This book introduces readers to the anthropology of urban life in Africa, showing what ethnography can teach us about African city dwellers’ own notions, practices, and reflections.
Social anthropologists have studied city life in Africa since the early 20th century. Their works have addressed a number of questions that are relevant until today: What happens to rural people who move to the city? What kinds of livelihoods do they pursue? How does city life affect moralities and practices connected with gender roles, marriage, parenthood, and intergenerational relations? In which social situations are ethnic and other collective identifications relevant? How do people make a home in the city? What forms of authority and leadership become relevant in urban governance? How do people talk about city life? This book asks what anthropologists have come to learn about Africans’ views on city life. It provides a critical acclaim of ethnographies in English, French, and German and elucidates anthropology’s contribution to understanding city life in Africa. It highlights the significance of female, African and Diaspora scholars for an emerging urban anthropology of Africa. The chapters are organized according to everyday activities of city dwellers: moving, connecting, governing, working, dwelling, and wayfinding.
The book will be an essential read for students and researchers of social anthropology, African and urban studies, but also for professionals in research and development organizations, thinktanks, and other institutions concerned with urban Africa.
Author(s): Katja Werthmann
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 229
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Figures
Preface
1 Introduction
Anthropology and Urban Africa
Cities in Africa
Topics of Anthropological Research in Urban Africa From the 1930s to the 2000s
Colonial and Postcolonial Contexts
Forgotten Contributions
Structure of the Book
Notes
2 Moving
Insight 1: Moving to the City Does Not Mean Leaving the Countryside for Good
Moving to Mining Towns
Circular Migration
Black Brazzavilles
Adventurers at the Coast
Mossi Migrants
Visiting Home
Dual Systems in Rural–urban Relations
Insight 2: Moving to the City Entails a Change of Life-Style – Or It Doesn’t
New Forms of Consumption and Leisure
Rurality as Resistance
Insight 3: Moving to the City Means Different Things for Men and Women
Women in Kampala
Migration, Gender, and Religion
Conclusion
Notes
3 Connecting
Insight 1: Forms of Coupling in African Cities Are Extremely Varied
South African Households
Married Life On the Copperbelt
Families in Ibadan
Insight 2: Ethnicity Does Not Matter in All Social Situations
Ethnicity as Mutual Categorization Or as Political Strategy
Ethnicity and Islam
Voluntary Associations
Social Groups and Life-Styles
Insight 3: Neighbourhood and Friendship Are Important But Impermanent
Neighbourhood
Friendship
Insight 4: Not Everyone Is Connected
Conclusion
Notes
4 Governing
Insight 1: Big Men and Chiefs Are Often the Real Power Holders
Chiefs and Elders
Small Town Big Men
Patron–client Relationships in a Big City
Insight 2: Small- and Medium-Sized Towns Are Important Arenas for Processing National Politics
Political Processes in Three West African Cities
Insight 3: Certain Groups Claim the “Ownership” of a City
A “Rebel City” in Burkina Faso
Conclusion
Notes
5 Working
Insight 1: Finding Work Often Depends On Connections and Luck
Insight 2: Muslim Traders’ Communities Organize Themselves in Particular Ways
Insight 3: Wage Labourers Do Not Necessarily Constitute Political Interest Groups
Railwaymen
Factory Workers
Insight 4: Women Devise Ways to Balance Work, Marriage, and Moral Requirements
Market Women and Female Traders
Beer-brewers and Bar Owners
House Traders, Cooked-Food Sellers, Soap Makers
Domestic Workers
White-collar Workers
Housewives and Status Production
Transactional Sex
Insight 5: The Road Is a Market
Street Vendors
Insight 6: Unemployment Has Been an Issue for a Long Time
Conclusion
Notes
6 Dwelling
Insight 1: As Element of Segregation Policies, Dwelling Is Limited and Limiting
South African “Locations”, Townships, and Workers’ Hostels
Insight 2: “Suburbs” and Housing Estates Become Neighbourhoods
The Kampala Studies
Insight 3: Communities Self-Build and Modify Housing According to Social and Cultural Preferences
Forgotten Spaces
An Experiment in Self-Help Building in Dakar
Insight 4: Families Live Dispersed Over Several Residences
Residential Systems in Francophone Africa
The Big House and Its Satellites
Insight 5: City Dwellers Adapt Socio-Cultural Norms to Built Environments
Living Spaces and Uses of Rooms
Demolition and Relocation
The Street as Home
Insight 6: Dwelling Is a State-Making Project
Conclusion
Notes
7 Wayfinding
Insight 1: Spatial Orientation Is Not Just Maplike Knowledge
Mental Maps
Insight 2: Social and Spatial Navigation Are Co-Constitutive for Doing the City
Socio-spatial Navigation in Bobo-Dioulasso and Zanzibar
Insight 3: A Taxi Ride Can Be Much More Than Just Transport
The City of Bobo-Dioulasso
Public Transport
Mobility Providers in Bobo-Dioulasso
Ordinary Nights in Bobo-Dioulasso
Conclusion
Notes
8 Discussion and Outlook
Women in the History of Anthropological Research in Urban Africa
In Town the Lion Is a Man: African Perspectives On City Life
Anthropological Perspectives On City Life
Anthropology in Urban Africa: Recent Topics and Trends
Consuming, Waiting, Praying and Other Activities
Concluding Remarks
Bibliography
Index
