Migrants No More by Johan Pottier

Author:Johan Pottier [Pottier, Johan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Human Geography, Anthropology, Cultural & Social
ISBN: 9780429815973
Google: kkEiEAAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 41386096
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1989-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The incident disclosed some contrasting views about modes of political mobilization. Kazia, prominent local UNIP figure and chairman of the Literacy Committee, was opposed by Musonda, civil servant and secretary to the Committee. A young Bemba challenged a senior Mambwe! The former believed that ‘mass mobilization’ could be achieved, in this case, because the occasion was a great one; the latter knew that large Mambwe gatherings do not occur spontaneously, if the custom of providing ‘free beer for all’ is ignored. But that, in Musonda’s opinion, was tantamount to bribery, a violation of party ideals, a misplaced strategy for winning votes. Indirectly, the CDA’s critique revealed the present inability by the party to mobilize for the right cause. Musonda was critical of what Chikulo once described as ‘the tendency of party officials to put personal gain before tasks of mass mobilization’ (Chikulo 1979: 209). Musonda’s stand also reminded of President Kaunda’s regular attacks on alcohol abuse in rural areas.

A second theme, equally important, runs through the case material. The boycott by peasant-students showed poignantly that the Mambwe peasant producers know where their priorities lie. That they were absent had nothing to do with the presumed bad publicity that had followed Kazia’s rebuke. The students’ failure to attend was due to the bad timing of the celebration, which clashed with an important event in their village, a marriage that had attracted many relatives and friends, including guests from across the Tanzanian border. The wedding was a unique chance for meeting up with a large circle of kin, affines and friends from Tanzania; many of whom were either established or potential trade partners.7 The prospect of reviewing past transactions, confirming partnerships, speculating about future deals and obtaining general information about who was planning to grow what during the forthcoming season… all these issues, crucial to survival today, had turned the wedding ceremony into a social function of far greater significance than the sterile presentation of certificates. The significance of this particular wedding will become clearer in Chapter 7, where kinship and affinity are discussed in relation to cross-border trading.

The final case study brings out further aspects of the contrast between local expectations and practices, on the one hand, and party organization, on the other. This time, however, the branch-level party representatives and their Chief face a really awkward dilemma, a problem which could jeopardize the area’s good relations with the free-trading world. Branch-level leaders could not afford to break off good relations, but they still wanted to be seen to be towing the party line. It is with this case that I return to Long’s thoughts on the changing relationship between Witnesses and non-Witnesses.

Case Study 10: The Agricultural Show

Organizers of agricultural shows need to put up stalls for the display of produce. They need people to cut poles from the bush, slash grass, and erect the actual structures. The money economy triumphs over the self-help economy here, for no one in charge of organizing such a show in the Mambwe hinterland would consider asking the people to come forth spontaneously.

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