This volume investigates the development of biographical study in African history and historiography. Consisting of 10 case studies, it is preceded by an introductory prologue, which deals with the... Show moreThis volume investigates the development of biographical study in African history and historiography. Consisting of 10 case studies, it is preceded by an introductory prologue, which deals with the relationship between historiography and different forms of biographical study in the context of Western history-writing but especially African (historical and anthropological) studies. The first three case studies deal with the methodological insights of biographical studies for African history. This is followed by three case studies dealing with personas living through fundamental societal transitions, and four case studies focusing on the discursive dimensions of biographical subjects (including religion, cosmology and ideology). Countries or regions discussed include South Africa, Zambia, Gold Coast, Cameroon, Tanganyika, Congo-Kinshasa and the Central African Republic in colonial times. Show less
This volume in honour of Stephen Ellis is a follow-up to the public presentation of his book on the history of organised crime in Nigeria This Present Darkness (Hurst, 2016) at the University of... Show moreThis volume in honour of Stephen Ellis is a follow-up to the public presentation of his book on the history of organised crime in Nigeria This Present Darkness (Hurst, 2016) at the University of Lagos, Nigeria on 28 October 2016. In addition to four papers, and a book review presented at this colloquium, other contributions about crime in Nigeria have been added, written by Nigerian authors. In July 2015 Stephen died, and he has worked on This Present Darkness almost to his last moments, as a senior researcher of the African Studies Centre in Leiden. This book also contains a tribute to his life and work written by his wife and scholar Gerrie ter Haar. Show less
In this lecture I describe and expand upon a painting by Thomas Baines that depicts Amaxhosa migrant labourers leaving the Cape Colony in 1848. It is my belief that what is depicted in this... Show moreIn this lecture I describe and expand upon a painting by Thomas Baines that depicts Amaxhosa migrant labourers leaving the Cape Colony in 1848. It is my belief that what is depicted in this painting is representative of what happened in Southern Africa as a whole between 1650 and the present. I use the painting as a lens through which to look and think about the sub-continent's past and present. I do this by examining the painting in terms of what it tells us about the movement of people, goods and ideas in Southern Africa. In investigating the manner in which people have sought to acquire what they desire, often in the face of constraints - be they environmental, geographical or political - coupled with their ideas with regard to the manner in which the world functions, I seek to throw light on fundamental processes that determine Southern Africa's human history. What happened in the Eastern Cape was a precursor to events further afield. Focussing on the painting, the body of this lecture is divided into three parts that consider the movement and control of people, goods and ideas in Southern Africa's historical past. Bearing in mind the admonition not to be antiquarian in the pursuit of historical meaning, I seek to begin with the material objects of everyday life and then place them in a socio-cultural setting and study them through time. In keeping with this approach, I shy away from a belief in the number-crunching capacities of computers for although they may well throw up interesting anomalies with regard to the import of goods, they cannot tell us what the symbolic value and social or cultural context of these goods was, let alone the wide variety of meanings in terms of age, seniority, gender and race that people attached to such goods. The acquisition of material goods transformed the material cultures of the societies involved. Over time there has been a convergence of desires, consumption and the use of material objects within Southern Africa. These material objects only gain meaning when placed within the socio-cultural context in which they are used. In conclusion I argue that Southern Africa is a single whole, albeit with different accents. What ties Southern Africa together besides culturally informed deep structure is labour, economic institutions and the consumptive practises of its population. The economic institutions established in the past two centuries, be they mining companies, labour recruiting agencies, retail chains or trade and border agreements bind Southern Africa together. With slight regional variations and dependent on their class position, Southern Africans work for money, for the same employers, eat the same foods and aspire to the same material goods. In these terms, there is more that binds Southern Africans together than divides them. Show less
The history of development cooperation has attracted very little research to date. This volume offers an innovative interpretation by considering the history of SNV Netherlands Development... Show moreThe history of development cooperation has attracted very little research to date. This volume offers an innovative interpretation by considering the history of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, which has been in existence for over forty years now. Through SNV's history, an analysis emerges of the role of the Netherlands in development cooperation and the attitudes of Dutch society towards it over the last fifty years as well as the changing ideas, practices and policies in development work more generally. The views and expectations of (former) SNV staff and those of local participants who were ultimately to benefit from the development activities were the focus of this historical research. This has resulted in a socio-cultural history 'from below' rather than a dry description of the organisation's administrative changes and formal bureaucratic structures. Show less
Worldwide, the drawing of water is rising faster than the growth in the world's population. Between 1900 and 1990 the world's population increased from 1.7 billion to 5.5 billion, while the total... Show moreWorldwide, the drawing of water is rising faster than the growth in the world's population. Between 1900 and 1990 the world's population increased from 1.7 billion to 5.5 billion, while the total consumption of water in that time went up by a factor of 10, from 500 to 5,000 cubic km. This explosive rise is not just due to higher human consumption of water but is also the result of an increased supply as well as the expansion of existing economic activities and the introduction of new projects. By describing the water situation in the semi-arid Kajiado District in southern Kenya, this paper highlights the way specific interaction between political, juridical and economic processes has contributed to an upsurge in the pressure on natural water sources and available groundwater reserves. A history of Maasai landownership and water management initiatives in the area is followed by a comparison of efforts proposed and implemented to solve the numerous problems in water provision, focusing in particular on two types of water facilities - boreholes and shallow wells. The author argues that boreholes have contributed little to a solution for the growing water problems in Kajiado District. Instead, solutions should come from a merging of traditional and modern knowledge. [ASC Leiden abstract] 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 case history is based on the health experiences of a boy in the first years of his life. The author aims to shed some light on one of the crucial medical problems of the Third World: the... Show moreThe case history is based on the health experiences of a boy in the first years of his life. The author aims to shed some light on one of the crucial medical problems of the Third World: the interplay between cosmopolitan (i.e. western, modern) medicine, and such other forms of medicine as exist locally. He argues that the health behaviour of the people involved in the case are rational and understandable. In a postscript (pp. 87-90) he explains his position on the role of cognition more fully. Show less
