This paper follows the analysis of Vansina in analyzing colonization as an attempt to destroy and replace Africa’s autonomous cultural systems. It shows that in Botswana, this has been only... Show moreThis paper follows the analysis of Vansina in analyzing colonization as an attempt to destroy and replace Africa’s autonomous cultural systems. It shows that in Botswana, this has been only partially successful. Due to clever forms of resistance,Botswana has been able to keep part of its autonomy intact. This helps to explain the relative success the country has had. However, in the educational field, the country is now also one of the first to be confronted with the limitations that are inherent in the colonial education system. The paperargues that a gradual transition to using indigenous languages as a medium of instruction is practically possible and will become inescapable if the country wishes to reach the goals it has set for itself. In this, special attentionis needed for the speakers of Khoisan languages. Show less
This contribution explores the significance of religious practices that put emphasis on encouraging people to hold their position when others question the ideological or dogmatic elements of their... Show moreThis contribution explores the significance of religious practices that put emphasis on encouraging people to hold their position when others question the ideological or dogmatic elements of their faith. Applying the term ‘religious insistence’, it investigates these practices with a view to the ways in which Pentecostals take a position vis-à-vis the challenges they confront in the sociopolitical domain. Contributing to the study of religious activism, we show that practices of insistence are neither fully resistant nor fully acquiescent with regard to the existing situation. We argue that these practices of holding one’s ground, which we subsume under the term ‘insistence’, represent a specific modality of formulating one’s identity in regard to others that is neither about provoking structural change, as a resistance perspective would emphasise, nor about condoning a structural situation as is and remaining fully acquiescent with it. While in Pentecostal contexts insistence does not take up-front political protest as its main focus, it can still be interpreted as a form of religious activism since it often entails some form of critical response toward a given sociopolitical order or process. By drawing attention to how religious insistence manifests itself in and through Pentecostalism, this contribution proposes to enrich the study of religious activism in Africa and opens up a perspective that addresses assertiveness as a register of expression that differs from resistance and acquiescence. Show less
Methodological nuptialism in the study of relationships has contributed to an academic hiatus of studies on non-marital relationships and the sustenance of negative attitudes towards such... Show moreMethodological nuptialism in the study of relationships has contributed to an academic hiatus of studies on non-marital relationships and the sustenance of negative attitudes towards such relationships. Approaches that most scholars have adopted in the study of marital relationships have hardly been problematised. Through a 14-month (in total) ethnographic fieldwork using focus group discussions (FGD), in-depth interviews, participant observations and snowballing in two wards in Molepolole this studies has demonstrated that by avoiding methodological nuptialism cohabitation can be understood better. The major finding of the study is that cohabiting unions are not homogenous. There are different types of cohabiation, namely, Go adima mosadi (wife-borrowing); Go inyadisa (non-consensual cohabiation) and Go bulela ntlu (Visiting rights). The different types of cohabitation generally denote those types that carry the consent of parents and therefore signal social, cultural and moral level of justification as compared to those that fall outside the consent of parents. Contrary to some literature, the formation of cohabiting relationships does not always exclude parents. Reasons for cohabitation vary; however, the desire to raise children together cuts across all cohabiting relationships in the study. Other reasons include low socio-economic status, negative HIV status, death of parents and love and commitment to each other. Show less
While it has become common knowledge that in many parts of Africa — including Botswana — weddings and marital arrangements in general have increasingly become subject to consumerist desires of... Show moreWhile it has become common knowledge that in many parts of Africa — including Botswana — weddings and marital arrangements in general have increasingly become subject to consumerist desires of style and glamour, much less is known about how such expectations of public display intersect with changing ideas concerning the intimate. Weddings have not only become costlier than before, and much more crucial in the marking of class, status and prestige, they have also given way to shifts in the responsibilities concerning marital arrangements, in the provisioning of resources and in the taking charge of the glamorous styling of these events. Studying such marital arrangements in Molepolole, Botswana, reveals that these shifts are creating a new sense of joint responsibility among young couples in terms of their role in providing such (re)sources. They are also producing a new dimension in their formation of relational intimacies; that is, making their financial affairs part of the intimacy of their relationship not meant for scrutiny and inspection by family elders. Engaging an anthropological understanding of the ways in which money can be related to intimacies, this contribution aims to understand how taking responsibility for finances becomes an intimate matter in the wedding process. Show less
