In response to the need for further conceptual development in the field of anthropological globalization studies, this article concentrates on the concept of virtuality, arguing that this... Show moreIn response to the need for further conceptual development in the field of anthropological globalization studies, this article concentrates on the concept of virtuality, arguing that this constitutes one of the key concepts for a characterization and understanding of the forms of globalization and provisionally indicates their theoretical relationship. The problematic heritage of a locality-obsessed anthropological tradition (as explored in the article) then provides the analytical framework within which virtuality makes an inspiring topic. The transition from theory to empirical case studies is made by examining the problem of meaning in the African urban environment. Finally, an ethnographic situation is invoked (urban female puberty rites in the towns along the 'Line of Rail' in present-day Zambia) which illustrates particular forms of virtuality as part of the globalization process. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum Show less
The author concentrates on virtuality, which he has come to regard as one of the key concepts for characterizing and understanding the forms of globalization in Africa. Chapters 1 and 2 define... Show moreThe author concentrates on virtuality, which he has come to regard as one of the key concepts for characterizing and understanding the forms of globalization in Africa. Chapters 1 and 2 define virtuality and globalization and provisionally indicate their theoretical relationship. The problematic heritage of an anthropological tradition obsessed with locality provides the analytical framework within which virtuality makes an inspiring topic, as argued in Ch. 3. Ch. 4 offers a transition from theory to empirical case studies by examining the problem of meaning in the African urban environment. Ch. 5 evokes an ethnographic situation (urban puberty rites in present-day Zambia) that illustrates particular forms of virtuality as part of the globalization process. Ch. 6 applies the emerging insights into virtuality and the virtual village to Ren‚ Devisch's notion of villagization as a major process of societal transformation in the Zairian capital, Kinshasa. Ch. 7 explores the applicability of the same concepts to recent patterns of witchcraft and healing as studied, at the national level in Cameroon and Malawi, by Peter Geschiere and Matthew Schoffeleers respectively. The author's own earlier work on the Kazanga festival as an instance of virtuality in the rural context of western central Zambia is summarized in Ch. 8, after which a conclusion rounds off the argument. Show less
The current discussion on democratization in Africa tends towards Eurocentrism in that it pays insufficient attention to the analytical and methodological implications of cultural imperialism,... Show moreThe current discussion on democratization in Africa tends towards Eurocentrism in that it pays insufficient attention to the analytical and methodological implications of cultural imperialism, localization, wrongly claimed universality, and the social price of relativism. Conceptually, formal constitutional democracy is only one variant of democracy among others, and besides, it is an item of political culture which has only relatively recently been introduced to Africa. Recent developments among Nkoya peasants of Kaoma district, Zambia, and working-class townsmen from Francistown, Botswana, most of whom identify themselves ethnically as Kalanga or Tswana, suggest that the democratization movement is only another phase in the ongoing political transformation of Africa. In the course of this process, by an interplay of local and national (ultimately global) conceptions of political power, indigenous constitutional, philosophical and sociological alternatives of political legitimacy are tested, and subsequently accommodated or discarded as obsolete. The author carried out anthropological fieldwork among the Zambian Nkoya in 1972-1974, and in Francistown in 1988-1989, and in both cases has made repeated return visits since. Bibliogr., notes, ref Show less
