Description
Book SynopsisA new history of the Basotho migrants in Zimbabwe that illuminates identity politics, African agency and the complexities of social integration in the colonial period. Tracing the history of the Basotho, a small mainly Christianised community of evangelists working for the Dutch Reformed Church, this book examines the challenges faced by minority ethnic groups in colonial Zimbabwe and how they tried to strike a balance between particularism and integration. Maintaining their own language and community farm, the Basotho used ownership of freehold land, religion and a shared history to sustain their identity. The author analyses the challenges they faced in purchasing land and in engaging with colonial administrators and missionaries, as well as the nature and impact of internal schisms within the community, and shows how their "unity in diversity"impacted on their struggles for belonging and shaped their lives. This detailed account of the experiences and strategies the Basotho deployed in interactions with the Dutch Reformed Church missionaries and colonial administrators as well as with their non-Sotho neighbours will contribute to wider debates about migration, identity and the politics of belonging, and to our understanding of African agency in the context of colonial and missionary encounters. Published in association with the British Institute in Eastern Africa
Trade ReviewLand, Migration and Belonging is a welcome contribution to the struggles over belonging in Southern Rhodesia by a migrant group that tried to strike a balance between ethnic particularism and integration. [.] It is important for anyone interested in rethinking identity and belonging in Zimbabwe and in the region. * SOUTHERN JOURNAL FOR CONTEMPORARY HISTORY *
This very readable and informative book provides comprehensive coverage of the history of Basotho migrants. [...] The book is adding value to the history of southern Africa and movement of people from one place to another in the period under study. * African Studies Quarterly *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Basotho and the Politics of Belonging in Southern Rhodesia Evangelists, Migrants and "Progressive Africans" Colonial Displacements and the Establishment of Native Purchase Areas "Kubhetere": Bethel Farm and the Basotho's Belonging in the Dewure Purchase Areas Building a Community School: The Rise and Fall of Bethel School Adherents and Rebels: The Basotho and the Dutch Reformed Church Missionaries Epilogue: Uncertainty and the Basotho's Quest for Belonging
