1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813350203321

Autore

Ferguson James <1959->

Titolo

Expectations of modernity : myths and meanings of urban life on the Zambian Copperbelt / / James Ferguson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, Calif. : , : University of California Press, , 1999

©1999

ISBN

1-280-08823-0

9786613520319

0-520-92228-X

0-585-28303-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvii, 326 pages) : illustrations, maps

Collana

Perspectives on Southern Africa ; ; 57

Disciplina

306/.096894

Soggetti

Urban anthropology - Zambia - Copperbelt Province

Urbanization - Zambia - Copperbelt Province

Industrialization - Zambia - Copperbelt Province

Copper industry and trade - Zambia - Copperbelt Province

Copper mines and mining - Zambia - Copperbelt Province

Zambia Social conditions 1964-

Zambia Economic conditions 1964-

Zambia Politics and government

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-320) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- List of Cases -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Copperbelt in Theory -- 2. Expectations of Permanence -- 3. Rural Connections, Urban Styles -- 4. "Back to the Land"? -- 5. Expectations of Domesticity -- 6. Asia in Miniature -- 7. Global Disconnect -- Postscript: December 1998 -- Appendix: Mineworkers' Letters -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Once lauded as the wave of the African future, Zambia's economic boom in the 1960's and early 1970's was fueled by the export of copper and other primary materials. Since the mid-1970's, however, the urban economy has rapidly deteriorated, leaving workers scrambling to get by. Expectations of Modernity explores the social and



cultural responses to this prolonged period of sharp economic decline. Focusing on the experiences of mineworkers in the Copperbelt region, James Ferguson traces the failure of standard narratives of urbanization and social change to make sense of the Copperbelt's recent history. He instead develops alternative analytic tools appropriate for an "ethnography of decline. "Ferguson shows how the Zambian copper workers understand their own experience of social, cultural, and economic "advance" and "decline." Ferguson's ethnographic study transports us into their lives-the dynamics of their relations with family and friends, as well as copper companies and government agencies. Theoretically sophisticated and vividly written, Expectations of Modernity will appeal not only to those interested in Africa today, but to anyone contemplating the illusory successes of today's globalizing economy.