Africa articles from March 1999

Africa archives from March 1999

SORCERY ACCUSATIONS UNLEASHED: THE LELE REVISITED, 1987.
March 22, 1999... The story I am about to relate is painful, as were the events themselves for those who were tortured and died and for the others who had to live through them. I am still not sure that it should be exposed to the light. Reputations will be at...

MILITARISM, GENDER AND REPRODUCTIVE SUFFERING: THE CASE OF ABORTION IN WESTERN DINKA.
March 22, 1999... This article addresses the issue of abortion and reproductive suffering among the Dinka in an emergency relief centre called Akon and in a number of adjacent villages in south-western Sudan (hereafter, Western Dinka). It does so in the context...

AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AND THE DECLINE OF PASTORALISM: A CASE STUDY FROM KENYA.(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 1999... There is an extensive literature on differentiation, stratification and emergent rural class formation in Kenya, based on both current and historical data (e.g. Berman and Lonsdale, 1992; Kitching, 1980; Leys, 1975, 1996). This literature is...

CATTLE RAIDING AND HOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHY AMONG THE KURIA OF TANZANIA.(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 1999... Although a fair amount has been written on the subject of African `crime' in general (e.g. Read, 1964; Brillon, 1985; Austen, 1986; Cohen, 1986; Crummey, 1986) and East African livestock theft in particular (e.g. Fukui and Turton, 1979;...

KURIA - ENGLISH DICTIONARY.
March 22, 1999... Kuria-speaking people number about 1 million, with a homeland stretching from Kuria District in southwest Kenya through to north and south Mara in northern Tanzania. This is the first published dictionary of their language. It has been compiled...

ISLAM OR CHRISTIANITY? THE CHOICES OF THE WAWA AND THE KWANJA OF CAMEROON.
March 22, 1999... The speed with which Islam and Christianity have spread in sub-Saharan Africa since colonisation is remarkable and has raised several kinds of question. The first is why groups converted when and where they did. In Adamawa, Cameroon, rural...

CHRISTIANITY, MODERNITY AND THE WEIGHT OF TRADITION IN THE LIFE OF ASANTEHENE AGYEMAN PREMPEH I, c. 1888-1931.
March 22, 1999... Much has been written on the eventful reign of Asantehene (king of Asante) Agyeman Prempeh I (c. 1888-1931), as his reign coincided with civil war in the 1880s and the British colonisation of Asante in 1896 (Fuller, 1921; Tordoff, 1965; Lewin,...

Law, Power and Politics in Niger: land struggles and the Rural Code.(Review)
March 22, 1999... CHRISTIAN LUND, Law, Power and Politics in Niger: land struggles and the Rural Code. Hamburg: Lit Verlag, 1998, 252 pp., DM38.80, ISBN 3 8258 3405 0. This is a timely book, since there is a revival of interest in land reform and growing...

Two Worlds of Cotton: colonialism and the regional economy in the French Sudan, 1800-1946.(Review)
March 22, 1999... RICHARD L. ROBERTS, Two Worlds of Cotton: colonialism and the regional economy in the French Sudan, 1800-1946. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, 397 pp., 40.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 8047 2652 3. Cette synthese sur le role du...

African Crossroads: intersections between history and anthropology in Cameroon.(Review)
March 22, 1999... IAN FOWLER and DAVID ZEITLYN (eds), African Crossroads: intersections between history and anthropology in Cameroon. Cameroon Studies 2, Oxford and Providence RI: Berghahn, 1996, 213 pp., 30.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 1 57181 859 6 hard covers,...

Multi-party Politics in Kenya: the Kenyatta and Moi states and the triumph of the system in the 1992 election.(Review)
March 22, 1999... DAVID W. THROUP and CHARLES HORNSBY, Multi-party Politics in Kenya: the Kenyatta and Moi states and the triumph of the system in the 1992 election. Eastern African Studies, Oxford: James Currey; Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers;...

The Cool Knife: imagery of gender, sexuality, and moral education in Kaguru initiation ritual.(Review)
March 22, 1999... T. O. BEIDELMAN, The Cool Knife: imagery of gender, sexuality, and moral education in Kaguru initiation ritual, Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997, 312 pp., 27.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 1 56098 713 8 hard covers, 13-95 [pounds...

Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-83.(Review)
March 22, 1999... WENDY JAMES, GERD BAUMANN and DOUGLAS JOHNSON (eds), Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-83. Hakluyt Society second series 184, London: Hakluyt Society, 1996, 499 pp., 35.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 904180 45 X. At...

