Panel 110: Whose Terms of Engagement? Popular Politics and African Intellectuals in Early Twentieth Century Southern Africa.
Panel organisers: Peter Limb (Michigan State Univ., USA) and Chris Saunders (Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa)
Contact: Chris.Saunders@uct.ac.za
| African thinkers and doers in South(ern) Africa in the first three decades prior to the onset of apartheid in 1948 require renewed attention from scholars. Too often historians treat them as mere forecasters of later struggles against the racist state, rather than viewing them according to the terms of engagement they actually lived. Political scientists and sociologists often characterize African politics of the period as either imitative of European colonialism, or ‘traditional’ in outlook or structure. Simple binaries of ‘resistance vs. collaboration’, and even more recent qualifications of colonial-colonized relations by the term accommodation, do not tell the full story of these intellectuals and activists. There are still very few biographies of early twentieth century African political leaders, and even less understanding of the choices and pursuits of lower-echelon activists and leaders in local social and political configurations, and of the correspondingly complex nature of their lives and identities. Scholars have inadequately mined the relevant African language sources. The panelists are all major contributors to research on pre-apartheid African political and social history. They will present path-breaking research and writing showing how Africans not only maintained continuities with earlier forms of mobilization and alliance, but also how they generated strategic political cultures and movements in accordance with the realm of what was possible for them. Research into their life stories reveals much more than that hitherto discussed by scholars. Our discussant will assess and compare this research and relate it to developments today. |