Last year, I detached my undergraduate seminar from my graduate
seminar . The course I set up on the social history of colonial
Africa responded to some of the criticisms of my Black students that
I rely too much on expatriate writers on Africa. I tried to privelege
the African voice. Interestingly, the students liked Luise White's
*Comforts of Home* and Michael Crowder's *Phineas McIntosh* as much
as they liked Kanogo, Ngugi and Sembene. Their biggest criticism at
the end of the year (we do year long courses -- 26 weeks) was not
enough analytic material.
I am now revising the course, still relying on quite a
few memoirs, novels, and monographs, but increasing the analytic
material. On some subjects (ethnicity!!!), the choices are difficult. On
others, I am not happy with what I have. I want to get conflict and
debate, to set up weeks when they read a number of writers with different
analyses. I would be interested in suggestions on three subjects:
1) Colonial rule. I already have them reading Hampate Ba's
magnificent *Fortunes of Wangrin* and *Phineas McIntosh*. I do not
want a whole book like Crawford Young's recent book (which is
unfortunately only available in hard-cover). I have lots of local
studies, but few that raise general questions about the structure of
colonial political systems. Most of the analytic articles I have deal
with indirect rule.
2) Crime. With exception of Van Onselen, the best articles I have deal
either with the social banditry debate (Isaacman v. Austen) or with the
use of the law to reinforce new relations of production (Cooper and
Worger). My own research, however, deals with an area with a warrior
tradition, where the warriors were totally diasarmed and did not turn to
crime, social or otherwise. I have always thought that the interesting
question is why criminal activity develops in certain times and places
and not in others. But nobody else seems to be asking that.
3) The social basis of nationalism. I am interested in who becomes
nationalist and why. For years, I have given my students a brilliant
article by Jacob Ajayi from the 1st volume of the *Journal of the
Historical Society of Nigeria* on the origins of nationalism in
Nigeria, but I know of few other short, suggestive and debatable
treatments of nationalist, especially early nationalist activity.
Maybe some of Lonsdale's writings. My biggest problem with this years
crew was that I could not get them to argue with each other or with
me.
I would be interested in the experiences of colleagues on these topics.