This paper explores the cultural dynamics of ethnicity in the context of a postcolonial African State, Zambia. The opening sections define ethnicity and pinpoint its central dilemma: while... Show moreThis paper explores the cultural dynamics of ethnicity in the context of a postcolonial African State, Zambia. The opening sections define ethnicity and pinpoint its central dilemma: while unmistakably constructed and thus selectively empowering the brokers coordinating the construction process, ethnicity nonetheless tends to pose as unchangeable, innate and inescapable. The paper then presents an analysis of the Kazanga festival which has been taking place since 1988 among the Nkoya in western Zambia. As an instance of ethnic self-representation vis-…-vis the national State, the annual festival brings out the extent to which cultural reconstruction in ethnicity radically transforms local historical cultural forms into a global idiom of performance, inequality along class and gender lines, and commodification or folklorization of culture. Yet such transformation is shown to have a revitalizing effect on local expressive culture and on the historic kingship, and is argued to be a survival strategy for local cultural forms in a globalizing world. The author attended the Kazanga festival in 1989, and again in 1994. In a postscript he outlines changes which have taken place since 1989. Show less
The chapters in this collection record a workshop held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, in April 1991, on African languages, development and the State. The book is divided into an... Show moreThe chapters in this collection record a workshop held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, in April 1991, on African languages, development and the State. The book is divided into an introductory chapter, by Richard Fardon and Graham Furniss, and three parts. Part 1, West Africa, contains papers by Ayo Bamgbose (multilingualism), C. Magbaily Fyle (policy toward Krio in Sierra Leone), Mamoud Akanni Igu‚ and Raphael Windali N'ou‚ni (the politics of language in B‚nin), Ben Ohi Elugbe (minority language development in Rivers and Bendel States, Nigeria), Gillian F. Hansford (mother tongue literacy among the Chumburung speakers in Ghana). Part 2, Central and Southern Africa, contains papers by J.M.M. Katupha (language use in Mozambique), Jean Benjamin (language and the struggle for racial equality in the development of a non-racial southern African nation), Nhlanhla P. Maake (a new language policy for post-apartheid South Africa), James Fairhead (linguistic pluralism in a Bwisha community, eastern Zaire), Wim van Binsbergen (minority languages in Zambia (Nkoya) and Botswana (Kalanga)). Part 3, East Africa, contains papers by Gnter Schlee (loanwords in Oromo and Rendille), Jan Blommaert (the metaphors of modernization in Tanzanian language policy), David Parkin (Arabic, Swahili and the vernaculars in Kenya). Show less
De auteur stelt dat het einde bereikt is van een vrij lange periode waarin cultuurdynamiek in Afrika in hoofdzaak vanuit een Marxistisch geïnspireerde politiek-economische optiek werd bezien. Een... Show moreDe auteur stelt dat het einde bereikt is van een vrij lange periode waarin cultuurdynamiek in Afrika in hoofdzaak vanuit een Marxistisch geïnspireerde politiek-economische optiek werd bezien. Een nieuwe benadering van de dynamiek van Afrikaanse culturen begint zich af te tekenen waarin een viertal thema's centraal staan: globalisering, 'verwaring' (commoditificatie), 'belichaming' (de rol van het menselijk lichaam), en de rol van de staat. Daarnaast blijft het thema ongelijkheid een aandachtspunt. Naast een paradigmatische strijd speelt zich een strijd af over de waardering van de transformatieprocessen die zich thans in Zuidelijk Afrika voordoen. Deze argumentatie wordt geïllustreerd aan de hand van een etnografisch voorbeeld: de culturele vereniging 'Kazanga' in westelijk Zambia en met name het jaarlijkse Kazangafestival, waar een zo compleet mogelijk overzicht gegeven wordt van Nkoya zang, dans en ritueel. Show less
External factors - the change in the international climate following the fall of the Berlin Wall in late 1989, the publication at almost the same time of the World Bank's report 'From crisis to... Show moreExternal factors - the change in the international climate following the fall of the Berlin Wall in late 1989, the publication at almost the same time of the World Bank's report 'From crisis to sustainable growth', in which the Bank for the first time linked aid to the question of "governance" - undoubtedly played a role in the decline of the one-party State in Africa. But the deeper causes of the current wave of democratization lie in the buildup of pressure over the past few decades for a new form of political accountability, to replace that of patronage politics. Most African governments have responded to