aim “to discover the oral narratives” (p. 227). The significance of these oral and written archiv... more aim “to discover the oral narratives” (p. 227). The significance of these oral and written archival texts are undeniable but I do wonder, to what extent such accounts have been hidden to local communities across decades? Is “hiddenness” as a relational status, more applicable to the academic gaze and other public audiences who were either observant (with racist scientific lenses), and/ or, unobservant in not listening to the suffering subjectivities seared across the stories and landscapes of the Northern Cape?
events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, no... more events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, not always successful, to deal with gender and generational conflicts at local meetings. Her approach, drawn from ‘nodal anthropology’, enables Hodgson to move from one level or node to another along the connections between them, thus tying the global, the national, the regional and the local together in a single account. An emphasis on strategic ‘positioning’, whether in relation to issues or other actors, helps us to see how groups respond to changes in what is a very fluid field. All this is put in the context of a continual struggle to survive when grazing is lost to ‘development’ and livestock to disease. Maintaining the older pastoral economy is no longer a viable option for many residents. ‘Getting by’ involves engaging with modernity to find alternative sources of subsistence and income, new resources of power and new ways of being. Although Being Maasai is thus firmly grounded in Northern Tanzanian pastoral realities, the richness of observation and the nuances of argument raise wider questions. One concerns the process of ‘becoming indigenous’. The concept originated in places like Australia and Canada, where there were obvious differences between dominant immigrant groups and the indigenous communities whom they had subjugated and dispossessed. To apply it to African groups requires a change of definition away from the essential to the structural. Indigeneity might ultimately have to be a matter of self-definition. Yet, as Maasai activists have discovered, even a broad definition of ‘indigenous’ may be quite divisive and hard to defend locally. In a nation where ‘everyone is indigenous’, how could some be more so than others; and what were the implications for the notion of equal citizenship? Again, does the claim to indigeneity privilege Maasai over other Northern Tanzanian identities such as Barabaig and Hadza? A shift from land to livelihood at risk would potentially be more inclusive and would also enable activists to challenge the dominant development paradigm that assumes that pastoralism and hunting are neither economic nor sustainable. A related, comparative question concerns the impact of indigeneity elsewhere. In Kenya’s Maasailand, for example, the defence of indigenous land rights, manipulated by national politicians in the name of ‘cultural survival’ and political accumulation, has led to sweeping assertions of ethnic exclusivity and, at times, to ‘ethnic cleansing’. Elsewhere indigeneity spawned the violence of autochthony. Why were Tanzanian Maasai able to pitch their claims to recognition to avoid both the violence of ‘political tribalism’ and the primordialism of autochthony? The discovery of indigeneity and the intersection of the local and global are no longer new; nor is the study of NGOs and development. But few accounts are as ethnographically informed and assured – and readable and absorbing – as Hodgson’s.
