Taking stock in the Kalahari: accumulation and resistance on the Southern African periphery

Journal of Southern African Studies

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 425-441

  Solway, Jacqueline S ^a  

^a TRENT UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACCUMULATION PROCESS; CLASS SYSTEM; POLITICAL PROTEST;

BOTSWANA; KALAHARI;

EID: 0031720581     PISSN: 03057070     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03057079808708583     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. 'Kgalagadi', originally an imposed nomenclature, refers to people of disparate origins most of whom migrated to the region in the early nineteenth century as refugees of the wars conventionally known as the 'difaqane' that disrupted Southern African societies at the time. In recent years, the term Kgalagadi has been locally adopted as one of self-identification, its meaning valorized, and it has become central to a struggle for national political recognition and representation. See J. Solway, 'From Shame to Pride: Politicized Ethnicity in the Kalahari, Botswana', Canadian Journal of African Studies, 24, 2 (1994), pp. 254-274, and J. Solway, 'Multiparty Democracy and Ethnic Politics in Botswana: Grassroots Perspectives', African Rural and Urban Studies, 1, 2 (1994). pp. 73-92, for a discussion of Kgalagadi ethnogenesis and the political activity surrounding it. See J. Solway and R.B. Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious: Situating the Kalahari San in History', Current Anthropology, 31, 2 (1990), pp. 109-146 for discussion and debate concerning the historical and contemporary circumstances of the San of the region.
2. 'Kgalagadi', originally an imposed nomenclature, refers to people of disparate origins most of whom migrated to the region in the early nineteenth century as refugees of the wars conventionally known as the 'difaqane' that disrupted Southern African societies at the time. In recent years, the term Kgalagadi has been locally adopted as one of self-identification, its meaning valorized, and it has become central to a struggle for national political recognition and representation. See J. Solway, 'From Shame to Pride: Politicized Ethnicity in the Kalahari, Botswana', Canadian Journal of African Studies, 24, 2 (1994), pp. 254-274, and J. Solway, 'Multiparty Democracy and Ethnic Politics in Botswana: Grassroots Perspectives', African Rural and Urban Studies, 1, 2 (1994). pp. 73-92, for a discussion of Kgalagadi ethnogenesis and the political activity surrounding it. See J. Solway and R.B. Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious: Situating the Kalahari San in History', Current Anthropology, 31, 2 (1990), pp. 109-146 for discussion and debate concerning the historical and contemporary circumstances of the San of the region.
3. 'Kgalagadi', originally an imposed nomenclature, refers to people of disparate origins most of whom migrated to the region in the early nineteenth century as refugees of the wars conventionally known as the 'difaqane' that disrupted Southern African societies at the time. In recent years, the term Kgalagadi has been locally adopted as one of self-identification, its meaning valorized, and it has become central to a struggle for national political recognition and representation. See J. Solway, 'From Shame to Pride: Politicized Ethnicity in the Kalahari, Botswana', Canadian Journal of African Studies, 24, 2 (1994), pp. 254-274, and J. Solway, 'Multiparty Democracy and Ethnic Politics in Botswana: Grassroots Perspectives', African Rural and Urban Studies, 1, 2 (1994). pp. 73-92, for a discussion of Kgalagadi ethnogenesis and the political activity surrounding it. See J. Solway and R.B. Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious: Situating the Kalahari San in History', Current Anthropology, 31, 2 (1990), pp. 109-146 for discussion and debate concerning the historical and contemporary circumstances of the San of the region.
4. See F. Cooper, 'Peasants, Capitalists, Historians: a Review Article', Journal of Southern African Studies, 7, 2 (1981), pp. 284-314 and H. Bernstein, 'African Peasantries: a Theoretical Framework', Journal of Peasant Studies, 6 (1979), pp. 421-433.
5. See F. Cooper, 'Peasants, Capitalists, Historians: a Review Article', Journal of Southern African Studies, 7, 2 (1981), pp. 284-314 and H. Bernstein, 'African Peasantries: a Theoretical Framework', Journal of Peasant Studies, 6 (1979), pp. 421-433.