(Abstract) Whereas Michael Lambek situates the exploration of the significance of ‘ordinary ethics’ in the everyday as the study of ‘the ethical in the conjunction or movement between explicit... Show more (Abstract) Whereas Michael Lambek situates the exploration of the significance of ‘ordinary ethics’ in the everyday as the study of ‘the ethical in the conjunction or movement between explicit local pronouncements and implicit local practices and circumstances’, this article takes the opposite view by drawing attention to special events that appear to engage – or provide space for – extraordinary ethics. Special events and their extraordinary ethics bring into relief the implicitness of the ordinary in everyday ethics. Weddings in Botswana are moments in the social life of the individual, the family and the community that produce such event ethics. On one level, the event ethics relate to the execution of these highly stylized weddings in terms of concerns about their performance and marital arrangements. On another level, the event ethics can have tacit dimensions that belong to the special nature of the occasion. This article argues not only that ‘ordinary ethics’ may be privileged through the study of what is tacit in social interactions, but that ‘event ethics’ also demonstrate the importance of the tacit.(Résumé) Alors que Michael Lambek situe l'exploration de l'importance de « l’éthique de l'ordinaire » au quotidien comme l’étude de « l'éthique dans la conjonction ou le mouvement entre des énonciations locales explicites et des pratiques locales implicites », cet article prend une position contraire en attirant l'attention sur des événements particuliers qui semblent faire intervenir (ou fournir un espace à) une éthique de l'extraordinaire. Ces événements particuliers et leur éthique de l'extraordinaire mettent en relief le caractère implicite de l'ordinaire dans l’éthique quotidienne. Au Botswana, les mariages sont des moments, dans la vie sociale de l'individu, de la famille et de la communauté, qui produisent une telle éthique de l’événement. Sur un plan, l’éthique de l’événement se rapporte à l'exécution de ces mariages hautement stylisés en termes de préoccupations concernant le déroulement et les arrangements conjugaux. Sur un autre plan, l’éthique de l’événement peut avoir des dimensions tacites qui relèvent de la nature particulière de l'occasion. Cet article soutient que l’« éthique de l'ordinaire » peut être privilégiée à travers l’étude de ce qui est tacite dans les interactions sociales, mais aussi que l’« éthique de l’événement » démontre également l'importance du tacite. Show less
While it has become common knowledge that in many parts of Africa — including Botswana — weddings and marital arrangements in general have increasingly become subject to consumerist desires of... Show moreWhile it has become common knowledge that in many parts of Africa — including Botswana — weddings and marital arrangements in general have increasingly become subject to consumerist desires of style and glamour, much less is known about how such expectations of public display intersect with changing ideas concerning the intimate. Weddings have not only become costlier than before, and much more crucial in the marking of class, status and prestige, they have also given way to shifts in the responsibilities concerning marital arrangements, in the provisioning of resources and in the taking charge of the glamorous styling of these events. Studying such marital arrangements in Molepolole, Botswana, reveals that these shifts are creating a new sense of joint responsibility among young couples in terms of their role in providing such (re)sources. They are also producing a new dimension in their formation of relational intimacies; that is, making their financial affairs part of the intimacy of their relationship not meant for scrutiny and inspection by family elders. Engaging an anthropological understanding of the ways in which money can be related to intimacies, this contribution aims to understand how taking responsibility for finances becomes an intimate matter in the wedding process. Show less
Studies of cultural tourism and indigenous identity are fraught with questions concerning exploitation, entitlement, ownership and authenticity. Unease with the idea of leveraging a group identity... Show moreStudies of cultural tourism and indigenous identity are fraught with questions concerning exploitation, entitlement, ownership and authenticity. Unease with the idea of leveraging a group identity for commercial gain is ever-present. This anthology articulates some of these debates from a multitude of standpoints. It assimilates the perspectives of members of indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, tourism practitioners and academic researchers who participated in an action research project that aims to link research to development outcomes. The book's authors weave together discordant voices to create a dialogue of sorts, an endeavour to reconcile the divergent needs of the stakeholders in a way that is mutually beneficial. Although this book focuses on the ?Khomani Bushmen and the Zulu communities of Southern Africa, the issues raised are ubiquitous to the cultural tourism industry anywhere. Show less