The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian movement, 1684-1706.(Review)
March 22, 1999... JOHN K. THORNTON, The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian movement, 1684-1706. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, 228 pp., 35.00 [pounds sterling] ($49.95), ISBN 0 521 59370 0 hard covers, 12.95 [pounds...

Confronting Leviathan: Mozambique since independence.(Review)
March 22, 1999... MARGARET HALL and TOM YOUNG, Confronting Leviathan: Mozambique since independence. London: Hurst, 1997, 262 pp., 35.00 [pounds sterling] ISBN 1 85065 115 9, hard covers, 14.95 [pounds sterling], ISBN 1 85065 116 7 paperback. The changes...

Norwegian Missionaries in Natal and Zululand selected correspondence, 1844-1900.(Review)
March 22, 1999... FREDERICK HALE (ed.), Norwegian Missionaries in Natal and Zululand selected correspondence, 1844-1900. Van Riebeeck Society second series 27, Cape Town: National Book Printers, 1997, 222 pp., ISBN 0 9584112 3 9. Studies in Zulu history are...

The Seed is Mine: the life of Kas Maine, a South African sharecropper, 1894-1985.(Review)
March 22, 1999... CHARLES VAN ONSELEN, The Seed is Mine: the life of Kas Maine, a South African sharecropper, 1894-1985. Cape Town: David Philip, 1996; New York: Farrar Strauss & Giroux; Oxford: James Currey, 1997, 668 pp., 16.95 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85255...

Namibia under South African Rule: mobility and containment, 1915-46.(Review)
March 22, 1999... PATRICIA HAYES, JEREMY SILVESTER, MARION WALLACE and WOLFRAM HARTMANN (eds), Namibia under South African Rule: mobility and containment, 1915-46. Windhoek: Out of Africa; Athens OH: Ohio University Press; Oxford: James Currey, 1998, 350 pp.,...

Litteratures d'Afrique noire: des langues aux livres.(Review)
March 22, 1999... ALAIN RICARD, Litteratures d'Afrique noire: des langues aux livres. Paris: Karthala, 1995, 304 pp., FF150, ISBN 2 86537 531 5. In the study of African expressive cultures a plethora of boundaries demarcate familiar stamping grounds for...

Writers in Politics: a re-engagement with issues of literature and society.(Review)
March 22, 1999... NGUGI WA THIONG'O, Writers in Politics: a re-engagement with issues of literature and society. Oxford: James Currey, 1997, 167 pp., 35.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85255 542 3 hard covers, 11.95 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85255 541 5 paperback....

Ngugi wa Thiong'o: an exploration of his writings.(Review)
March 22, 1999... DAVID COOK and MICHAEL OKENIMKPE, Ngugi wa Thiong'o: an exploration of his writings. Second edition, Oxford: James Currey, 1997, 284 pp., 12.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85255 539 3 paperback. One of Africa's most distinguished writers, an...

Readings in African Popular Culture.(Review)
March 22, 1999... KARIN BARBER (ed.), Readings in African Popular Culture. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press; Oxford: James Currey, in association with the International African Institute, 1997, 192 pp., 12.95 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85255 236 X...

In the Realms of Gold: Pioneering in African History.(Review)
March 22, 1999... ROLAND OLIVER, In the Realms of Gold: pioneering in African history. London: Frank Cass, 1997, 464 pp., 39.50 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 7146 4847 7 hard covers, 19.50 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 7146 4405 6 paperback. In 1948 Roland Oliver...

Nature et fonction des fetiches en Afrique noire.(Review)
March 22, 1999... ALBERT DE SURGY, Nature et fonction des fetiches en Afrique noire. Paris: Harmattan, 1994, 446 pp., ISBN 2 7384 2508 9. De Surgy's book tackles the question of the materiality of ritual objects such as `fetishes' in the light of their...

Dios en Africa: elementos para una antropologia de la religion.(Review)
March 22, 1999... MARIO I. AGUILAR, Dios en Africa: elementos para una antropologia de la religion. Mision sin Fronteras, Estella: Verbo Divino, 1997, 143 pp., ISBN 84 816 9163 1. Unlike the author's other publications, this book deals in a general way with...

SHORTER NOTICES.(Review)
March 22, 1999... ROBIN PALMER, Contested Lands in Southern and Eastern Africa: a literature survey. Oxfam Working Paper, Oxford: Oxfam, 1997, 306 pp., 12.95 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 85598 391 4 paperback. This survey has been developed and enlarged from an...