The footprints of North Korean influence can be found all over Africa, most clearly in the form of monuments, museums, and government buildings constructed using forced labour. Such prominent... Show moreThe footprints of North Korean influence can be found all over Africa, most clearly in the form of monuments, museums, and government buildings constructed using forced labour. Such prominent projects, which are potent symbols of African nationalism, simultaneously adopt the socialist-realist visual style that is predominant in Pyongyang, the DPRK capital. It makes them highly recognisable markers. Less visible, however, is the forced labour that precedes the joyful opening of a new monument, museum, or government building. The main objective of this chapter is to provoke ideas about a framework to study North Korean forced labour in Africa, and stimulate further work in this field. First, the chapter provides a historical context of North Korean activities in Africa. The seeds of the fruitful cooperation between the DPRK and African countries were sown during the liberation struggles that raged across the continent between the 1960s and 1990s. The subsequent section focuses on a single case study, namely Zimbabwe, to highlight this relationship. Finally, the foundations for a research framework are laid out in the third part, with special attention to methodology and sources. A number of preliminary findings serve as a conclusion. Show less
This chapter unravels the complexities of resistance to, and collaboration with, the British colonizers of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, by the inhabitants of the Upper Kat River Valley. Since... Show moreThis chapter unravels the complexities of resistance to, and collaboration with, the British colonizers of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, by the inhabitants of the Upper Kat River Valley. Since the Khoikhoi landholders of the valley had received their land as a result of British action against the Xhosa, and had generally accepted the precepts of mission Christianity, it could on the one hand be expected that they would fight on the side of the British against the Xhosa. On the other hand, they were subjected to racist attacks by the British settlers whose farms they defended, and by British officials. In addition, the ethnic distinction, on which the British acted, between Xhosa and Khoikhoi was more tenuous than they generally assumed. As a result, in the successive wars on the Eastern Frontier, the stance taken by the Khoikhoi was often uncertain, and finally led to a minority joining the Xhosa, and thus going into rebellion against the British. Notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract] Show less
In terms of national politics, the UDF focused on protest against apartheid and on popularizing the programme and leadership of the banned ANC, simultaneously developing an increasingly radical... Show moreIn terms of national politics, the UDF focused on protest against apartheid and on popularizing the programme and leadership of the banned ANC, simultaneously developing an increasingly radical agenda for social change in South Africa. But how was the political programme of the UDF understood in the social and moral universe of divergent local communities? This paper explores how the antiapartheid struggle in the 1980s was understood in three locally-based social movements that campaigned under the banner of the UDF, viz. a rural youth movement (Sekhukhuneland), a civic association in an African township (Kagiso), and a community newspaper ('Grassroots') in Cape Town. Seen from the vantage point of local case studies, several sub-themes emerge behind the overall theme of the antiapartheid struggle, notably the importance of religion and local belief systems, and the reversal of generational roles which expressed itself in the contestation of patterns of authority within African society itself. The paper is largely based on the author's book on the UDF (2000), which is an adaption of her PhD thesis (1995) for which field work was carried out in 1990-1991. Show less
Cet ouvrage présente onze contributions rédigées par des africanistes qui ont collaboré étroitement avec l'anthropologue politique néerlandais Robert Buijtenhuijs et ont été influencés par ses... Show moreCet ouvrage présente onze contributions rédigées par des africanistes qui ont collaboré étroitement avec l'anthropologue politique néerlandais Robert Buijtenhuijs et ont été influencés par ses travaux et sa personnalité. Le livre est un hommage à un auteur qui a été productif dans beaucoup de domaines, dont les travaux pendant plus de trente années se sont caractérisés par un dévouement sans faille aux causes de la liberté et de la démocratie sur le continent africain. Par ses travaux, Robert Buijtenhuijs a participé aux processus parmi les plus significatifs de la mutation politique qu'a connue le continent africain pendant la seconde moitié du XXe siècle et à certains des débats les plus cruciaux qui ont animé le monde des études africaines: description et interprétation des révolutions et guerres paysannes en Afrique; transitions démocratiques; phénomènes sociaux et religieux accompagnant les développements politiques; statut épistémologique des études africaines. Contributions: Introduction : L'étendue des travaux de Robert Buijtenhuijs (Wim van Binsbergen, Piet Konings et Gerti Hesseling); Histoire politique du Tchad (1900-1975) (Bernard Lanne); The reception of the Mau Mau in Southern Rhodesia, 1952-1961 (Terence Ranger); Africa's wars of liberation: some historiographical reflections (Stephen Ellis); Le politique "par le bas": les vicissitudes d'une approche (Peter Geschiere); Le faux naïf sur les sentiers des guerres (de libération nationale?) : l'anthropologie est-elle naturellement anti-impérialiste? (Jean Copans); When is a State a State? Exploring Puntland (Martin Doornbos); La démocratie dans un monde multi-cosmologique: une expédition d'exploration menée depuis l'Afrique (Elly Reinierse); Trade unions and democratisation in Africa (Piet Konings); La démocratisation en Afrique noire dans les années 1990: l'hypothèque militaire (Céline Thiriot); Sacrifices humains et politique: quelques exemples contemporains en Afrique (Comi Toulabor); Creating "a place to feel at home": Christian church life and social control in Lusaka, Zambia (1970s) (Wim van Binsbergen) Show less
