“Looking for Life”: Traces of Slavery in the Structures and Social Lives of Southern Swahili Towns

Abstract

This article traces the history of slavery and of post-slavery struggles for livelihood and status in the layout, the physical structures, and the social lives of three towns on the southern Swahili Coast: Kilwa, Mikindani, and Lindi. These towns were long surrounded by plantations that relied on the labor of enslaved people. In the first decades of the twentieth century, slave populations dissipated quickly. In towns, the colonial cash crop economy, voluntary ruralurban migration, and the decline of slave-owning elites combined to allow former slaves to assimilate and adopt new urbanite identities. Sufi orders played a central role in affording ex-slaves a respectable presence in town. Nevertheless, former slave owners and former slaves lived in different parts of these towns, former slaves' livelihoods were more precarious, and the imputation of slave origins remains offensive, even today. Indeed, the era of slavery still divides people and still engages the social imagination.

The chameleonic nature of freedom: notes on the concept offahafahanain the Highlands of Madagascar

“…As in other post-slavery contexts (McDougall 2005;Pelckmans 2011;Gaibazzi 2012;Rodet 2015;Becker 2021), in the Highlands of Madagascar a lack of 'genealogical freedom' (Riesman 1977) can significantly affect individual trajectories of social and economic emancipation. This became particularly evident in the urban context of Antananarivo, where slave descendants have historically constituted the poorest part of the city (Fournet-Guérin 2008).…”

Sufism and Politics: Internalization of Political Piety in Young Sufi in Indonesia

“…A person who wants to take the Sufi path, can study with Sufi masters (murshid). Sufi masters will guide and navigate the lives of the saliks according to their inner state (Becker, 2021). Sufism can enter the profession of farmers, educators (teachers), politicians, state officials, merchants, even students.…”

Multivocality and Its Implications for the Representation of Heritage: A Case Study of the Slavery Heritage in Mikindani, Tanzania

“…Although the ex-slave origin shaded with the economic and political changes of the colonial and post-colonial periods, being associated with ex-slaves or slave descendants would still refer to an inferior class in the society, the outsider watuwakuja, social debased, marginal and economically precarious (Becker, 2021). In fact, the organization of the urban space in Mikindani is suffused with hierarchy, displacement and the people's struggle to belong there amid shifting hierarchies, to the extent that some wenyeji pride themselves on being descendants of immigrants-albeit high-status, not enslaved, ones (McIntosh, 2009, in Becker, 2021Bissel 2011). This amnesia-based notion is common in most slavery heritage sites along the Swahili coast (see Becker, 2021;Fouéré & Hughes, 2015;Mapunda, 2007).…”

“…In fact, the organization of the urban space in Mikindani is suffused with hierarchy, displacement and the people's struggle to belong there amid shifting hierarchies, to the extent that some wenyeji pride themselves on being descendants of immigrants-albeit high-status, not enslaved, ones (McIntosh, 2009, in Becker, 2021Bissel 2011). This amnesia-based notion is common in most slavery heritage sites along the Swahili coast (see Becker, 2021;Fouéré & Hughes, 2015;Mapunda, 2007). In fact, a limited engagement of the local communities in the heritage-making process has left slavery among the community as the subject of silence and shame (Klein, 1989).…”

“…However, there is an inconclusive discussion on how multivocality works, especially on how it influences historical contests and cultural negotiations, and shapes the way in which people cope with violent memories in sub-Saharan African communities. For instance, in regard to Mikindani, Becker (2021) asked whether the ex-slave descendants have silenced, rather than reclaimed, their painful heritage constitute a, however qualified, victory or whether their avoidance of the topic signals their continuing marginalization. The inconclusive dialogue and questions signal the infancy of knowledge in this topic, which this study intends to contribute to and expand our understanding.…”