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‘IT MEANS AS IF WE ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE GOOD FREEDOM’: THWARTED EXPECTATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE IN THE LUAPULA PROVINCE OF ZAMBIA, 1964–6

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2006

GIACOMO MACOLA
GIACOMO MACOLA
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Abstract

Based on a close reading of new archival material, this article makes a case for the adoption of an empirical, ‘sub-systemic’ approach to the study of nationalist and postcolonial politics in Zambia. By exploring the notion of popular ‘expectations of independence’ to a much greater degree than did previous studies, the paper contends that the extent of the United National Independence Party's political hegemony in the immediate post-independence era has been grossly overrated – even in a traditional rural stronghold of the party and during a favourable economic cycle. In the second part of the paper, the diplomatic and ethnic manoeuvres of the ruler of the eastern Lunda kingdom of Kazembe are set against a background of increasing popular disillusionment with the performance of the independent government.

Keywords

Central AfricaZambiaCongoethnicitynationalismindependencepostcolonial
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , March 2006 , pp. 43 - 56
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Earlier versions of this article were presented to Africanist seminars in Cambridge (Nov. 2004) and Leiden (Mar. 2005). Participants are to be thanked for their stimulating comments and critical remarks. The author is also indebted to Joanna Lewis for taking the time (and trouble) to go through the paper and, more importantly, for making his transition from Lusaka to Cambridge easier to cope with.