Shane Moran - Alternation Journal

The L)~viikiA Africtrrl Stc~t avid Hemson
{-~lral arcas as largely residual. it is uilable tillly to explain aparlheici as a pl0yiIIg traditional beliefs, British actiolls to prevent the
fi,rlll of tlle slate. It is only Sl.orn an cconoiiiistic perspective-- one tllat are described by MamcJani as being essentially curative in India
higll\ig\l[s lcvcls of i~~dustrializalion and prolciarianization onesicjed]y---lilat
So~ltlr Afr-ican cuceptionalism makes sense. (:onversely. the
same cxecptionalism masks the colol~ial nature of the Soutli African
esperience (27)'.
fl-ica. The British rulers, operating under the overarching aegis of
principles, functioned differently in the colonies as land was
0Inmunal holding. For all the exultation of the individual under
enterprise capitalism, the African was defined not as native but as tribesperson. He
es a COmlnentator on colonial administration as follows: 'The genius ofBritish rule
by 'semi-industrialization, semi-p
strong civil society'. For all his spurn
footedly t]~ro,~gh tile lvriting on trade
tradjtioll critically on its own t
question', the conditions of rule ov
commonality between South Africa an
bifurcated state which characterises both. This monstrosity did not arise as a Pure id
frica.. . was in seeking 10 civilize Africans as commuliities, not as individuals'.
A one-sided opposition between the individual and the group, civil society and
traditions emerged which allowed a cheap and (for a fairly long
ss method of rule by a small number of bureaucrats over the
form of rule is supremely political, aiming at a frictiollless
mination over the African people. The respected colonial archivist and strategist,
d as stating frankly how Afi-ican life was warped under
authority and resistance not only i
state was that it was Janus-faced,
The objective of African customary law is primarily designed to jllaintajn
the social ecluilibrium (5 1).
organised differently in the rural areas and the urban areas. There is a duality 0
fonns ofpower under a single hegemonic authority:
ma was, in the view of colonial authorities, that it did not freeze
-conquest stage, but, in a familiar phrase, was a 'transitional
Urball power spoke the language of civil society and civil rights. rural
power of community and culture. Civil power claimed to protect rights.
customary power pledged to enforce tradition. The l'oriner was organized
on tile prillciple of differentiation to check the concentration ofpower, the
]alteral.ound the principle offusion to ensure aunitary authority (1 8).
ation of Africans as communities, and not individuals, inlo the
m world. Indeed, indirect rule which has led to the long-te~m forms of bondage of
esented as an important colonial refinn. What was actually
dani's ~ne~norable phrase was 'decentralised despotism', the rule by
over the lnasses indirectly through traditional authorities. Altllough the
asses were powerless, their immediate rulers were given considerable powers
This experience of statefonn is the
characterises the lives of rural people,
S which eliminated traditional checks and balances. These powers
full. The lnodel of decentralised despotism was monarchical,
genuine democracy and freedom.
Manldani's argument is surprisingly simple and direct; initially the cola
riarchal, and authoritarian:
rulers had a sillgle-millded obscssi
it presumed a king at the center of evely polity. a chief on eve1.y piecc of.
after vanquishing the tribes tllrougl
soon reversed this policy and ended up stabilising colonial rule 011 the social bas
traditional rulers. Here lies the worm in the bud. African traditional culture and
administrative groulld. and a patriarch in every homestcad or kraal.
Wliether in thc homestead. the village, or the kingdom. authority was
considered an attribute of apersonal despotism (39).
social structures became intimately interwoven with the apparatus of for
dolnination. The idea did not arise specifically from the African experience, althou
flowered in the continent, but rather it had its roots in earlier experience. He argues
Britain, the irnperialist couiltry par excellence, had the perverse gellitls of being the
to systematically exploit the authoritarian possibilities in native c~1lture. 111 reaction
were the fruits of colonial reform: Foreign rule and colonialism was rlot openly
force of arms, it was effectively camouflaged for the vast majority of
le through chiefs. 011 the one side was the unchecked despotism of'
the overarching colonial power, on the other was tile lilnited
\vhich largely existed in a racial form, available orlly to the
eliberately excluding the African urban people.
Mamdani follows this essentialist reading of colonial history wit11 a fiee-
avoid references to the book are simply enclosed in brackets. Iicferen e variety of experiences ill Africa of Hritislj, Fre~lcIl and
1 .~o
to otiier texts will be S~~lly indicated. ms of rnle, displaying an unsurpassed skill in rinaiysis an