Abstract:This article examines the project to digitize and preserve the archives of the Mineworkers’ Union of Zambia and has two aims. The first aim is to discuss the process of cataloguing and... Show moreAbstract:This article examines the project to digitize and preserve the archives of the Mineworkers’ Union of Zambia and has two aims. The first aim is to discuss the process of cataloguing and digitizing an archive that has undergone significant deterioration, and the theoretical and practical challenges to achieving this. The second aim is to relate making this archive more accessible to questions of knowledge production. Despite its limitations, the value of this archive is that it is primarily composed of documents produced by Africans about the world as they saw it. These are not the records of external powers, colonial officials, or those studying African peoples.Résumé:Cet article examine le projet de numérisation et de conservation des archives du Syndicat des mineurs de Zambie et poursuit deux objectifs. Le premier objectif est de discuter du processus de catalogage et de numérisation d’archives qui ont subi une détérioration significative et d’identifier les défis théoriques et pratiques pour y parvenir. Le deuxième objectif est de relier la mise en accessibilité de ces archives à des questions de production de connaissances. Malgré ses limites, la valeur de ces archives est qu’elles sont principalement composées de documents produits par des Africains sur le monde tel qu’ils l’ont vu. Ce ne sont pas les archives des puissances extérieures, des fonctionnaires coloniaux ou de ceux qui étudient les peuples africains. Show less
Barr, A.; Dekker, M.; Hochleitner, A.; Zuze, L.T. 2021
This document presents the findings from quantitative and qualitative data generation and analysisconducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social normsin Zambia”.... Show moreThis document presents the findings from quantitative and qualitative data generation and analysisconducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social normsin Zambia”. Using a series of specially designed behavioural experiments and focus groupdiscussions, we generated an extensive set of insights into the normative environment withinwhich spouses in Eastern Province, Zambia, decide on individual money holding and saving.Here are some of those insights. Spouses in Eastern Province, Zambia, are willing to compromise household-level income to maintain individual control over money. Wives, but not husbands, are more likely to compromise household-level earnings to maintain individual control over money when theycan keep that money and their actions hidden from their spouses. Individually-held behaviouralprescriptions, i.e., the “shoulds” and “oughts” that individuals have in mind and reference asguides for their behaviour and benchmarks against which to evaluate others’ behaviour, informdecision-making about maintaining individual control over money at a cost to the household.Further, when individuals know that their spouses will find out about their decisions regardingmaintaining individual control over money (or not) at a cost to the household, the individualstake their spouses’ opinions about what they should do into account, i.e., they compromise. Inthe Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), wastefulness on the part of spouses was consistentlygiven as a reason for endeavouring to maintain individual control over money.There is strong but not unequivocal evidence pointing to the existence of a social norm, i.e., a“should” or “ought” that is collectively held and enforced by members of a community,forbidding saving in secret from one’s spouse, with the secrecy, not the saving being theproblem. Assuming it exists, this social norm forbidding saving in secret from one’s spouseapplies to both husbands and wives, and both husbands and wives acknowledge this. However,the extent to which violations of this norm are tolerated depends on who is doing the violatingand evaluating. In patrilineal communities (as compared to matrilineal communities), bothhusbands and wives are especially intolerant of secret saving by husbands, and in bothpatrilineal and matrilineal communities, wives are less tolerant than husbands of secret savingby husbands and more tolerant than husbands of secret saving by wives. This relative toleranceof secret saving by wives notwithstanding, just under one in three wives and one in sixhusbands think that a man is justified in beating his wife if he discovers that she is saving in ane-wallet or has joined a savings group without his knowledge and, as grounds for wife-beating,saving in secret is on a par with neglecting the children, visiting friends or family in secret andrefusing to have sex. When exploring the reasons for this strong norm against saving in secretin the FGDs, women express fear about the money going missing if the secret saver diesunexpectedly. Both men and women strongly believe that if a wife saves in secret, it raisessuspicions about where she is getting the money and that saving in secret can lead to maritaltension. Show less