6. Some district land was given over to private commercial ranches in the 1980s as a result of the Tribal Grazing Land Policy. See R. Werbner (ed), 'Land Reform in the Making: Tradition, Public Policy, and Ideology in Botswana', Journal of African Law, 21 (1980) for a discussion of this policy in its early stages, P. Peters, Dividing the Commons (Charlottesville, 1994) for a discussion of the policy as well as the more informal tenure arrangements for pastureland, and J. L. Comaroff, 'Class and Culture in a Peasant Economy: the Transformation of Land Tenure in Barolong', Journal of African Law, 24 (1980), pp. 127-154, for a presentation of changing arrangements around agricultural land.
7. Some district land was given over to private commercial ranches in the 1980s as a result of the Tribal Grazing Land Policy. See R. Werbner (ed), 'Land Reform in the Making: Tradition, Public Policy, and Ideology in Botswana', Journal of African Law, 21 (1980) for a discussion of this policy in its early stages, P. Peters, Dividing the Commons (Charlottesville, 1994) for a discussion of the policy as well as the more informal tenure arrangements for pastureland, and J. L. Comaroff, 'Class and Culture in a Peasant Economy: the Transformation of Land Tenure in Barolong', Journal of African Law, 24 (1980), pp. 127-154, for a presentation of changing arrangements around agricultural land.
8. Some district land was given over to private commercial ranches in the 1980s as a result of the Tribal Grazing Land Policy. See R. Werbner (ed), 'Land Reform in the Making: Tradition, Public Policy, and Ideology in Botswana', Journal of African Law, 21 (1980) for a discussion of this policy in its early stages, P. Peters, Dividing the Commons (Charlottesville, 1994) for a discussion of the policy as well as the more informal tenure arrangements for pastureland, and J. L. Comaroff, 'Class and Culture in a Peasant Economy: the Transformation of Land Tenure in Barolong', Journal of African Law, 24 (1980), pp. 127-154, for a presentation of changing arrangements around agricultural land.
9. In 1978, 84 per cent of men I interviewed had been to the mines (a total of 92 per cent had left the village for employment in the past).
10. See World Bank, World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment (New York, 1992), p. 219, and World Bank, World Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market (New York, 1996), p. 189. See J. Solway, 'Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: an Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari', Development and Change, 25, 3 (1994), pp. 471-496, for a discussion of the 1980s drought, its representation, impact, and the effects of the introduction of drought-related services and subsidies. Despite the overall prosperity, wealth discrepancies are great and economic inequality is deepening. See K. Good, 'Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 30, 1 (1992), pp. 69-95, and K. Good, 'At the Ends of the Ladder: Radical Inequalities in Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2 (1993), pp. 203-230.
11. See World Bank, World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment (New York, 1992), p. 219, and World Bank, World Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market (New York, 1996), p. 189. See J. Solway, 'Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: an Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari', Development and Change, 25, 3 (1994), pp. 471-496, for a discussion of the 1980s drought, its representation, impact, and the effects of the introduction of drought-related services and subsidies. Despite the overall prosperity, wealth discrepancies are great and economic inequality is deepening. See K. Good, 'Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 30, 1 (1992), pp. 69-95, and K. Good, 'At the Ends of the Ladder: Radical Inequalities in Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2 (1993), pp. 203-230.
12. See World Bank, World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment (New York, 1992), p. 219, and World Bank, World Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market (New York, 1996), p. 189. See J. Solway, 'Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: an Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari', Development and Change, 25, 3 (1994), pp. 471-496, for a discussion of the 1980s drought, its representation, impact, and the effects of the introduction of drought-related services and subsidies. Despite the overall prosperity, wealth discrepancies are great and economic inequality is deepening. See K. Good, 'Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 30, 1 (1992), pp. 69-95, and K. Good, 'At the Ends of the Ladder: Radical Inequalities in Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2 (1993), pp. 203-230.
