Slavery and Beyond (Social History of Africa Series)

Allen and Barbara Isaacman have told a fascinating story about the struggles for survival by a vulnerable group within the wider, unstable world of the Zambezi Valley from the mid-nineteenth century through the tightening grip of Portuguese colonialism in the 1920s. To survive, the Chikunda made and remade themselves as they traversed the big changes of the transition from precolonial to colonial political economy. This focus on Chikunda raises important questions about the strategies of other vulnerable groups. The Isaacmans have established a model for how to study the meanings and experiences of social vulnerability in Southern Africa. - Richard Roberts, Professor and Director Center for African Studies, Stanford University This wonderful book recounts a large and important sweep of history as seen from a uniquely situated, uniquely revealing African point of viewthat of the Chikunda. It is a truism that colonial rule depended on violence. Yet the Chikunda were colonial subjects who nevertheless exercised control over the means of violence. Their interests coincided neither with those of the Portuguese nor with those of other Africans. They occupied a space betwixt and between, and yet at the nexus of force that was central to the evolving colonial experience. - Steven Feierman, Professor of History and Sociology of Science University of PennsylvaniaOriginating as slave armies on the plantations of Portuguese East Africa, the Chikunda emerged as noted elephant hunters, daring canoe voyagers, long-distance trade porters, and state builders as slavery melted away in 19th-century East Africa. With a sensitivity for forms of cultural expression and the changing relationships between men and women, the Isaacmans lead the reader into the insecure world of East Africa as freed slaves sought new ways of supporting themselves. This monumental and sweeping work is destined to become an African History classic.Allen Isaacman is the author of 'Slavery and Beyond (Social History of Africa Series)', published 2004 under ISBN 9780325002613 and ISBN 0325002614.