Citizen and Subject

Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology, Political Science
Cover of the book Citizen and Subject by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani ISBN: 9781400889716
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: April 24, 2018
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
ISBN: 9781400889716
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: April 24, 2018
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

In analyzing the obstacles to democratization in post- independence Africa, Mahmood Mamdani offers a bold, insightful account of colonialism's legacy--a bifurcated power that mediated racial domination through tribally organized local authorities, reproducing racial identity in citizens and ethnic identity in subjects. Many writers have understood colonial rule as either "direct" (French) or "indirect" (British), with a third variant--apartheid--as exceptional. This benign terminology, Mamdani shows, masks the fact that these were actually variants of a despotism. While direct rule denied rights to subjects on racial grounds, indirect rule incorporated them into a "customary" mode of rule, with state-appointed Native Authorities defining custom. By tapping authoritarian possibilities in culture, and by giving culture an authoritarian bent, indirect rule (decentralized despotism) set the pace for Africa; the French followed suit by changing from direct to indirect administration, while apartheid emerged relatively later. Apartheid, Mamdani shows, was actually the generic form of the colonial state in Africa.

Through case studies of rural (Uganda) and urban (South Africa) resistance movements, we learn how these institutional features fragment resistance and how states tend to play off reform in one sector against repression in the other. The result is a groundbreaking reassessment of colonial rule in Africa and its enduring aftereffects. Reforming a power that institutionally enforces tension between town and country, and between ethnicities, is the key challenge for anyone interested in democratic reform in Africa.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In analyzing the obstacles to democratization in post- independence Africa, Mahmood Mamdani offers a bold, insightful account of colonialism's legacy--a bifurcated power that mediated racial domination through tribally organized local authorities, reproducing racial identity in citizens and ethnic identity in subjects. Many writers have understood colonial rule as either "direct" (French) or "indirect" (British), with a third variant--apartheid--as exceptional. This benign terminology, Mamdani shows, masks the fact that these were actually variants of a despotism. While direct rule denied rights to subjects on racial grounds, indirect rule incorporated them into a "customary" mode of rule, with state-appointed Native Authorities defining custom. By tapping authoritarian possibilities in culture, and by giving culture an authoritarian bent, indirect rule (decentralized despotism) set the pace for Africa; the French followed suit by changing from direct to indirect administration, while apartheid emerged relatively later. Apartheid, Mamdani shows, was actually the generic form of the colonial state in Africa.

Through case studies of rural (Uganda) and urban (South Africa) resistance movements, we learn how these institutional features fragment resistance and how states tend to play off reform in one sector against repression in the other. The result is a groundbreaking reassessment of colonial rule in Africa and its enduring aftereffects. Reforming a power that institutionally enforces tension between town and country, and between ethnicities, is the key challenge for anyone interested in democratic reform in Africa.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Violence by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book The Happiness Philosophers by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Philosophy of Language by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Boko Haram by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Athens on Trial by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Fascinating Mathematical People by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Shaping Jazz by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book A Reader on Classical Islam by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Mathematical Aspects of Nonlinear Dispersive Equations (AM-163) by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book The Secret Life of Science by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book The Politics of Happiness by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Becoming Right by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Smack-Bam, or The Art of Governing Men by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
Cover of the book Social Learning by Mahmood Mamdani, Mahmood Mamdani
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy