Traditional Communities and the State in Southern Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Traditional Communities and the State in Southern Africa
Author:	Kossler, Reinhart
Year:	1998
Periodical:	Afrika Spectrum
Volume:	33
Issue:	1
Pages:	19-37
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	South Africa Namibia
Subjects:	traditional society political systems colonialism Politics and Government Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Abstract:	A critical review of the struggles for and experience with majority rule in southern Africa demonstrates the importance of traditional communities and their relationship to the State. Traditional communities seem to follow a fundamentally different social logic than State apparatuses, at least as long as they can be considered as authentic. This article outlines an approach to some theoretical and conceptual problems related to the question of the authenticity of traditional communities. It first addresses the self-organizing principle which is characteristic of traditional communities as distinguished from State-sponsored social structures. Then it discusses the example of the Witbooi group in southern Namibia,focusing on the revindicatory strategy pursued by the Witboois from 1915 up to the present. The final section deals with some of the current problems in the accommodation of traditional communities within the framework of the newly democratizing States in southern Africa, notably Namibia and South Africa. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French and German.