Democracy and Electoral Politics in Zambia aims to comprehend the current dynamics of Zambia's democracy and to understand what was specific about the 2015/2016 election experience. While elections... Show moreDemocracy and Electoral Politics in Zambia aims to comprehend the current dynamics of Zambia's democracy and to understand what was specific about the 2015/2016 election experience. While elections have been central to understanding Zambian politics over the last decade, the coverage they have received in the academic literature has been sparse. This book aims to fill that gap and give a more holistic account of contemporary Zambian electoral dynamics, by providing innovative analysis of political parties, mobilization methods, the constitutional framework, the motivations behind voters' choices and the adjudication of electoral disputes by the judiciary. This book draws on insights and interviews, public opinion data and innovative surveys that aim to tell a rich and nuanced story about Zambia's recent electoral history from a variety of disciplinary approaches. Contributors include: Tinenenji Banda, Nicole Beardsworth, John Bwalya, Privilege Haang'andu, Erin Hern, Marja Hinfelaar, Dae Un Hong, O'Brien Kaaba, Robby Kapesa, Chanda Mfula, Jotham Momba, Biggie Joe Ndambwa, Muna Ndulo, Jeremy Seekings, Hangala Siachiwena, Sishuwa Sishuwa, Owen Sichone, Aaron Siwale, Michael Wahman. Show less
This document presents the preliminary findings from the quantitative data generation and analysisconducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social norms in Zambia”... Show moreThis document presents the preliminary findings from the quantitative data generation and analysisconducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social norms in Zambia”.Using a series of specially designed behavioural experiments,we generated an extensive set of insightsinto the normative environment within which spouses in Eastern Province, Zambia, make decisionsabout individual money holding and saving. Here are some of those insights. Spouses in EasternProvince, Zambia, are willing to compromise household-level earnings in order to maintain individualcontrol over money. Wives, but not husbands, are more likely to compromise household-levelearnings in order tomaintain individual control overmoney, when they can keep thatmoney and theiractions hidden from their spouses. Individually-held behavioural prescriptions, i.e., the “shoulds” and“oughts” that individuals have in mind and reference as guides for their own behaviour and asbenchmarks against which to evaluate others’ behaviour, inform decision-making about maintainingindividual control over money at a cost to the household. Further, when individuals know that theirspouses will find out about their descisions regarding maintaining individual control over money (ornot) at a cost to the household, the individuals take their spouses’ opinions about what they shoulddo into account, i.e., they compromise. There is strong but not unequivocal evidence pointing to theexistence of a social norm, i.e., a “should” or “ought” that is collectively held and enforced bymembers of a community, forbidding saving in secret from one’s spouse, with the secrecy not thesaving being the problem. Assuming it exists, this social norm forbidding saving in secret from one’sspouse applies to both husbands and wives, and this is acknowledged by both husbands and wives.However, the extent to which violations of this norm are tolerated depends on who is doing theviolating and who the evaluating. In patrilineal communities (as compared to matrilinealcommunities), both husbands and wives are especially intolerant of secret saving by husbands and inboth patrilineal and matrilineal communities, wives are less tolerant than husbands of secret savingby husbands and more tolerant than husbands of secret saving by wives. This relative tolerance ofsecret saving by wives notwithstanding, just under one in three wives and one in six husbands thinkthat a man is justified in beating his wife if he discovers that she is saving in an e-wallet or has joineda savings group without his knowledge and, as grounds for wife beating, saving in secret is on a parwith neglecting the children, visiting friends or family in secret and refusing to have sex. For furtherinsights, see the main text of the report. Show less
This document presents the preliminary findings from the quantitative data generation and analysis conducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social norms in Zambia”.... Show moreThis document presents the preliminary findings from the quantitative data generation and analysis conducted as part of the project “Financial decision-making, gender and social norms in Zambia”. Using a series of specially designed behavioural experiments, we generated an extensive set of insights into the normative environment within which spouses in Eastern Province, Zambia, make decisions about individual money holding and saving. Here are some of those insights. Spouses in Eastern Province, Zambia, are willing to compromise household-level earnings in order to maintain individual control over money. Wives, but not husbands, are more likely to compromise household-level earnings in order to maintain individual control over money, when they can keep that money and their actions hidden from their spouses. Individually-held behavioural prescriptions, i.e., the “shoulds” and “oughts” that individuals have in mind and reference as guides for their own behaviour and as benchmarks against which to evaluate others’ behaviour, inform decision-making about maintaining individual control over money at a cost to the household. Further, when individuals know that their spouses will find out about their descisions regarding maintaining individual control over money (or not) at a cost to the household, the individuals take their spouses’ opinions about what they should do into account, i.e., they compromise. There is strong but not unequivocal evidence pointing to the existence of a social norm, i.e., a “should” or “ought” that is collectively held and enforced by members of a community, forbidding saving in secret from one’s spouse, with the secrecy not the saving being the problem. Assuming it exists, this social norm forbidding saving in secret from one’s spouse applies to both husbands and wives, and this is acknowledged by both husbands and wives. However, the extent to which violations of this norm are tolerated depends on who is doing the violating and who the evaluating. In patrilineal communities (as compared to matrilineal communities), both husbands and wives are especially intolerant of secret saving by husbands and in both patrilineal and matrilineal communities, wives are less tolerant than husbands of secret saving by husbands and more tolerant than husbands of secret saving by wives. This relative tolerance of secret saving by wives notwithstanding, just under one in three wives and one in six husbands think that a man is justified in beating his wife if he discovers that she is saving in an e-wallet or has joined a savings group without his knowledge and, as grounds for wife beating, saving in secret is on a par with neglecting the children, visiting friends or family in secret and refusing to have sex. For further insights, see the main text of the report. Show less
Following Zambia’s independence in 1964, several thousand non-Zambian Africans were identified and progressively removed from the Copperbelt mines as part of a state-driven policy of ... Show moreFollowing Zambia’s independence in 1964, several thousand non-Zambian Africans were identified and progressively removed from the Copperbelt mines as part of a state-driven policy of ‘Zambianisation’. Curiously, this process has been overlooked among the multitude of detailed studies on the mining industry and Zambianisation, which is usually regarded as being about the removal of the industrial colour bar on the mines. This article challenges that perspective by examining the position and fate of non-Zambian African mineworkers, beginning with patterns of labour recruitment established in the colonial period and through the situation following independence to the protracted economic decline in the 1980s. In it I make two arguments. First, Zambian nationalism and the creation of Zambian citizenship were accompanied on the Copperbelt by the identification and exclusion of non-Zambians, in contrast to a strand in the literature which stresses that exclusionary nationalism and xenophobia are relatively recent developments. Second, one of the central and consistent aims of Zambianisation was the removal of ‘alien’ Africans from the mining industry and their replacement with Zambian nationals. This was a key objective of the Zambian government, supported by the mineworkers’ union. Show less
Roads through Mwinilunga provides a historical appraisal of social change in Northwest Zambia from 1750 until the present. By looking at agricultural production, mobility, consumption, and... Show moreRoads through Mwinilunga provides a historical appraisal of social change in Northwest Zambia from 1750 until the present. By looking at agricultural production, mobility, consumption, and settlement patterns, existing explanations of social change are reassessed. Using a wide range of archival and oral history sources, Iva Peša shows the relevance of Mwinilunga to broader processes of colonialism, capitalism, and globalisation. Through a focus on daily life, this book complicates transitions from subsistence to market production and dichotomies between tradition and modernity. Roads through Mwinilunga is a crucial addition to debates on historical and social change in Central Africa. Show less
This article examines industrial unrest and the restructuring of the workforce on the mines of the Zambian Copperbelt during the late 1950s. The mining workforce was highly stratified along lines... Show moreThis article examines industrial unrest and the restructuring of the workforce on the mines of the Zambian Copperbelt during the late 1950s. The mining workforce was highly stratified along lines of race and skill and attempts to alter occupational hierarchies by the mining companies provoked a lengthy strike by white mineworkers, the most highly-paid, privileged section of the workforce. The strike was accompanied by a considerable community mobilisation in the towns around the mines. Restructuring was prompted by falling copper prices and involved the mining companies attempting to blur the distinction between white artisans and semi-skilled white workers. At the core of the strike and restructuring plans were competing notions of skill and authority on the mines. In this way, this article contests the prevailing assumption in the historical literature that the central issue on the Copperbelt mines in this period was the removal of the industrial colour bar. Show less