Health and healing in Africa have increasingly become subject to monetization and commodification, in short, the market. Based on fieldwork in nine countries, this volume offers different... Show moreHealth and healing in Africa have increasingly become subject to monetization and commodification, in short, the market. Based on fieldwork in nine countries, this volume offers different perspectives on these emerging markets and the way medical staff, patients, households and institutions navigate them in their quest for well-being. Contributions: Introduction: Economic ethnographies of the marketization of health and healing in Africa (Rijk van Dijk and Marleen Dekker); Milking the sick: medical pluralism and the commoditization of healthcare in contemporary Nigeria (Akinyinka Akinyoade and Bukola Adeyemi Oyeniyi); Organizing monies: the reality and creativity of nursing on a hospital ward in Ghana (Christine Böhmig); Market forces threatening school feeding: the case for school farming in Nakuru town, Kenya (Dick Foeken et al.); Dashed hopes and missed opportunities: malaria control policies in Kenya (1896-2009) (Kenneth Ombongi and Marcel Rutten); The market for healing and the elasticity of belief: medical pluralism in Mpumalanga, South Africa (Robert Thornton); Medical knowledge and healing practices among the Kapsiki/Higi of northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria (Walter E.A. van Beek); The commodification of misery: markets for healing, markets for sickness (Zanzibar) (Nadine Beckmann); Individual or shared responsibility: the financing of medical treatment in rural Ethiopian households (Marleen Dekker); Can't buy me health: financial constraints and health-seeking behaviour in rural households in central Togo (Andr‚ Leliveld et al.); Marriage, commodification and the romantic ethic in Botswana (Rijk van Dijk). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This contribution considers the current position of the Ghanaian migrant community in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, at a time of rising xenophobic sentiments and increasing ethnic tensions among... Show moreThis contribution considers the current position of the Ghanaian migrant community in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, at a time of rising xenophobic sentiments and increasing ethnic tensions among the general public. The article examines anthropological understandings of such sentiments by placing them in the context of the study of nationalisms in processes of State formation in Africa and the way in which these ideologies reflect the position and recognition of minorities. In Botswana, identity politics indulge in a liberalist democratic rhetoric in which an undifferentiated citizenship is promoted by the State, concealing on the one hand inequalities between the various groups in the country, but on the other hand defending the exclusive interests of all 'Batswana' against foreign influence through the enactment of what has become known as a 'localization policy'. Like many other nationalities, expatriate labour from Ghana has increasingly become the object of localization policies. However, in their case xenophobic sentiments have taken on unexpected dimensions. By focusing on the general public's fascination with Ghanaian fashion and styles of beautification, the numerous hair salons and clothing boutiques Ghanaians operate, in addition to the newly emerging Ghanaian-led Pentecostal churches in the city, the ambiguous but ubiquitous play of repulsion and attraction can be demonstrated in the way in which localization is perceived and experienced by the migrant as well as by the dominant groups in society. The article concludes by placing entrepreneurialism at the nexus of where this play of attraction and repulsion creates a common ground of understanding between Ghanaians and their host society, despite the government's hardening localization policies. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] Show less
This volume brings together fifteen essays investigating aspects of interculturality. Published between 1969 and 2002, the essays operate at the borderline between anthropology and intercultural... Show moreThis volume brings together fifteen essays investigating aspects of interculturality. Published between 1969 and 2002, the essays operate at the borderline between anthropology and intercultural philosophy. Ethnographic data are derived from field research carried out in Tunisia, Zambia and Botswana. While a number of chapters focus on specific African contexts, others have a more theoretical focus, or deal with the whole of Africa. The essays are arranged in five parts: 1. Preliminaries; 2. The construction of intercultural knowledge through anthropological fieldwork; 3. From anthropological fieldworker in southern Africa, to North Atlantic diviner-priest: an experiment in intercultural philosophy; 4. From cultural anthropology to intercultural philosophy; 5. Exercises in intercultural philosophy. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This volume brings together fifteen essays investigating aspects of interculturality. Published between 1969 and 2002, the essays operate at the borderline between anthropology and intercultural... Show moreThis volume brings together fifteen essays investigating aspects of interculturality. Published between 1969 and 2002, the essays operate at the borderline between anthropology and intercultural philosophy. Ethnographic data are derived from field research carried out in Tunisia, Zambia and Botswana. While a number of chapters focus on specific African contexts, others have a more theoretical focus, or deal with the whole of Africa. The essays are arranged in five parts: 1. Preliminaries; 2. The construction of intercultural knowledge through anthropological fieldwork; 3. From anthropological fieldworker in southern Africa, to North Atlantic diviner-priest: an experiment in intercultural philosophy; 4. From cultural anthropology to intercultural philosophy; 5. Exercises in intercultural philosophy. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
