rebellions. Ref., sum. [Book abstract] Show less
African history of the Sahel and Sudan zone appears to have been marked by political instability. Resistance to Fulbe empires was more common than the main literature suggests. The Fulbe are... Show moreAfrican history of the Sahel and Sudan zone appears to have been marked by political instability. Resistance to Fulbe empires was more common than the main literature suggests. The Fulbe are pastoralists and the empires of nomadic pastoralists are inherently unstable. The Fulbe emirates are often described as having been born out of the revolts of religiously inspired nomadic pastoralists against oppressive sedentary regimes. However, the resistance movements against Fulbe hegemony itself can partly be explained as revolts of the originally nomadic population who felt their cause was not well defended by the elite of these emirates. Opposition to the ideology of Islam inspired revolts of non-Islamic groups. These resistance movements were also fed by the oppressive nature of the new emirates, whose most prominent characteristic was slavery. Resistance is expressed in contemporary ritual and oral traditions, challenging the official historiography of these emirates. Three examples are taken in this chapter to illustrate resistance against Fulbe hegemony: the Timbo Emirate in the Fuuta Jallon, the Diina Emirate in central Mali and the Futanke Emirate which followed Diina in the second half of the 19th century. Notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract] Show less
In terms of national politics, the UDF focused on protest against apartheid and on popularizing the programme and leadership of the banned ANC, simultaneously developing an increasingly radical... Show moreIn terms of national politics, the UDF focused on protest against apartheid and on popularizing the programme and leadership of the banned ANC, simultaneously developing an increasingly radical agenda for social change in South Africa. But how was the political programme of the UDF understood in the social and moral universe of divergent local communities? This paper explores how the antiapartheid struggle in the 1980s was understood in three locally-based social movements that campaigned under the banner of the UDF, viz. a rural youth movement (Sekhukhuneland), a civic association in an African township (Kagiso), and a community newspaper ('Grassroots') in Cape Town. Seen from the vantage point of local case studies, several sub-themes emerge behind the overall theme of the antiapartheid struggle, notably the importance of religion and local belief systems, and the reversal of generational roles which expressed itself in the contestation of patterns of authority within African society itself. The paper is largely based on the author's book on the UDF (2000), which is an adaption of her PhD thesis (1995) for which field work was carried out in 1990-1991. Show less
The 1980s were a dramatic period in the history of South Africa. At stake in the battles of the 1980s was the contest about changing the borderlines in the racial and social stratifications of the... Show moreThe 1980s were a dramatic period in the history of South Africa. At stake in the battles of the 1980s was the contest about changing the borderlines in the racial and social stratifications of the country. In this contest, participants developed their own visions of a future society, of a new political and social order as well as a new moral order. This book examines these processes at the local level. It focuses on the United Democratic Front (UDF) as a social movement from below, officially launched in August 1983. The aim of the UDF was the creation of a united democratic South Africa. The author takes three local organizations as a vantage point. The first part of the book briefly explores the origins of the UDF, followed by a chronological outline of major events and trends in the 1980s. The second part consists of three case studies, which look in detail at locally based attempts at shaping a new society: a youth congress in Sekhukhuneland, a rural part of Lebowa in the Northern Transvaal; a civic association in Kagiso, a township west of Johannesburg; and 'Grassroots', a community newspaper in the Cape Peninsula. The conclusion describes how these local struggles fit into the overall story of the antiapartheid struggle Show less
This article explores the deeper structural implications of the Lumpa rising in 1964, in the context of religious innovation, class formation, and the state in Zambia. After having mentioned the... Show moreThis article explores the deeper structural implications of the Lumpa rising in 1964, in the context of religious innovation, class formation, and the state in Zambia. After having mentioned the specific problems raised by Lumpa, the A. first discusses the background of religious innovation in Central Africa; then he places Lumpa in this context; then a discussion of its confrontation with nationalism, he deals with the problems of incorporation and legitimation of the Zambian state from a more general point of view Show less