13. See World Bank, World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment (New York, 1992), p. 219, and World Bank, World Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market (New York, 1996), p. 189. See J. Solway, 'Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: an Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari', Development and Change, 25, 3 (1994), pp. 471-496, for a discussion of the 1980s drought, its representation, impact, and the effects of the introduction of drought-related services and subsidies. Despite the overall prosperity, wealth discrepancies are great and economic inequality is deepening. See K. Good, 'Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 30, 1 (1992), pp. 69-95, and K. Good, 'At the Ends of the Ladder: Radical Inequalities in Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2 (1993), pp. 203-230.
14. See World Bank, World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment (New York, 1992), p. 219, and World Bank, World Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market (New York, 1996), p. 189. See J. Solway, 'Drought as a Revelatory Crisis: an Exploration of Shifting Entitlements and Hierarchies in the Kalahari', Development and Change, 25, 3 (1994), pp. 471-496, for a discussion of the 1980s drought, its representation, impact, and the effects of the introduction of drought-related services and subsidies. Despite the overall prosperity, wealth discrepancies are great and economic inequality is deepening. See K. Good, 'Interpreting the Exceptionality of Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 30, 1 (1992), pp. 69-95, and K. Good, 'At the Ends of the Ladder: Radical Inequalities in Botswana', Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2 (1993), pp. 203-230.
15. For example, when the government collected local tax (the practice was discontinued some years ago) it was based upon livestock holdings. Increasingly, urban real estate holdings, salaried formal sector employment, tractors, vehicles, ranches and so on are considered valued resources.
16. It is important to note here that 'rich' and 'poor' are being defined in a sense that is culturally consistent with Kgalagadi models of the concept of 'wealth'. Here wealth is not defined in strict material terms but as providing people with the capacity to produce for themselves (see also Comaroff, 'Class and Culture', p. 109), engage in culturally prescribed exchanges, and eventually to display largesse and thus enhance their power and place in society. As noted later in the paper, the Kgalagadi-Tswana concept of 'doing for oneself is consistent with such a definition.
17. Pastoral production is inherently unstable or volatile. This inhibits the concentration of wealth and results in a situation where one generation's clients can be the next generation's bigmen. The use of mechanized water sources, medical inputs, etc., counteract the volatility of pastoral production. See J. Galaty, 'Land and Livestock Among Kenyan Maasai: Symbolic Perspectives on Pastoral Exchange, Change, and Inequality', in J. Galaty and P. Saltzman (eds), Change and Development in Nomadic and Pastoral Societies (Leiden, 1981), pp. 68-88, for a discussion of volatility in pastoral societies.
18. For example, there is no similar obligation on the part of Kgalagadi to contribute to the property accumulation potential of the San, and the San's systematic exclusion from independent pastoral production has also been a characteristic of this century. See R. Hitchcock, 'Socio-Economic Change among Basarwa in Botswana: an Ethnohistorical Analysis', Ethnohistory, 34 (1987), pp. 219-255, and E. Wilmsen, Land Filled with Flies (Chicago, 1987).
19. For example, there is no similar obligation on the part of Kgalagadi to contribute to the property accumulation potential of the San, and the San's systematic exclusion from independent pastoral production has also been a characteristic of this century. See R. Hitchcock, 'Socio-Economic Change among Basarwa in Botswana: an Ethnohistorical Analysis', Ethnohistory, 34 (1987), pp. 219-255, and E. Wilmsen, Land Filled with Flies (Chicago, 1987).
20. See P. Rigby, 'Pastoralism, Egalitarianism, and the State', Critique of Anthropology, 7, 13 (1988), pp. 17-32.
21. See P. Bonte, 'Ecological and Economic Factors in the Determination of Pastoral Specialization', in J. Galaty and P. Saltzman (eds), Change and Development in Nomadic and Pastoral Societies (Leiden, 1981), pp. 33-59.
22. Botswana has a lively beef industry; its abattoir is the largest in Africa and the EC imports its beef at inflated prices.
23. J. Comaroff and J. L. Comaroff, 'Goodly Beasts, Beastly Goods', in Ethnography and the Historical Imagination (Boulder, 1992), pp. 127-154.
24. For 'cattle complex' see M.J. Herskovits, 'The Cattle Complex in East Africa', American Anthropologist, 28 (1926), pp. 230-272, 361-388, 494-528. For 'bovine mystique' see J. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine: 'Development', Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1990). For 'livestock fetishism' see Bonte, 'Ecological and Economic Factors'.