Cet ouvrage présente onze contributions rédigées par des africanistesqui ont collaboré étroitement avec l'anthropologue politique néerlandais RobertBuijtenhuijs et ont été influencés par ses... Show moreCet ouvrage présente onze contributions rédigées par des africanistesqui ont collaboré étroitement avec l'anthropologue politique néerlandais RobertBuijtenhuijs et ont été influencés par ses travaux et sa personnalité. Le livreest un hommage à un auteur qui a été productif dans beaucoup de domaines, dontles travaux pendant plus de trente années se sont caractérisés par undévouement sans faille aux causes de la liberté et de la démocratie sur lecontinent africain. Par ses travaux, Robert Buijtenhuijs a participé auxprocessus parmi les plus significatifs de la mutation politique qu'a connue lecontinent africain pendant la seconde moitié du XXe siècle et à certains desdébats les plus cruciaux qui ont animé le monde des études africaines:description et interprétation des révolutions et guerres paysannes en Afrique;transitions démocratiques; phénomènes sociaux et religieux accompagnant lesdéveloppements politiques; statut épistémologique des études africaines.Contributions: Introduction : L'étendue des travaux de Robert Buijtenhuijs (Wimvan Binsbergen, Piet Konings et Gerti Hesseling); Histoire politique du Tchad(1900-1975) (Bernard Lanne); The reception of the Mau Mau in Southern Rhodesia,1952-1961 (Terence Ranger); Africa's wars of liberation: some historiographicalreflections (Stephen Ellis); Le politique "par le bas": lesvicissitudes d'une approche (Peter Geschiere); Le faux naïf sur les sentiersdes guerres (de libération nationale?) : l'anthropologie est-elle naturellementanti-impérialiste? (Jean Copans); When is a State a State? Exploring Puntland(Martin Doornbos); La démocratie dans un monde multi-cosmologique: uneexpédition d'exploration menée depuis l'Afrique (Elly Reinierse); Trade unionsand democratisation in Africa (Piet Konings); La démocratisation en Afriquenoire dans les années 1990: l'hypothèque militaire (Céline Thiriot); Sacrificeshumains et politique: quelques exemples contemporains en Afrique (ComiToulabor); Creating "a place to feel at home": Christian church lifeand social control in Lusaka, Zambia (1970s) (Wim van Binsbergen) Show less
The 1980s were a dramatic period in the history of South Africa. At stake in the battles of the 1980s was the contest about changing the borderlines in the racial and social stratifications of the... Show moreThe 1980s were a dramatic period in the history of South Africa. At stake in the battles of the 1980s was the contest about changing the borderlines in the racial and social stratifications of the country. In this contest, participants developed their own visions of a future society, of a new political and social order as well as a new moral order. This book examines these processes at the local level. It focuses on the United Democratic Front (UDF) as a social movement from below, officially launched in August 1983. The aim of the UDF was the creation of a united democratic South Africa. The author takes three local organizations as a vantage point. The first part of the book briefly explores the origins of the UDF, followed by a chronological outline of major events and trends in the 1980s. The second part consists of three case studies, which look in detail at locally based attempts at shaping a new society: a youth congress in Sekhukhuneland, a rural part of Lebowa in the Northern Transvaal; a civic association in Kagiso, a township west of Johannesburg; and 'Grassroots', a community newspaper in the Cape Peninsula. The conclusion describes how these local struggles fit into the overall story of the antiapartheid struggle Show less
Accounts of South Africa's transition from apartheid differ markedly in the role they attribute to violence. The most influential narratives of negotiations tend to portray the violence of the... Show moreAccounts of South Africa's transition from apartheid differ markedly in the role they attribute to violence. The most influential narratives of negotiations tend to portray the violence of the transition period, including that perpetrated by those networks within and without the security forces which have become known collectively as the Third Force, as a reaction to events, doomed to failure and rather disconnected from the main narrative of history. Newly available evidence shows the degree to which the Third Force was integrated into the policy of the National Party (NP) over a long period (from the 1960s onwards), and played a crucial role in determining the nature and outcome of constitutional negotiations in the period 1990-1994. Concentration on the narrative of negotiations, or any account which fails to give due weight to the perpetrators of organized violence including those who constituted the Third Force, implicitly assigns the violence of 1990-1994 to a position somewhat divorced from, or even antithetical to, the pursuit of negotiations. This has deflected attention from the important question of ascertaining the extent to which the agenda and pace of negotiations, and thus the shape of the eventual political and constitutional outcome, were actually driven by proponents of violence who were able to make their influence felt from outside the conference chamber. Ref., sum Show less