Writers dealing with the Herero of Botswana have tended mostly to deal with them as a single homogeneous group. Concentrating on Ngamiland during the period 1891-1906, this article outlines and... Show moreWriters dealing with the Herero of Botswana have tended mostly to deal with them as a single homogeneous group. Concentrating on Ngamiland during the period 1891-1906, this article outlines and discusses the arrival, at different times and for different reasons, of various groups of Herero into the territory. The article indicates that prior to the Herero-German war, the majority of Herero moved into Ngamiland on account of the activities of German colonizers and the Herero chief, Samuel Maharero. In Ngamiland, Herero immigrants came to form a substantial source of support for the Batawana usurper, Sekgoma Letsholathebe. Herero-speakers in Ngamiland were strongly divided among themselves. Residual resentments from events in Namibia continued to inform their relations. With the outbreak of the Herero-German war in 1904, Herero who had fled Namibia on earlier occasions now opposed the move of Samuel Maharero into Ngamiland and found themselves supported by Sekgoma Letsholathebe. Following the deposition of Sekgoma in a coup in 1906, the position of Herero who had supported Sekgoma became increasingly tenuous and this led to their move out of the area. Notes, ref., sum Show less
This report discusses some of the findings of exploratory research among Ghanaian and Malawian migrants in Gaborone, Botswana, which was carried out in March and November 2001. Over the last two... Show moreThis report discusses some of the findings of exploratory research among Ghanaian and Malawian migrants in Gaborone, Botswana, which was carried out in March and November 2001. Over the last two decades, Botswana has been the focus of immigration from Ghana and Malawi. In recent years, this African immigration has been followed, as elsewhere, by the introduction of a charismatic and popular form of Christianity known as Pentecostalism. The position of Ghanaians and Malawians has been debated in the public media in the context of wider discussions on foreigners in Tswana society. Lately, these debates have hardened in tone, and the Botswana government is increasingly taking measures against the privileges these immigrants may have enjoyed. The report looks in particular at the ideological, i.e. religious dimensions of the Ghanaian and Malawian predicament in this tense context with the aim of formulating further research questions. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This chapter examines what democratic transition in the 1990s has meant for women in southern Africa. It focuses in particular on the impact of democratization processes on political participation... Show moreThis chapter examines what democratic transition in the 1990s has meant for women in southern Africa. It focuses in particular on the impact of democratization processes on political participation by women, notably women's representation in parliament in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is compared with developments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, where the introduction of multiparty elections has generally resulted in women's marginalization in parliament. Comparison of the representation of women in parliament in the SADC region under the one-party State and after the democratic transition reveals that the tendency is towards better representation of women. Factors impacting on the representation of women in politics include a country's state of development, the quota system, women's pressure groups, and electoral systems. Linking the UNDP's gender-related development index (1998) to the representation in parliament-index, the author concludes that there is no visible relationship between women's representation in parliament and the quality of life for women in southern Africa. Notes, ref Show less
In October 2000, the remains of 'El Negro', a Tswana man who had died 170 years before and who, as a stuffed specimen, had been on display in Europe for over 160 years, were flown from Spain to... Show moreIn October 2000, the remains of 'El Negro', a Tswana man who had died 170 years before and who, as a stuffed specimen, had been on display in Europe for over 160 years, were flown from Spain to Botswana and given a State funeral in the capital Gaborone. In early 2001, as it became clear that the rains were failing in the country, rumours started circulating that linked the coming of El Negro to the absence of rain. This article charts the progress of the rumours relating to El Negro, relates them to the broader issues of Tswana ethnology and contemporary history, and situates them in the context of popular consciousness, previous work conducted on rumour, and 'radio trottoir'. It argues that apart from slips of the tongue and the unconscious linking of El Negro to El Ni¤o - a concept associated with rain and weather - the El Negro rumours came to be linked to all kinds of existing ideas relating to Bushmen, spirits and ancestors, witchcraft and sorcery, and politics. The El Negro rumours gave large sections of the population the opportunity to articulate deep-seated grievances vis-…-vis those in power at various levels. Notes, ref., sum Show less