25. For 'cattle complex' see M.J. Herskovits, 'The Cattle Complex in East Africa', American Anthropologist, 28 (1926), pp. 230-272, 361-388, 494-528. For 'bovine mystique' see J. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine: 'Development', Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1990). For 'livestock fetishism' see Bonte, 'Ecological and Economic Factors'.
26. For 'cattle complex' see M.J. Herskovits, 'The Cattle Complex in East Africa', American Anthropologist, 28 (1926), pp. 230-272, 361-388, 494-528. For 'bovine mystique' see J. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine: 'Development', Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1990). For 'livestock fetishism' see Bonte, 'Ecological and Economic Factors'.
27. C. Gregory, Gifts and Commodities (London, 1982) p. 12.
28. Following P. Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge, 1977), A. Appadurai, The Social Life of Things (Cambridge, 1986) attempts to demonstrate that gifts and commodities are more similar than often suspected. The temporal delay in gift exchange, which makes each act appear spontaneous and lacking in self interest, in reality masks the fact that calculation is involved and that 'things' are being connected as much as people are. Telescoping the process, he argues, would reveal parallel social processes at work in each sort of exchange.
29. Following P. Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge, 1977), A. Appadurai, The Social Life of Things (Cambridge, 1986) attempts to demonstrate that gifts and commodities are more similar than often suspected. The temporal delay in gift exchange, which makes each act appear spontaneous and lacking in self interest, in reality masks the fact that calculation is involved and that 'things' are being connected as much as people are. Telescoping the process, he argues, would reveal parallel social processes at work in each sort of exchange.
30. J. Parry and M. Bloch, 'Introduction: Money and the Morality of Exchange', in J. Parry and M. Bloch (eds), Money and the Morality of Exchange (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 64-83.
31. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer (London, 1940).
32. In many instances the substitute cash equivalent has not increased at the same pace as the actual cash price herders receive for their beasts from the abattoir. This further highlights the separation and special nature of this sphere of exchange.
33. Comaroff and Comaroff, 'Goodly Beasts'.
34. P. Bohannan, 'The Impact of Money on a Subsistence Economy', The Journal of Economic History, 19, 4 (1959), pp. 491-503.
35. Parry and Bloch, 'Introduction: Money'.
36. Culturally prescribed exchanges entailing cattle are those that are most concerned with the long-term and enduring cycle of social reproduction; they both express and solidfy kin bonds and thus are most resistant to replacement with cash. See Parry and Bloch, 'Introduction: Money', and S. Hutchinson, 'The Cattle of Money and the Cattle of Girls among the Nuer 1930-1983', American Ethnologist, 19, 2 (1992) pp. 294-316.
37. Culturally prescribed exchanges entailing cattle are those that are most concerned with the long-term and enduring cycle of social reproduction; they both express and solidfy kin bonds and thus are most resistant to replacement with cash. See Parry and Bloch, 'Introduction: Money', and S. Hutchinson, 'The Cattle of Money and the Cattle of Girls among the Nuer 1930-1983', American Ethnologist, 19, 2 (1992) pp. 294-316.
38. This community may be unusual in this regard. In eastern Botswana cash is commonly part or all of the bridewealth payment, although the payment is always couched in the 'bovine idiom'.
39. A central ritual in the bridewealth celebrations involves making medicine from one of the slaughtered bridewealth beasts in order to protect the bride and her children.
40. See Comaroff and Comaroff, 'Goodly Beasts', and Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine.
41. See Comaroff and Comaroff, 'Goodly Beasts', and Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine.
42. Milk is a strong symbol of matrilateral ties amongst the Kgalagadi; relationships established through milk are suffused with affect and nurturance while those created through agnation are suffused with authority.
43. This is most relevant for payment for services in which the cash equivalent more closely matches the market value than for culturally prescribed exchanges in which an anachronistically low cash equivalent prevails. However, as noted above, cash only infrequently replaces livestock in the latter sorts of exchanges.
