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Violence and ‘othering’ in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Case study: Banda's Malaŵi

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13696810601105038

1469-9346

Alison Jones, Domoka Lucinda. Manda,

African history and culture studies

Abstract This paper takes binary epistemological and ontological configurations and subjects them to analytical review within the broad context of colonial and postcolonial states in Africa. During a process of conceptual interrogation, an 'othering' trend – and the violence by which the trend too often is accompanied – is traced to their colonial origins, and it is argued that the trend has been passed forward from a colonial to a postcolonial era. The paper's thematic trajectory not least is motivated by a warning issued by Marcus Ramogale, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Venda, against repeating in post-apartheid South Africa "the scourge of conquest and domination". Ramogale observes, "a culture of domination is self-perpetuating and requires the presence of the 'other' to dominate, whether the 'other' is white or African". He further asserts "the challenge thrust on us by the responsibilities that come with power is to use it differently to those who once oppressed us" (Ramogale 2005). Having first embarked on a theoretical-conceptual exploration of contested spaces and silenced voices in colonial and postcolonial Africa, the paper narrows its focus to a Malaŵian case study, with particular reference to the Banda regime. The first section of the paper elaborates the conceptual framework and overall argumentation within which is set a Malaŵian case study. The paper's methodology primarily is literature and theory based. However, the Malaŵian section incorporates an element of qualitative research in the form of interviews conducted by Domoka Lucinda Manda in June–July 2002 with civil society activists in Blantyre and academics on the Zomba campus of the University of Malaŵi.