Peasant Intellectuals : Anthropology and History in Northern Tanzania

Scholars who study peasant society now realize that peasants are not passive, but quite capable of acting in their own interests. Debate has continued, though, on whether coherent political ideas emerge within peasant society, or whether peasants act in a world where political issues are defined by elites. Based on ethnographic research begun in 1966 that includes interviews with hundreds of people from all levels of Tanzanian society, "Peasant Intellectuals" aims to alter the perspective from which anthropologists, historians, and political scientists study both cultural systems and rural politics. Steven Feierman gives us the history of the struggles to define the most basic issues of public political discourse in the Shambaa-speaking region of Tanzania. Over the past 150 years ruling chiefs, on the one hand, and dissenting peasants on the other have debated what it is that enables some regimes to bring life rather than death, prosperity rather than hunger, justice rather than inequity. Feierman focuses on the role of peasant intellectuals - men and women who earn their livelihood by farming and who, at crucial historical moments, have organized political movements of the greatest long-term significance. In Shambaii, peasant intellectuals have raised the issue of democracy, the role of chiefs, the meaning of slavery and freedom , and the nature of gender relations, and played a critical role in nationalist campaigns. Feierman also shows that peasant society contains a rich body of alternative sources of political language from which future debates will be shaped. "Peasant Intellectuals will dramatically alter the perspective from which anthropologists, historians, and political scientists study both cultural systems and rural politics. Based on 25 years of research that includes interviews with hundreds of people from all social levels, Steven Feierman gives us the history of the struggles to define the most basic issues of public discourse in the Shambaa-speaking region of Tanzania. Over the past 150 years ruling chiefs and dissenting peasants have debated what it is that enables some regimes to bring life rather than death, prosperity rather than hunger, justice rather than inequity. Feierman focuses on the role of peasant intellectuals -- men and women who earn their living by farming and who, at crucial historical moments, have organized political movements of the greatest long-term significance. Peasant Intellectuals also demonstrates that peasant society contains a rich body of alternative sources of political language from which future debates can be shaped. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET

Peasant Intellectuals will dramatically alter the perspective from which anthropologists, historians, and political scientists study both cultural systems and rural politics. Based on 25 years of research that includes interviews with hundreds of people from all social levels, Steven Feierman gives us the history of the struggles to define the most basic issues of public discourse in the Shambaa-speaking region of Tanzania. Over the past 150 years ruling chiefs and dissenting peasants have debated what it is that enables some regimes to bring life rather than death, prosperity rather than hunger, justice rather than inequity. Feierman focuses on the role of peasant intellectuals -- men and women who earn their living by farming and who, at crucial historical moments, have organized political movements of the greatest long-term significance. Peasant Intellectuals also demonstrates that peasant society contains a rich body of alternative sources of political language from which future debates can be shaped.

Frontmatter Maps (page ix) Acknowledgments (page xi) 1 Introduction (page 3) 2 Tribute and Dependency in Late Nineteenth-Century Shambaai (page 46) 3 Healing the Land and Harming the Land (page 69) 4 Alternative Paths to Social Health in the Precolonial Kingdom (page 94) 5 Colonial Rule and the Fate of the Intellectuals (page 120) 6 Royal Domination and Peasant Resistance, 1947-1957 (page 154) 7 The Struggle over Erosion Control: Women's Farming and the Politics of Subsistence (page 181) 8 Gender, Slavery, and Chiefship: Peasant Attempts to Create an Alternative Discourse (page 204) 9 Chiefs and Bureaucrats: Independence and the Fate of the Intellectuals (page 223) 10 Rain in Independent Tanzania: A Drama Remembered but Not Performed (page 245) Notes (page 267) List of Interviews (page 301) Bibliography (page 311) Index (page 331) Scholars who study peasant society now realize that peasants are not passive, but quite capable of acting in their own interests. But, do coherent political ideas emerge within peasant society or do peasants act in a world where elites define political issues? Peasant Intellectuals is based on ethnographic research begun in 1966 and includes interviews with hundreds of people from all levels of Tanzanian society. Steven Feierman provides the history of the struggles to define the most basic issues of public political discourse in the Shambaa-speaking region of Tanzania. Feierman also shows that peasant society contains a rich body of alternative sources of political language from which future debates will be shaped. Based on ethnographic research conducted from 1966, this book includes interviews with people from all levels of Tanzanian society. The author provides a history of the struggles to define the basic issues of public political discourse in the Shambaa-speaking region.