Based on the study of chiefs, elders and local leaders in southern Ethiopia, this paper analyses the idea of authority, legitimacy and governance among three small-scale societies, the Me'en, the... Show moreBased on the study of chiefs, elders and local leaders in southern Ethiopia, this paper analyses the idea of authority, legitimacy and governance among three small-scale societies, the Me'en, the Dizi and the Suri. It shows that in southern Ethiopia efforts were made to replace charismatic and traditional authority by a bureaucratic structure of rulers and legal procedures instigated by the expanding national State, but that this process was neither complete nor successful, because the sources of legitimacy of leadership and authority remained firmly within the local societies and were ill understood by outsiders, including State authorities. The central imperial State (upto 1974) did not use the pre-existing forms of local chiefs and other authorities and simply bypassed them either by appointing its own administrators as an extra layer of power or by relying upon provincial lords or kings in the core regions of the empire. The appointees had little connection with the local population. If they became too popular they were removed. Their loyalty only had to be upward, towards the emperor and his political circle. In the Derg era (1974-1991), this authoritarian pattern was reinforced, and wherever traditional chiefs existed, they were violently removed and suppressed. To date these three forms of authority co-exist and interact and define much of the local political dynamics, including violent conflict. Includes bibliographic references and notes. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the extent to which violence can be said to underlie any form of Stae formation in precolonial Africa. This is done by examining the role of violence in... Show moreThe purpose of this chapter is to explore the extent to which violence can be said to underlie any form of Stae formation in precolonial Africa. This is done by examining the role of violence in State formation in west central Zambia from the 17th century onwards. The chapter shows that State formation in west central Zambia entailed the imposition upon local village communities of a more or less centralized sociopolitical structure, representing a departure from the social organization and ideology prevailing in pre-State times. In the specific context of the expansion of Lunda political culture over much of south central Africa, the typical form of Statehood that emerged had two salient features: perpetual kinship and positional succession, neither of which corresponded with structural themes in local village society. The chapter compares the cultural logic of the village and that of the royal court in more detail, arguing that the latter completely ignored the former. This is illustrated by the particular cases of the Nkoya and the Lozi. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This article explores political tensions between successive 19th-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali - the Fulbe Diina (1818-1864) and the Futanke (1864-1893) - and the... Show moreThis article explores political tensions between successive 19th-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali - the Fulbe Diina (1818-1864) and the Futanke (1864-1893) - and the pastoral interests of the Fulbe chiefdoms on the eastern periphery of the area, a region known as the Hayre. Dalla was the main authority of the Fulbe in the Hayre, which in the second half of the century was divided into two Fulbe chiefdoms: Booni and Dalla. The Diina, or Maasina State developed a strict political and economic organization, including a set of rules regarding natural resource management. By contrast, the Futanke introduced chaos into the area as it lacked a strict organization, a legitimate power base and a network of power relations. Analysis of the changing forms of local governance and natural resource management in the Hayre demonstrates that although different strategies were employed by the Fulbe and Futanke States to control the area, the internal dynamics of the Hayre can only partly be explained by the influence of these central powers. In each period, the pendulum swung between external control and the internal dynamics of the Hayre, and the area was never an integral part of an undivided empire. Notes, ref., sum Show less
Na een korte bespreking van enige thema's in het onderzoek van staatsvorming in pre-koloniaal Afrika, analyseert de auteur staatsvorming in de 18e en 19e eeuw in het gebied van de Kafue/Zambezi... Show moreNa een korte bespreking van enige thema's in het onderzoek van staatsvorming in pre-koloniaal Afrika, analyseert de auteur staatsvorming in de 18e en 19e eeuw in het gebied van de Kafue/Zambezi waterscheiding in Centraal Westelijk Zambia (met name de vorming van de Nkoya en Lozi staten) tegen de achtergrond van koloniale en post-koloniale ontwikkelingen in termen van de articulatie van de productiewijzen. Hij bespreekt de uitbuitende relatie tussen vorstenhoven en plaatselijke gemeenschappen, die zich manifesteert in processen van incorporatie en etnicisatie. In tegenstelling tot de heersende opvattingen die culturele and structurele continu‹teit tussen vorstenhoven en de plaatselijke gemeenschappen benadrukken, stelt de auteur dat er bij de staatsvorming in Zambia sprake was van een absolute breuk met de sociale organisatie en culturele ideologie van de voor-statelijke plaatselijke dorpssamenleving. Deze transformatie slaagde weliswaar in de Lozi staat, maar dit was niet het geval in de Nkoya staten. In dit verband benadrukt de auteur de centrale rol van geweld (inclusief rituele moord). Een en ander kan ook relevant zijn voor de beoordeling van het huidige geweld in Zuidelijk Afrika. Bibliogr., noten Show less
