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
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
Revised version of a book first published in 1982 in Dutch entitled "Oude produktiewijzen en binnendringend kapitalisme" by the Free University, Amsterdam, in association with the African Studies... Show moreRevised version of a book first published in 1982 in Dutch entitled "Oude produktiewijzen en binnendringend kapitalisme" by the Free University, Amsterdam, in association with the African Studies Centre, Leiden. The modern history of Africa can be seen in Marxist terms as a process by which the capitalist mode of production was established all over the continent, but did not totally replace the old mode of production. An articulation of modes of production took place instead. The essays in this book deal with the theory of articulation as well as the empirical application of this key concept in various geographical areas and historical periods. 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
Deze bundel, een weerslag van een tweedaagse workshop over staat en maatschappij in Afrika, gehouden medio december 1981 te Leiden, bevat naast een inleidend hoofdstuk van beide redacteurs, acht... Show moreDeze bundel, een weerslag van een tweedaagse workshop over staat en maatschappij in Afrika, gehouden medio december 1981 te Leiden, bevat naast een inleidend hoofdstuk van beide redacteurs, acht theoretisch-vergelijkende studies en elf case-studies. Gezamenlijk geven ze een beeld van recent Nederlands en Belgisch onderzoek op het gebied van staat en maatschappij in Afrika. De auteurs, in alfabetische volgorde: A.N. Achterstraat, H.K. Asmeron, W. van Binsbergen, R. Buijtenhuijs, H.J.M. Claessen, M.R. Doornbos, P. Doornbos, P. Geschiere, J. Goldschmidt, J.P. Heijke, G. Hesseling, L. Kapteijns, P. Konings, P. Nauwelaerts, H.L.M. Obdeijn, F. Reyntjens, H. Schoenmakers, A.A. Trouwborst. Show less
Case study of the position and religious activities of Manjak labour migrants from the administrative divisions of Calequisse and Cai¢ in the Cacheu region, who spend a substantial portion of... Show moreCase study of the position and religious activities of Manjak labour migrants from the administrative divisions of Calequisse and Cai¢ in the Cacheu region, who spend a substantial portion of their lives in urban centers in Senegal and France while maintaining close ritual and therapeutic ties with their area of origin. These ties involve a spectacular expenditure of time and foreign-earned money and bring out clearly the exploitative nature of local gerontocratic power, suggesting that these ritual ties have somehow become crucial in the articulation between capitalism and the local pre-capitalist modes of production. The central question tackled in this article is that of what exactly is being reproduced if the migrants' rituals are considered as cases of ideological reproduction. 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
Aim of this chapter is to present a picture of anthropological work on sub-saharan Africa as undertaken in the Netherlands during the 1970s. After the introduction follows, in section 2, a... Show moreAim of this chapter is to present a picture of anthropological work on sub-saharan Africa as undertaken in the Netherlands during the 1970s. After the introduction follows, in section 2, a discussion of the discipline and its predicaments. In section 3 the author discusses the resources and background of Africanist anthropology in the Netherlands. Section 4 is a rather succinct presentation of the current Dutch work, while, in section 5, some general trends as well as blind-spots are identified. Bibliogr., notes Show less
In order better to present these cults in their interrelation with other institutions, the author introduces an additional analytical concept: the shrine cult, calling a shrine "a spot which is... Show moreIn order better to present these cults in their interrelation with other institutions, the author introduces an additional analytical concept: the shrine cult, calling a shrine "a spot which is singled out and treated in a very special way because of its close association with events by which entities believed to exist somewhere outside this visible order can manifest themselves within this order - and where, therefore, humans can communicate with these entities". The concepts of territorial cult and shrine cult largely overlap, but neither is a subset of the other. The territorial cult in the Zambian context - Shrines, ecology and the community - Chiefs and shrines in Zambia's history - Conclusion Show less
The present paper explores the interplay between local popular Islam and the repeated introduction of formal Islam in Khrumiria, North-western Tunisia, against the background of its social and... Show moreThe present paper explores the interplay between local popular Islam and the repeated introduction of formal Islam in Khrumiria, North-western Tunisia, against the background of its social and political structure and the radical changes the latter underwent in the colonial and post-colonial era. The dynamics underlying the relation between the two versions of Islam in Khrumiria should be interpreted primarily by reference to supra-local political and economic incorporation processes, i.e. to ultimately non-religious factors. Show less
