Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia, by Bennett Kangumu.

Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia, by Bennett Kangumu. ISBN 9783905758221 / ISBN 978-3-905758-22-1

Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia, by Bennett Kangumu. ISBN 9783905758221 / ISBN 978-3-905758-22-1

Dr. Bennett Kangumu's book was originally submitted as a PhD thesis, Contestations over Caprivi Identities: From Precolonial Times to the Present. 2010 the Basler Afrika Bibliographien published ist under the title: Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia.

Bennett Kangumu  

Isolation, Invasions and a Caprivian Identity

My academic interests first as a doctoral student in geography and later as a boundary delimitation commission member in the area of former Barotseland; have brought me into contact with a plethora of documents and books in Portuguese, English, German, Afrikaans, French and Italian related to the geographic area of the present day Caprivi. These multi-faceted documents and books, written by geographers or explorers, missionaries, hunters, ethnographers, diplomats, students, as well as chartered companies, the military, WNLA (Witwatersrand Native Labour Association), administration, agriculture and hydrology officers inspired my attempt to write a Guide to a Caprivi Historiography. Alas, the guide remains a draft. A striking omission in all these accounts are the voices and viewpoints of the local people. Bennett Kangumu’s groundbreaking study of the Caprivi breaks with this legacy. Dr. Kangumu's book was originally submitted as a PhD thesis, Contestations over Caprivi Identities: From Precolonial Times to the Present. It is as much a study about forms of micro-, sub- and intranationalisms, as it is an analysis about the making of identities, most particularly the construction of a 'Caprivian identity'. These topics are of major importance to Namibia in view of the current Treason Trial of some 100 'Caprivian separatists. This book is a timely contribution to current debates surrounding these issues. The creation of the Caprivi Strip is widely perceived not only as a colonial absurdity i.e. an appendix to Namibia that owes its existence to the incompetence and ignorance of German negotiators in the arena of the 'Scramble for Africa', but also as a territory unto which Germany but also the pre-colonial Lozi empire projected unfulfilled hegemonic ambitions. These accounts bequeathed a troublesome legacy to the modern Namibian state. The book unravels a more complex and substantial history than the anecdotal stories of an African territory named after a German Chancellor with an Italian name, Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi, would suggest. The solid, empirical approach of the author is grounded in a multitude of written (primary and secondary) and oral sources. The author weaves the information arising out of these often scant, disparate, subjective and biased sources into a general and coherent narrative on the transformations that affected the Caprivi and its inhabitants. The thread that holds the seemingly confusing array of incidents and ever-changing alliances in the region together is Kangumu's understanding of the crucial importance of identity constructions in the Caprivi. Kangumu uses the T and we-ness; ontology as an interpretative tool to explore the commonalities of people in the region and, as such, the determination of communities, at particular points in their troubled history, to survive and maintain as much autonomy as was possible in the face of these invaders with their different agendas. I would argue that this book enhances our understanding of the Caprivi to an extent that no previous work has done. It succeeds in demolishing persistent myths about the supposed lack of tradition and identity of the various ethnic groups in the area and the hegemonic aspirations of external groups, such as the Lozi, of what is today southwestern Zambia. It demolishes the myth of the German claim to Caprivi as having been a miscalculation, and highlights the geostrategic rationale behind the creation of the Strip or 'Zipfel' in the first place. Another important theme is the history of neglect which, according to its author, charaterised the Caprivi for much of the 20th century This was attributed to the frequently changing colonial administrations, whether British Bechuanaland, South Africa or South West Africa. [...]

This is an excerpt from the book: Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia, by Bennett Kangumu.

Title: Contesting Caprivi
Subtitle: A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia
Author: Bennett Kangumu
Series: Basel Namibia Studies Series 10
Publisher: Basler Afrika Bibliographien
Basel, 2011
ISBN 9783905758221 / ISBN 978-3-905758-22-1
Softcover, 17x24 cm, 336 pages, images, maps

Kangumu, Bennett im Namibiana-Buchangebot

Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia

Contesting Caprivi. A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia

Contesting Caprivi enhances understanding of the region in North East Namibia to an extent that no previous work has done.

Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History

Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History

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