events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, no... more events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, not always successful, to deal with gender and generational conflicts at local meetings. Her approach, drawn from ‘nodal anthropology’, enables Hodgson to move from one level or node to another along the connections between them, thus tying the global, the national, the regional and the local together in a single account. An emphasis on strategic ‘positioning’, whether in relation to issues or other actors, helps us to see how groups respond to changes in what is a very fluid field. All this is put in the context of a continual struggle to survive when grazing is lost to ‘development’ and livestock to disease. Maintaining the older pastoral economy is no longer a viable option for many residents. ‘Getting by’ involves engaging with modernity to find alternative sources of subsistence and income, new resources of power and new ways of being. Although Being Maasai is thus firmly grounded in Northern Tanzanian pastoral realities, the richness of observation and the nuances of argument raise wider questions. One concerns the process of ‘becoming indigenous’. The concept originated in places like Australia and Canada, where there were obvious differences between dominant immigrant groups and the indigenous communities whom they had subjugated and dispossessed. To apply it to African groups requires a change of definition away from the essential to the structural. Indigeneity might ultimately have to be a matter of self-definition. Yet, as Maasai activists have discovered, even a broad definition of ‘indigenous’ may be quite divisive and hard to defend locally. In a nation where ‘everyone is indigenous’, how could some be more so than others; and what were the implications for the notion of equal citizenship? Again, does the claim to indigeneity privilege Maasai over other Northern Tanzanian identities such as Barabaig and Hadza? A shift from land to livelihood at risk would potentially be more inclusive and would also enable activists to challenge the dominant development paradigm that assumes that pastoralism and hunting are neither economic nor sustainable. A related, comparative question concerns the impact of indigeneity elsewhere. In Kenya’s Maasailand, for example, the defence of indigenous land rights, manipulated by national politicians in the name of ‘cultural survival’ and political accumulation, has led to sweeping assertions of ethnic exclusivity and, at times, to ‘ethnic cleansing’. Elsewhere indigeneity spawned the violence of autochthony. Why were Tanzanian Maasai able to pitch their claims to recognition to avoid both the violence of ‘political tribalism’ and the primordialism of autochthony? The discovery of indigeneity and the intersection of the local and global are no longer new; nor is the study of NGOs and development. But few accounts are as ethnographically informed and assured – and readable and absorbing – as Hodgson’s.
Beverley Naidoo's The Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett is at once an intimate a... more Beverley Naidoo's The Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett is at once an intimate account of the author's attempt to discover a distantly known first cousin, as well as a story of the late years of apartheid. The book intertwines personal narrative with public history, to offer another example of the power of the biography as a mode of historical analysis, at once able to capture a society in microcosm while drawing in the historical macro. In her explanation for writing the book, the author recounts hearing the news of the death of Neil Aggett in police custody in 1982, while she was living in exile in England. Her return to South Africa, resurfacing her own history as a political prisoner who had left for exile in the 1960s, are the launch pads for the "search for Neil Aggett".
With the current malaise of the ANC, interest has piqued in the history of Black Consciousness, w... more With the current malaise of the ANC, interest has piqued in the history of Black Consciousness, with its moral compass and the powerful memory of its martyrs less sullied by the politics of expediency associated with post-1994 democracy. Daniel Magaziner's The Law and the Prophets: Black Consciousness in South Africa, 1968-1977 has come as a timely contribution to the scholarship on Black Consciousness in South Africa and his study casts many of the young black student leaders of the 1960s and 1970s in clear and dramatic relief. The scholarship on Black Consciousness in South Africa lacks monographs, as Magaziner notes early on, and his book is a particularly welcome addition.
In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Hen... more In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Henry Cele as the so-called Black Napoleon. The apartheid-era production was one instance of exchanges between the apartheid regime and the Polish People's Republic. This counterintuitive consonancethe screening of an apartheid cultural production in late-Communist Polandis a fascinating case study that provides one important lens to understand the nature of the relationship between the two regimes and provides insight into late-apartheid international relations in the last years of the Cold War.
This article examines ecumenical endeavour and student politics in South Africa in the 1960s and ... more This article examines ecumenical endeavour and student politics in South Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s to bring into fresh perspective sources of antiapartheid activism. The article explores Christian ecumenical developments in the twentieth century and specifically the crisis point reached in 1960 after the Sharpeville massacre. It turns to discuss the formation of two key black student leaders, Steve Biko and Barney Pityana, in the Eastern Cape and discusses their creation of the black-led South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968. I explore a fraught but productive relationship between the growth of Black Consciousness and a developing commitment to social justice by student Christian organisations. A political culture of dialogue enabled the message of Black Consciousness to be quickly communicated to a broad cross section of progressive political actors in the early 1970s. A prime legacy of the ecumenical endeavour of the 1960s was its emphasis on unity and muting of strict orthodoxy, an approach that facilitated such cooperation. I argue that the theological radicalism of the ecumenical movement provided a reference point from which to understand and come to terms with the challenge of the emergent Black Consciousness movement.
