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