Pastimes and politics : culture, community, and identity in post-abolition urban Zanzibar, 1890-1945

Author(s)

    • Fair, Laura

Bibliographic Information

Pastimes and politics : culture, community, and identity in post-abolition urban Zanzibar, 1890-1945

Laura Fair

(Eastern African studies)

Ohio University Press , J. Currey, 2001

  • : us
  • : us : pbk
  • : uk
  • : uk : pbk

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-364) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: us ISBN 9780821413838

Description

The first decades of the twentieth century were years of dramatic change in Zanzibar, a time when the social, economic, and political lives of island residents were in incredible flux, framed by the abolition of slavery, the introduction of colonialism, and a tide of urban migration. Pastimes and Politics explores the era from the perspective of the urban poor, highlighting the numerous and varied ways that recently freed slaves and other immigrants to town struggled to improve their individual and collective lives and to create a sense of community within this new environment. In this study Laura Fair explores a range of cultural and social practices that gave expression to slaves' ideas of emancipation, as well as how such ideas and practices were gendered. Pastimes and Politics examines the ways in which various cultural practices, including taarab music, dress, football, ethnicity, and sexuality, changed during the early twentieth century in relation to islanders' changing social and political identities. Professor Fair argues that cultural changes were not merely reflections of social and political transformations. Rather, leisure and popular culture were critical practices through which the colonized and former slaves transformed themselves and the society in which they lived. Methodologically innovative and clearly written, Pastimes and Politics is accessible to specialists and general readers alike. It is a book that should find wide use in courses on African history, urbanization, popular culture, gender studies, or emancipation.
Volume

: us : pbk ISBN 9780821413845

Description

The first decades of the twentieth century were years of dramatic change in Zanzibar, a time when the social, economic, and political lives of island residents were in incredible flux, framed by the abolition of slavery, the introduction of colonialism, and a tide of urban migration. Pastimes and Politics explores the era from the perspective of the urban poor, highlighting the numerous and varied ways that recently freed slaves and other immigrants to town struggled to improve their individual and collective lives and to create a sense of community within this new environment. In this study Laura Fair explores a range of cultural and social practices that gave expression to slaves' ideas of emancipation, as well as how such ideas and practices were gendered. Pastimes and Politics examines the ways in which various cultural practices, including taarab music, dress, football, ethnicity, and sexuality, changed during the early twentieth century in relation to islanders' changing social and political identities. Professor Fair argues that cultural changes were not merely reflections of social and political transformations. Rather, leisure and popular culture were critical practices through which the colonized and former slaves transformed themselves and the society in which they lived. Methodologically innovative and clearly written, Pastimes and Politics is accessible to specialists and general readers alike. It is a book that should find wide use in courses on African history, urbanization, popular culture, gender studies, or emancipation.
Volume

: uk : pbk ISBN 9780852557952

Description

This study opens up new areas of enquiry regarding the interplay of gender, cultureand social change in urban Africa. In post-abolition Zanzibar ex-slaves re-created their individual and collective class, gender and ethnic identities as they struggled for social and economic empowerment. North America: Ohio U Press

Table of Contents

Introduction - Dressing up: clothing, class & gender in post-abolition Zanzibar - 'The land is ours! Why should we pay rent?' land, law & housing in early twentieth century Ng'ambo - 'You men should stop oppressing & stealing from the poor': creating community, crafting identity & negotiating power through Taarab music - Colonial politics, masculinity & football - Conclusion: pastimes & politics - Bibliography
Volume

: uk ISBN 9780852557969

Description

In post-abolition Zanzibar ex-slaves re-created their individual and collective class, gender and ethnic identities as they struggled for social and economic empowerment. North America: Ohio U Press

Table of Contents

Introduction - Dressing up: clothing, class & gender in post-abolition Zanzibar - 'The land is ours! Why should we pay rent?' land, law & housing in early twentieth century Ng'ambo - 'You men should stop oppressing & stealing from the poor': creating community, crafting identity & negotiating power through Taarab music - Colonial politics, masculinity & football - Conclusion: pastimes & politics - Bibliography

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