Lindy Wilsonâ??s short biography of the late anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Bantu Biko (1946â??... more Lindy Wilsonâ??s short biography of the late anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Bantu Biko (1946â??1977), has already been in circulation for 20 years in the form of an introductory biographical chapter to the edited collection, Bounds of Possibility: The Legacy of Steve Biko and Black Consciousness (1991).11 With this Jacana Pocket Biography, Wilson has revisited her text to make it more accessible to a wider reading public and used the opportunity to reflect again on the life of Biko. This is the only book-length account of Biko's life to date, a stark contrast to the vast amount of literature on other anti-apartheid activists and African National Congress leaders, and indicates an uneasy silence over the life of Biko.
The title emphasising multiple struggles is an accurate reflection of this well-written and acces... more The title emphasising multiple struggles is an accurate reflection of this well-written and accessible collection of essays which re-explores different facets of the liberation wars to end colonial rule in southern Africa, covering the period broadly from the 1950s onwards. The book is what it claims to be: new, regional and global in reach, showcasing the work of both new and older scholars. This is a well-structured collection and the smooth transition between chapters reflects the skill of the editors.
In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerla... more In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. He was awarded three honorary doctorates and had been nominated for election as ...
Abstract In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, ... more Abstract In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. He was awarded three honorary doctorates and had been nominated for election as ...
aim “to discover the oral narratives” (p. 227). The significance of these oral and written archiv... more aim “to discover the oral narratives” (p. 227). The significance of these oral and written archival texts are undeniable but I do wonder, to what extent such accounts have been hidden to local communities across decades? Is “hiddenness” as a relational status, more applicable to the academic gaze and other public audiences who were either observant (with racist scientific lenses), and/ or, unobservant in not listening to the suffering subjectivities seared across the stories and landscapes of the Northern Cape?
events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, no... more events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, not always successful, to deal with gender and generational conflicts at local meetings. Her approach, drawn from ‘nodal anthropology’, enables Hodgson to move from one level or node to another along the connections between them, thus tying the global, the national, the regional and the local together in a single account. An emphasis on strategic ‘positioning’, whether in relation to issues or other actors, helps us to see how groups respond to changes in what is a very fluid field. All this is put in the context of a continual struggle to survive when grazing is lost to ‘development’ and livestock to disease. Maintaining the older pastoral economy is no longer a viable option for many residents. ‘Getting by’ involves engaging with modernity to find alternative sources of subsistence and income, new resources of power and new ways of being. Although Being Maasai is thus firmly grounded in Northern Tanzanian pastoral realities, the richness of observation and the nuances of argument raise wider questions. One concerns the process of ‘becoming indigenous’. The concept originated in places like Australia and Canada, where there were obvious differences between dominant immigrant groups and the indigenous communities whom they had subjugated and dispossessed. To apply it to African groups requires a change of definition away from the essential to the structural. Indigeneity might ultimately have to be a matter of self-definition. Yet, as Maasai activists have discovered, even a broad definition of ‘indigenous’ may be quite divisive and hard to defend locally. In a nation where ‘everyone is indigenous’, how could some be more so than others; and what were the implications for the notion of equal citizenship? Again, does the claim to indigeneity privilege Maasai over other Northern Tanzanian identities such as Barabaig and Hadza? A shift from land to livelihood at risk would potentially be more inclusive and would also enable activists to challenge the dominant development paradigm that assumes that pastoralism and hunting are neither economic nor sustainable. A related, comparative question concerns the impact of indigeneity elsewhere. In Kenya’s Maasailand, for example, the defence of indigenous land rights, manipulated by national politicians in the name of ‘cultural survival’ and political accumulation, has led to sweeping assertions of ethnic exclusivity and, at times, to ‘ethnic cleansing’. Elsewhere indigeneity spawned the violence of autochthony. Why were Tanzanian Maasai able to pitch their claims to recognition to avoid both the violence of ‘political tribalism’ and the primordialism of autochthony? The discovery of indigeneity and the intersection of the local and global are no longer new; nor is the study of NGOs and development. But few accounts are as ethnographically informed and assured – and readable and absorbing – as Hodgson’s.
