Violence and belonging : the quest for identity in post-colonial Africa

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Title:

Author:

Broch-Due, Vigdis.

ISBN:

9780415290067

9780415290074

9780203499979

Publication Information:

London : Routledge ; New York, NY : Taylor & Francis, 2005.

Physical Description:

p. cm.

General Note:

"Most of the chapters of this volume come from a larger collection of papers produced for a conference held in 2000 under the auspices of the Research Programme 'Poverty and Prosperity in Africa: Local and Global Perspectives' at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden"-- Pref.

Contents:

Violence and belonging, analytical reflections / Vigdis Broch-Due -- "Nowadays they can even kill you for that which they feel is theirs" / Amrik Heyer -- Conflicts in context, political violence and anthropological puzzles / Harri Englund -- Hunger, violence and the moral economy of war in Zimbabwe / Jocelyn Alexander and Jo Ann McGregor -- Violence and the boundaries of belonging, comparing two border disputes in the South African lowveld / Isak Niehaus -- Fertile moral links, reconsidering Barabaig violence / Astrid Blystad -- "Food itself is fighting with us," a comparative analysis of the impact of Sudan's civil war on south Sudanese civilian populations located in the north and the south / Sharon Elaine Hutchinson -- The politics of identity and the remembrance of violence and gender at the installation of a female chief in Zimbabwe / Björn Lindgren -- Double-voiced violence in Kenya / John G. Galaty -- Escape from genocide, the politics of identity in Rwanda's massacres / Johan Pottier -- Women and the politics of identity, voices in the South African Truth and Reconciliation / Fiona C Ross -- Ambiguous identities, notion of war and "significant others" among the Tigreans of Ethiopia / Kjetil Tronvoll.

Abstract:

"Violence and Belonging: The Quest for Identity in Post-colonial Africa explores the crucial formative role of violence in shaping people's ideas about who they are in uncertain post-colonial contexts. As resources dwindle and wealth is contested, identities and ideas of belonging become a focal area of conflict and negotiation. Focusing on fieldwork from across the continent, case studies consider how everyday violence ties in with wider regional and political upheavals, and how individuals experience and legitimise violence in its different forms."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject Term:

Political violence -- Africa -- Case studies -- Congresses.

Poverty -- Africa -- Congresses.

Geographic Term:

Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960- -- Congresses.

Added Author:

Broch-Due, Vigdis.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0417/2004009258.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015760735	303.6096 B863V 2005	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Modernization in Africa has created new problems as well as new freedoms. Multiparty democracy, resource privatization and changing wealth relationships, have not always created stable and prosperous communities, and violence continues to be endemic in many areas of African life - from civil war and political strife to violent clashes between genders, generations, classes and ethnic groups.
Violence and Belonging explores the crucial formative role of violence in shaping people's ideas of who they are in uncertain postcolonial contexts where, as resources dwindle and wealth is contested, identities and ideas of belonging become a focal area of conflict and negotiation. Focusing on fieldwork from across the continent, its case studies consider how routine everyday violence ties in with wider regional and political upheavals, and how individuals experience and legitimize violence in its different forms. The Zimbabwean and Sudanese civil wars, Kenyan Kikuyu domestic conflicts, Rwandan massacres and South African Truth and Reconciliation processes, are among the contexts explored.