44. Segwatana sent several of his younger children, including daughters, to live with relatives in distant villages so that they could attend school. He also converted to Christianity in the 1950s. At the time, both the value of Christianity and education were topics of serious debate in the region.
45. New churches come and go with great rapidity in the region. In the late 1970s there were approximately twenty represented in the village.
46. See, J. Comaroff, Body of Power: Spirit of Resistance (Chicago, 1985)
47. Comaroff, 'Class and Culture'.
48. H. Alverson, Mind in the Heart of Darkness (New Haven, 1978), p. 135.
49. In addition, reliance upon welfare has the possibility of attaching stigma to the recipient group; see N. Fraser and L. Gordon, 'A Genealogy of Dependency: Tracing a Keyword in the United States', Signs, 19, 2 (1994), pp. 309-336.
50. See J. Galaty, 'Introduction: Nomadic Pastoralists and Social Change-Processes and Perspectives', in J. Galaty and P. Saltzman (eds), Change and Development in Nomadic and Pastoral Societies (Leiden, 1981), pp. 4-26.
51. R. Gray and P. Gulliver, The Family Estate in Africa (London, 1964); also see P. Carstens, 'The Inheritance of Private Property among the Nama of Southern Africa Reconsidered', Africa, 53, 2 (1983). pp. 58-70.
52. R. Gray and P. Gulliver, The Family Estate in Africa (London, 1964); also see P. Carstens, 'The Inheritance of Private Property among the Nama of Southern Africa Reconsidered', Africa, 53, 2 (1983). pp. 58-70.
53. This system, of course, denies the very significant contribution that San, Bushmen or Sarwa labour has had in building Kgalagadi wealth. A discussion of the ways in which ethnicity operates in Kgalagadi property ideologies to exclude the Sarwa from claims to productive resources is beyond the scope of this paper. See J. Solway, 'Commercialization and Social Differentiation in a Kalahari Village, Botswana', unpublished PhD thesis, Toronto, 1987; Solway and Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious'; and Wilmsen, Land Filled with Flies for further elaboration of this issue.
54. This system, of course, denies the very significant contribution that San, Bushmen or Sarwa labour has had in building Kgalagadi wealth. A discussion of the ways in which ethnicity operates in Kgalagadi property ideologies to exclude the Sarwa from claims to productive resources is beyond the scope of this paper. See J. Solway, 'Commercialization and Social Differentiation in a Kalahari Village, Botswana', unpublished PhD thesis, Toronto, 1987; Solway and Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious'; and Wilmsen, Land Filled with Flies for further elaboration of this issue.
55. This system, of course, denies the very significant contribution that San, Bushmen or Sarwa labour has had in building Kgalagadi wealth. A discussion of the ways in which ethnicity operates in Kgalagadi property ideologies to exclude the Sarwa from claims to productive resources is beyond the scope of this paper. See J. Solway, 'Commercialization and Social Differentiation in a Kalahari Village, Botswana', unpublished PhD thesis, Toronto, 1987; Solway and Lee, 'Foragers, Genuine and Spurious'; and Wilmsen, Land Filled with Flies for further elaboration of this issue.
56. Solway, 'Drought'.
57. The perceived possibility of herd expansion (certainly a reality in the Kalahari for many since the 1960s) and the commercial success of the livestock industry in Botswana differentiate Botswana from Lesotho in regard to attitudes and practices involving livestock. See A. I. Somater and S. Oldfield, 'Class and Effective State Institutions: the Botswana Meat Commission', Journal of Modern African Studies, 33, 4 (1995), pp. 651-668. For Lesotho, Ferguson emphasizes the 'one-way barrier' between cash and livestock that severely limits livestock sales except in times of dire need. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine, p. 147. Certainly in Botswana many (particularly poorer herders) sell livestock reluctantly and only on an emergency basis, but at the same time many other herders sell regularly and perceive such sales to provide them a steady income.