events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, no... more events and places – from the production and negotiation of indigeneity at the UN, to attempts, not always successful, to deal with gender and generational conflicts at local meetings. Her approach, drawn from ‘nodal anthropology’, enables Hodgson to move from one level or node to another along the connections between them, thus tying the global, the national, the regional and the local together in a single account. An emphasis on strategic ‘positioning’, whether in relation to issues or other actors, helps us to see how groups respond to changes in what is a very fluid field. All this is put in the context of a continual struggle to survive when grazing is lost to ‘development’ and livestock to disease. Maintaining the older pastoral economy is no longer a viable option for many residents. ‘Getting by’ involves engaging with modernity to find alternative sources of subsistence and income, new resources of power and new ways of being. Although Being Maasai is thus firmly grounded in Northern Tanzanian pastoral realities, the richness of observation and the nuances of argument raise wider questions. One concerns the process of ‘becoming indigenous’. The concept originated in places like Australia and Canada, where there were obvious differences between dominant immigrant groups and the indigenous communities whom they had subjugated and dispossessed. To apply it to African groups requires a change of definition away from the essential to the structural. Indigeneity might ultimately have to be a matter of self-definition. Yet, as Maasai activists have discovered, even a broad definition of ‘indigenous’ may be quite divisive and hard to defend locally. In a nation where ‘everyone is indigenous’, how could some be more so than others; and what were the implications for the notion of equal citizenship? Again, does the claim to indigeneity privilege Maasai over other Northern Tanzanian identities such as Barabaig and Hadza? A shift from land to livelihood at risk would potentially be more inclusive and would also enable activists to challenge the dominant development paradigm that assumes that pastoralism and hunting are neither economic nor sustainable. A related, comparative question concerns the impact of indigeneity elsewhere. In Kenya’s Maasailand, for example, the defence of indigenous land rights, manipulated by national politicians in the name of ‘cultural survival’ and political accumulation, has led to sweeping assertions of ethnic exclusivity and, at times, to ‘ethnic cleansing’. Elsewhere indigeneity spawned the violence of autochthony. Why were Tanzanian Maasai able to pitch their claims to recognition to avoid both the violence of ‘political tribalism’ and the primordialism of autochthony? The discovery of indigeneity and the intersection of the local and global are no longer new; nor is the study of NGOs and development. But few accounts are as ethnographically informed and assured – and readable and absorbing – as Hodgson’s.
Beverley Naidoo's The Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett is at once an intimate a... more Beverley Naidoo's The Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett is at once an intimate account of the author's attempt to discover a distantly known first cousin, as well as a story of the late years of apartheid. The book intertwines personal narrative with public history, to offer another example of the power of the biography as a mode of historical analysis, at once able to capture a society in microcosm while drawing in the historical macro. In her explanation for writing the book, the author recounts hearing the news of the death of Neil Aggett in police custody in 1982, while she was living in exile in England. Her return to South Africa, resurfacing her own history as a political prisoner who had left for exile in the 1960s, are the launch pads for the "search for Neil Aggett".
With the current malaise of the ANC, interest has piqued in the history of Black Consciousness, w... more With the current malaise of the ANC, interest has piqued in the history of Black Consciousness, with its moral compass and the powerful memory of its martyrs less sullied by the politics of expediency associated with post-1994 democracy. Daniel Magaziner's The Law and the Prophets: Black Consciousness in South Africa, 1968-1977 has come as a timely contribution to the scholarship on Black Consciousness in South Africa and his study casts many of the young black student leaders of the 1960s and 1970s in clear and dramatic relief. The scholarship on Black Consciousness in South Africa lacks monographs, as Magaziner notes early on, and his book is a particularly welcome addition.