the forces of change by conceding to demands for multiparty rule, simultaneously attempting to control the process. President Moi of Kenya, re-elected president in a multiparty election, is a case in point. In a few cases, heads of State have refused to make any compromises at all, with appalling results (Liberia, Somalia). In those countries where some degree of democratization has taken place, it is hard as yet to discern any improvement in regard to governance. Political parties continue to be formed in terms of clientelism and there is little to choose between rival parties, as a comparison of the contrasting cases of Kenya and Zambia illustrates. Democratization has not recast political constituencies in a new mode (though religion may form the base for new forms of political recruitment in the years to come). Notes, ref 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
Etniciteit is bij uitstek geschikt om in veranderingsprocessen te bemiddelen tussen fundamenteel verschillend gestructureerde sociale verbanden, en met name tussen het plaatselijk niveau enerzijds... Show moreEtniciteit is bij uitstek geschikt om in veranderingsprocessen te bemiddelen tussen fundamenteel verschillend gestructureerde sociale verbanden, en met name tussen het plaatselijk niveau enerzijds, de staat en wijde economische structuren anderzijds. Om deze stelling te illustreren geeft de auteur een beschrijving van een ceremonie, genaamd 'Kazanga', die elk jaar op 1 juli plaatsvindt in Shikombwe, Kaoma District, in het westen van Zambia. De beschrijving is gebaseerd op waarnemingen tijdens het festival van 1989. De inwoners van Shikombwe, een koninklijke residentie, beschouwen zich als Nkoya. De auteur bespreekt de ontwikkeling van de Nkoya tot zelfbewuste etnische groep en het ontstaan van de 'Culturele Vereniging Kazanga', die het propageren van de plaatselijke 'Nkoya' cultuur, door middel van het gelijknamige festival, als belangrijkste doelstelling heeft. Eerst houdt de auteur zich bezig met het officiële gedeelte, waarin 'Kazanga' verschijnt als bemiddeling gericht op de nationale staat. Vervolgens gaat hij na hoe het festival door zijn organisatorische vormgeving de plaatselijke cultuur selecteert en transformeert. Ten slotte wordt aandacht geschonken aan de specifieke aard van symbolische productie die het festival kenmerkt en waarin zijn bemiddelend karakter het meest tot uitdrukking komt. Show less
In deze bijdrage verkent de auteur de problematiek van chaos en domesticatie in het kader van ruimtelijke verplaatsing bij twee samenlevingen waar hij onderzoek verricht heeft: de Nkoja op het... Show moreIn deze bijdrage verkent de auteur de problematiek van chaos en domesticatie in het kader van ruimtelijke verplaatsing bij twee samenlevingen waar hij onderzoek verricht heeft: de Nkoja op het platteland van Zambia en de inwoners van Francistown, een middengrote stad in Botswana. Nkoja dorpen zijn tijdelijke conglomeraties van betrekkelijke vreemden die zich in hun onderlinge betrekkingen voortdurend bewust zijn van het optionele aspect van hun samenleven en strategisch uitzien naar mogelijkheden om, vooral door intra-rurale verhuizing, hun persoonlijke zekerheid te verbeteren. De chaos van hun individuele strevingen wordt getemd door het besef dat men gebruik maakt van dezelfde hulpbronnen, hetgeen co”rdinatie en overleg noodzakelijk maakt. Francistown is een centrum van verplaatsing. De toestroom van stedelijke migranten leidde tot een jaarlijkse groei van c. 8 procent in het laatste decennium. De spontane 'squatter' wijken zijn vanaf het eind van de jaren 70 gesaneerd en een deel van de bevolking is overgebracht naar nieuwe 'site-and-service' wijken. Losgeweekt uit hun eerdere sociale verbanden, worden zij hier geconfronteerd met een sociale chaos die zich vooralsnog moeilijk temmen laat. Noten Show less
This article is based on research into the healing ministry of Monsignor Emmanuel Milingo, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka from 1969 to 1983. On the basis of an analysis of a collection of some... Show moreThis article is based on research into the healing ministry of Monsignor Emmanuel Milingo, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka from 1969 to 1983. On the basis of an analysis of a collection of some 250 letters written to the Archbishop in 1979 and 1980 by people in need of spiritual healing or guidance, it examines the relationship between spirit possession and the request for healing and social class, Christianity, urban life, ethnicity, and gender. It further discusses the pathology of spirit possession, the limits of traditional healing, and the politics of possession, and concludes that the recent growth of spirit possession and healing in Zambia indicates a failure of both the Church and the State. The case of Milingo shows that the Church does have the potential to deal with popular spiritual needs, but is unwilling to do so because of the problems this would pose in the political and theological spheres. Notes, ref Show less
Using a structuralist-inspired approach the author analyses a collection of oral historical data from central western Zambia, namely 'Likota lya Bankoya', ('The history of the Nkoya people'),... Show moreUsing a structuralist-inspired approach the author analyses a collection of oral historical data from central western Zambia, namely 'Likota lya Bankoya', ('The history of the Nkoya people'), compiled by the first Nkoya Christian pastor, J. Shimunika, in the 1950s-1960s. He focuses on mutative transformations that mark two types of discontinuity: 1) deviations, in the Likota text, from contemporary Nkoya cultural practice; and 2) inconsistencies, in the text, within the pattern of oppositions by which a particular past episode is evoked. These transformations are shown to converge on the same pattern of changes in gender relations in the process of State formation. In conjunction with the contemporary ethnographic evidence on Nkoya society, these mutative transformations indicate that the 'feminist' message in the Likota text is not an historically irrelevant statement concerning a static cosmological order, but a reflection of an actual historical process relegating women in central western Zambia to inferiority in the political, ritual, economic, and kinship domains. Show less
Zambia is among the few African countries where chiefs occupy an honorable position at the national level, and where a House of Chiefs is established, complementary to Parliament. This paper... Show moreZambia is among the few African countries where chiefs occupy an honorable position at the national level, and where a House of Chiefs is established, complementary to Parliament. This paper examines the relationship between chiefs and the central government on the basis of an analysis of newspaper articles from the 'Zambia Daily Mail' and the 'Times of Zambia' over the period 1 February 1972 to 1 February 1973. Attention is paid to the various images of the chiefs, both positive and negative, as expressed in the newspapers; the career of Princess Nakatindi of Sesheke (d. 1972); the continuity in the relations between chiefs and the central government; the chiefs' search for protection by the State; the subjugation of the chiefs by State bureaucracies; and the selective use of chiefly symbolism. The analysis shows that modern politics and traditional leadership do not constitute two separate worlds, but that State and chieftaincy are closely interlocking aspects of modern Zambian life. App., bibliogr., notes, ref 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
Nkoya is an ethnic and linguistic label applying to about 50,000 people inhabiting the wooded plateau of Central Western Zambia. The author discusses the valley as the effective rural community... Show moreNkoya is an ethnic and linguistic label applying to about 50,000 people inhabiting the wooded plateau of Central Western Zambia. The author discusses the valley as the effective rural community and the villages as the main constituent social units within the valley and finally indicates the place of Nkoya society within the context of Central Africa as a whole 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
The alternative proposed here for the tribal model as a unit of study is not another, better unit of study (e.g. a mode of production, an expanding social formation, or a well-defined spatio... Show moreThe alternative proposed here for the tribal model as a unit of study is not another, better unit of study (e.g. a mode of production, an expanding social formation, or a well-defined spatio-temporal portion of reality), but a growing awareness of possible problems and interrelations, informed by insights from history and political economy. Thus this paper is an exercise in the interaction of anthropology and history in the analysis of a specific set of data: Introduction - The end of rural anthropology in Zambia? - The unit of study - Studying the Nkoya - Ethnicity, history and the Nkoya experience - Nkoya ethnicity and the dialectics of consciousness - Conclusion: beyond the unit of study. Show less