This book is based on Enid Guene Master's thesis 'Copper, Borders and Nation-building: The Katangese Factor in Zambian Economic and Political History', runner-up in the African Studies Centre,... Show moreThis book is based on Enid Guene Master's thesis 'Copper, Borders and Nation-building: The Katangese Factor in Zambian Economic and Political History', runner-up in the African Studies Centre, Leiden's 2014 African Thesis Award. This annual award for Master's students encourages student research and writing on Africa and promotes the study of African cultures and societies. The Copperbelt has, for about a century, formed the economic backbone of the two countries that host it: the Republic of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Zambian and Congolese Copperbelts share long-standing economic, social and political ties, resulting in their histories being peppered with points of interconnections. Yet, there exists no integrated history of the Copperbelt. This tendency to see the Copperbelt as not one but two entities has to do with several factors, at the root of which is the Copperbelt’s distribution over two countries. This created an artificial division in the eyes of many observers, a division which, crucially, was reflected in academic research. The Zambian and Congolese Copperbelt have traditionally belonged to two distinct academic traditions, one English-speaking and the other French-speaking. As a result, there has been a tendency to overlook the actual interplay that existed between them. This interplay is what the present narrative proposes to investigate, going from pre-colonial linkages to the circumstances in which the border was set up and the patterns of migrations that the appearance of two competing and neighbouring mining centres engendered. The influence of these processes on Zambian political development will also be considered. Show less
This article explores the experiences of white workers on the Copperbelt in Northern Rhodesia during World War II. Much of the existing literature on the region focuses on African labour, yet the... Show moreThis article explores the experiences of white workers on the Copperbelt in Northern Rhodesia during World War II. Much of the existing literature on the region focuses on African labour, yet the boom that began in the copper-mining industry also attracted thousands of mobile, transient European workers. These workers were part of a primarily English-speaking labour diaspora with a global reach that linked mining centres around the world. The experience of this workforce generated seemingly contradictory trends of labour militancy, political radicalism, and racial exclusivity. A focus on two significant events during this period will seek to examine how these trends shaped events on the Copperbelt: the 1940 wildcat strikes and the 1942 arrest and deportation of white mineworkers’ union leaders. These events shed light on the international world of European labour and illustrate how the Copperbelt was linked to other mining centres around the world. Show less
This article follows the fortunes of a group of riveters who moved, briefly, from the Clyde to the Copperbelt to work on construction at the newly opened copper mines in the region in 1930.... Show moreThis article follows the fortunes of a group of riveters who moved, briefly, from the Clyde to the Copperbelt to work on construction at the newly opened copper mines in the region in 1930. Escaping from Depression-era Glasgow, these volatile riveters clashed with hard-bitten American mine managers over wages, self-respect and the colour bar in southern Africa, events best understood within a framework of the transnational world of white labour. The history of labour migration in colonial Africa has been studied almost exclusively in terms of African labour yet large numbers of people arrived from outside the continent to work on the mines in central and southern Africa. Although only a sliver of these wider population flows, the riveters provide a snapshot in the wider British labour movement and movements of white migrants during this period. This article argues that their experiences illustrate the curious, influential politics of ‘white labourism’ where political radicalism and industrial militancy were intricately linked to white domination and racial segregation. Drawing on records from the mining companies, it will be demonstrated that these men saw themselves as militant representatives of an international working class, but one strictly delineated on racial lines. Show less
Innovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to stimulate economic growth. Yet it remains unclear whether top-down or bottom-up innovations are more likely to lead to local economic... Show moreInnovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to stimulate economic growth. Yet it remains unclear whether top-down or bottom-up innovations are more likely to lead to local economic development. By looking at three cases of frugal innovation on the Zambian Copperbelt, in the spheres of housing, water and energy, it will be argued that polycentric innovation (which connects local and international actors) is most likely to generate inclusive development. Yet even a polycentric approach does not guarantee desired outcomes, as innovation remains context specific. Show less