In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Hen... more In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Henry Cele as the so-called Black Napoleon. The apartheid-era production was one instance of exchanges between the apartheid regime and the Polish People's Republic. This counterintuitive consonancethe screening of an apartheid cultural production in late-Communist Polandis a fascinating case study that provides one important lens to understand the nature of the relationship between the two regimes and provides insight into late-apartheid international relations in the last years of the Cold War.
This article examines ecumenical endeavour and student politics in South Africa in the 1960s and ... more This article examines ecumenical endeavour and student politics in South Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s to bring into fresh perspective sources of antiapartheid activism. The article explores Christian ecumenical developments in the twentieth century and specifically the crisis point reached in 1960 after the Sharpeville massacre. It turns to discuss the formation of two key black student leaders, Steve Biko and Barney Pityana, in the Eastern Cape and discusses their creation of the black-led South African Students' Organisation (SASO) in 1968. I explore a fraught but productive relationship between the growth of Black Consciousness and a developing commitment to social justice by student Christian organisations. A political culture of dialogue enabled the message of Black Consciousness to be quickly communicated to a broad cross section of progressive political actors in the early 1970s. A prime legacy of the ecumenical endeavour of the 1960s was its emphasis on unity and muting of strict orthodoxy, an approach that facilitated such cooperation. I argue that the theological radicalism of the ecumenical movement provided a reference point from which to understand and come to terms with the challenge of the emergent Black Consciousness movement.
Lindy Wilsonâ??s short biography of the late anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Bantu Biko (1946â??... more Lindy Wilsonâ??s short biography of the late anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Bantu Biko (1946â??1977), has already been in circulation for 20 years in the form of an introductory biographical chapter to the edited collection, Bounds of Possibility: The Legacy of Steve Biko and Black Consciousness (1991).11 With this Jacana Pocket Biography, Wilson has revisited her text to make it more accessible to a wider reading public and used the opportunity to reflect again on the life of Biko. This is the only book-length account of Biko's life to date, a stark contrast to the vast amount of literature on other anti-apartheid activists and African National Congress leaders, and indicates an uneasy silence over the life of Biko.
The title emphasising multiple struggles is an accurate reflection of this well-written and acces... more The title emphasising multiple struggles is an accurate reflection of this well-written and accessible collection of essays which re-explores different facets of the liberation wars to end colonial rule in southern Africa, covering the period broadly from the 1950s onwards. The book is what it claims to be: new, regional and global in reach, showcasing the work of both new and older scholars. This is a well-structured collection and the smooth transition between chapters reflects the skill of the editors.
In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerla... more In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. He was awarded three honorary doctorates and had been nominated for election as ...
Abstract In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, ... more Abstract In his lifetime Bishop Alphaeus Zulu visited eleven countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. He was awarded three honorary doctorates and had been nominated for election as ...
Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area is a sparkling exerc... more Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area is a sparkling exercise in comparative labor history. Informative and informed, morally anchored, and successfully mastering two sets of literature, it is also a pleasure to read. Peter Cole is also informed by an activist commitment to workers—those in society who bear and have borne the brunt of dangerous and precarious work. This commitment comes through the pages of Dockworker Power strongly and becomes especially evident in the future-oriented conclusion...
In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Hen... more In the late 1980s Poles tuned in with great enthusiasm to the miniseries Shaka Zulu, starring Henry Cele as the so-called Black Napoleon. The apartheid-era production was one instance of exchanges between the apartheid regime and the Polish People's Republic. This counterintuitive consonancethe screening of an apartheid cultural production in late-Communist Polandis a fascinating case study that provides one important lens to understand the nature of the relationship between the two regimes and provides insight into late-apartheid international relations in the last years of the Cold War.
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