58. The perceived possibility of herd expansion (certainly a reality in the Kalahari for many since the 1960s) and the commercial success of the livestock industry in Botswana differentiate Botswana from Lesotho in regard to attitudes and practices involving livestock. See A. I. Somater and S. Oldfield, 'Class and Effective State Institutions: the Botswana Meat Commission', Journal of Modern African Studies, 33, 4 (1995), pp. 651-668. For Lesotho, Ferguson emphasizes the 'one-way barrier' between cash and livestock that severely limits livestock sales except in times of dire need. Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine, p. 147. Certainly in Botswana many (particularly poorer herders) sell livestock reluctantly and only on an emergency basis, but at the same time many other herders sell regularly and perceive such sales to provide them a steady income.
59. G. Foster, 'Peasant Society and the Image of Limited Good', American Anthropologist, 67 (1965), pp. 293-315.
60. Ibid.
61. P. Shipton, Bitter Money: Cultural Economy and Some African Meanings of Forbidden Commodities (1989), p. 31.
62. D. Parkin, The Cultural Definition of Political Response (London, 1978), notes that in the uneven process of social change amongst the Luo word, idea and deed may function to contradict each other.
63. Solway, 'From Shame to Pride'.
64. L. Abu-Lughod, 'The Romance of Resistance: Tracing Transformations of Power through Bedouin Women', American Ethnologist, 17 (1990) p. 53.
65. E. P. Thompson, Customs in Common (London, 1991), p. 334.
66. M. Brown, 'On Resisting Resistance', American Anthropologist, 98, 4 (1996), pp. 729-34; S. Ortner, 'Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 37, 1 (1995), pp. 173-193.
67. M. Brown, 'On Resisting Resistance', American Anthropologist, 98, 4 (1996), pp. 729-34; S. Ortner, 'Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 37, 1 (1995), pp. 173-193.
68. Comaroff, Body of Power: Spirit of Resistance, p. 263; J. Scott, Weapons of the Weak (New Haven, 1985), pp. 290-295.
69. Comaroff, Body of Power: Spirit of Resistance, p. 263; J. Scott, Weapons of the Weak (New Haven, 1985), pp. 290-295.
70. Brown, 'On Resisting', p. 730.
71. Ortner, 'Resistance' pp. 176-177.
72. J. L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff, 'The Madman and the Migrant: Work and Labour in the Historical Consciousness of a South African People' American Ethnologist, 14 (1987), pp. 191-209.
73. H. Alverson, Mind in the Heart; Comaroff and Comaroff, 'The Madman and the Migrant'.
74. H. Alverson, Mind in the Heart; Comaroff and Comaroff, 'The Madman and the Migrant'.
75. In the early 1980s Debeers was prospecting for diamonds in the region. Many more local men than could be hired responded to their calls for casual labour.
76. Consuming food, especially fat, is a metaphor for consuming social good.
77. See J. Solway, 'Affines and Spouses, Friends and Lovers: the Passing of Polygyny in Botswana', Journal of Anthropological Research, 46, 1 (1990), pp. 41-66.
78. Any act of resistance (in a similar way to any witchcraft accusation) is likely to be politically complex and to condense multiple strands of moral discontent. Accusations of witchcraft as a critique of power, especially of capitalist accumulation, are common in Africa and have a long history in Botswana. For an historical analysis that compares African and European witchcraft see R. Austen, 'The Moral Economy of Witchcraft', in J.L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff (eds), Modernity and its Malcontents (Chicago, 1993), pp. 89-110, and for Botswana specifically see I. Schapera, 'Sorcery and Witchcraft in Bechuanaland', in M. Marwick (ed), Witchcraft and Sorcery (Harmondsworth, 1986 [1952]), pp. 108-118.
79. Any act of resistance (in a similar way to any witchcraft accusation) is likely to be politically complex and to condense multiple strands of moral discontent. Accusations of witchcraft as a critique of power, especially of capitalist accumulation, are common in Africa and have a long history in Botswana. For an historical analysis that compares African and European witchcraft see R. Austen, 'The Moral Economy of Witchcraft', in J.L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff (eds), Modernity and its Malcontents (Chicago, 1993), pp. 89-110, and for Botswana specifically see I. Schapera, 'Sorcery and Witchcraft in Bechuanaland', in M. Marwick (ed), Witchcraft and Sorcery (Harmondsworth, 1986 [1952]), pp. 108-118.