Publications
Looking for life : traces of slavery in the structures and social lives of southern Swahili towns Ghent University
Locating the U+2018customaryU+2019 in post-colonial Tanzanian politics : the shifting modus operandi of the rural state Ghent University
This paper examines how both rhetoric about custom and practices drawing on elements of deep-rooted political culture remain relevant in post-colonial Tanzania. This is the case despite the Tanzanian government's aggressively modernising stance and the erasure of colonial-era 'traditional' chiefs after independence. The paper identifies three patterns. Firstly, witchcraft cleansing remains a rare flashpoint over which rural people are willing to ...