1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910959922103321

Autore

Redding Sean

Titolo

Sorcery and sovereignty : taxation, power, and rebellion in South Africa, 1880-1963 / / Sean Redding

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Athens, : Ohio University Press, c2006

ISBN

0-8214-4233-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (278 p.)

Disciplina

968.05

Soggetti

Black people - South Africa - Politics and government - 19th century

Black people - South Africa - Politics and government - 20th century

Taxation - Political aspects - South Africa - History

Government, Resistance to - South Africa - History

Witchcraft - Political aspects - South Africa - History

Power (Social sciences) - South Africa - History

South Africa Politics and government 1836-1909

South Africa Politics and government 1909-1948

South Africa Politics and government 1948-1961

South Africa Colonial influence

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-259) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- 1 sorcery and the state -- 2 war and revenue -- 3 from rinderpest through influenza -- 4 governing the zulu by killing them -- 5 taxation and flaming pigs in the transkei, 1921-30 -- 6 legal minors and social children -- 7 government witchcraft -- 8 conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Rebellions broke out in many areas of South Africashortly after the institution of white rule in the late nineteenth century and continued into the next century. However, distrust of the colonial regime reached a new peak in the mid-twentieth century, when revolts erupted across a wide area of rural South Africa. All these uprisings were rooted in grievances over taxes. Rebels frequently invoked supernatural powers for assistance and accused government officials of using witchcraft to



enrich themselves and to harm ordinary people.As Sean Redding observes in Sorcery and Sovereignty, beliefs in witchcraft and supernatural powers were part of the political rhetoric; the systemof taxation-with all its prescribed interactions between ruler and ruled-was intimately connected to these supernatural beliefs.In this fascinating study, Redding examines how black South Africans¿ beliefs in supernatural powers, along with both economic and social change in therural areas, resulted in specific rebellions and how gender relations in black South African rural families changed. Sorcery and Sovereignty explores theintersection of taxation, political attitudes, and supernatural beliefs among black South Africans, shedding light on some of the most significant issues in the history of colonized Africa.