This chapter presents an extended case study of the personal experiences of a young Kalanga woman in Francistown, Botswana, as she moves from village girlhood to incipient urban consumerism. After... Show moreThis chapter presents an extended case study of the personal experiences of a young Kalanga woman in Francistown, Botswana, as she moves from village girlhood to incipient urban consumerism. After describing the urban setting of Francistown and the expansion of the town's residential space under the Self-Help Housing Agency (SSHA) project in the 1980s, the author relates the story of Mary's transition from village to urban life, with its vastly increased levels of commodity consumption. He describes her initial rural-orientated identity embodying the productive and reproductive tasks defined for women in a village setting, the conflictive character of her village-oriented ties in the domain of kinship and, to a lesser extent, organized Christian religion, her tentative adoption of a new, socially negotiable identity through new aspirations based on the selection of a different reference group (urban female workmates and co-tenants), her learning of the role of "modern, urban consumer", her definition of a career goal, and her budgetary strategies (rotating credit or 'motshelo', and hire purchase). The narrative is based on participant observation and interviews over a period of five years from 1988. Show less
Cet article est fondé sur un travail de terrain ethnographique réalisé sur une durée de cinq années d'observation participante entrecoupée de pauses dans la ville de Francistown au Botswana à... Show moreCet article est fondé sur un travail de terrain ethnographique réalisé sur une durée de cinq années d'observation participante entrecoupée de pauses dans la ville de Francistown au Botswana à partir de 1988. Il s'agit d'une étude de cas longitudinale, où est suivie une jeune femme qui a migré d'un village, Tutume, vers la ville. Elle montre le passage d'un style de vie rurale à des formes urbaines de consommation individuelle et les transformations de l'identité individuelle apportées par l'expérience d'acquisition de moyens matériels accrus. Si les références à des modèles globaux de signification jouent un rôle dans le processus de changement du mode de vie de la jeune femme, l'auteur note que persistent encore des distinctions rurales consacrées par un usage très ancien qui définissent la fonctionnalité des lieux de vie, comme l'indique l'aménagement de sa chambre. L'article aborde des aspects comme les obligations apportées par les liens de parenté chez les migrants, l'identité dans un contexte de modernisation, la monétarisation, le rôle du 'motshelo' (type d'arrangement mutuel avec crédit rotatif) et le système de vente à tempérament, le jeu mutuel entre les secteurs "formel" et "informel" dans l'économie. Show less
This paper examines a system of divination which is widespread in the Francistown area of Botswana and which features conspicuously in the area's various noncosmopolitan medical systems. The... Show moreThis paper examines a system of divination which is widespread in the Francistown area of Botswana and which features conspicuously in the area's various noncosmopolitan medical systems. The system involves the manipulation of four small rectangular or triangular tablets made out of wood, bone or ivory. A striking feature of the Francistown system is its fragmented and kaleidoscopic nature in terms of nomenclature, iconography and interpretative catalogue. The oracular system contains features which do not match closely with the local symbolic system, language and cosmology of contemporary users. The author argues that this indicates to the alteration and erosion of local elements and the accretion of foreign elements. A study of the four-tablet oracular system in space and time shows that the system has spread gradually over southern Africa from a Shona epicentre. Furthermore, a comparison of the four-tablet system with Arabian geomancy and the 'Sikidy' system reveals strong indications that the southern African four-tablet system in its current form emerged about half a millennium ago on the Zimbabwean Plateau under Arabian influence. Show less
The forms of African divination which revolve around the use of a material apparatus, whose construction and application are more or less institutionalized and professionalized, constitute an... Show moreThe forms of African divination which revolve around the use of a material apparatus, whose construction and application are more or less institutionalized and professionalized, constitute an important field of medical technology. This paper examines a system of divination revolving around four tablets, to which the author was introduced during fieldwork carried out in Francistown in northeast Botswana since 1988. First, it presents the main analytical characteristics of the Francistown divination system. Since the system is a combination of a random generator and an interpretative catalogue, the paper discusses its mathematical properties as well as the high degree of standardization, the classificatory vagaries, and the selective societal referents of its interpretative catalogue. Next, the paper discusses the origin and distribution of the four-tablet system. It emerged in the middle of the second millennium AD in the highlands of Zimbabwe from the interaction between pre-existing local divination systems and Arabian geomancy. After a slow spread over a limited part of southern Africa, the 20th century saw the rapid spread of the system over the entire subcontinent, where it is now the hallmark of noncosmopolitan practitioners. Bibliogr., notes, ref Show less
