Overview

This study opens up new areas of enquiry regarding the interplay of gender, cultureand social change in urban Africa. In post-abolition Zanzibar ex-slaves re-created their individual and collective class, gender and ethnic identities as they struggled for social and economic empowerment. North America: Ohio U Press

Full Product Details

9780852557952

Table of Contents

Reviews

... Fair's excellent historical study of this island civilization during the 20th century. Her principal concern is with how the underclass, i.e., former slaves, particularly women, took advantage of the opportunities available to them to improve their social and economic status during the British colonial era. ...With exquisite detail, each lengthy chapter demonstrates the manner in which this process was both thought and carried out. The overall result is a model of contemporary relevant scholarship. - W. Arens in CHOICE It is engaging, well written, nicely illustrated, and devoid of jargon. Because so little social history has been written about Zanzibar, the book marks a major step forward in our understanding of the texture of urban life in Zanzibar...it is a fine book. - Erik Gilbert in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORICAL STUDIES ...this book is one of the most innovative studies of social change in colonial Zanzibar for a number of years. It is rich and nuanced in detail, while providing at the same time arguments of a more general nature, especially as regards the limits to the exercise of power, which will resonate throughout the field of African studies. ...The publishers, James Currey (Oxford) and Ohio University Press (Athens, OH) are to be congratulated for making it available to a wider readership. - Jan-Georg Deutsch in AFRICAN AFFAIRS Laura Fair's work, a rewarding study of the underclass in a colonial state, written from a female perspective, describes the process and means by which these different African peoples moved by stages to a new identity as Zanzibaris, an identity based in large part on the traditional Swahili culture of the East African coast...the work is both enjoyable to read and a very valuable contribution to underclass social history in a colonial setting. - Anthony Clayton in ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Her class social history in a colonial setting. - Anthony Clayton in ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Her work adds considerable richness and depth to the well-established histor

'It is engaging, well written, nicely illustrated, and devoid of jargon. Because so little social history has been written about Zanzibar, the book marks a major step forward in our understanding of the texture of urban life in Zanzibar...it is a fine book.' - Erik Gilbert in International Journal of African Historical Studies '...this book is one of the most innovative studies of social change in colonial Zanzibar for a number of years. It is rich and nuanced in detail, while providing at the same time arguments of a more general nature, especially as regards the limits to the exercise of power, which will resonate throughout the field of African studies...The publishers, James Currey (Oxford) and Ohio University Press (Athens, OH) are to be congratulated for making it available to a wider readership.' - Jan-Georg Deutsch in African Affairs 'Laura Fair's work, a rewarding study of the underclass in a colonial state, written from a female perspective, describes the process and means by which these different African peoples moved by stages to a new identity as Zanzibaris, an identity based in large part on the traditional Swahili culture of the East African coast...the work is both enjoyable to read and a very valuable contribution to underclass social history in a colonial setting.' - Anthony Clayton in English Historical Review '... Fair's excellent historical study of this island civilization during the 20th century. Her principal concern is with how the underclass, i.e., former slaves, particularly women, took advantage of the opportunities available to them to improve their social and economic status during the British colonial era... With exquisite detail, each lengthy chapter demonstrates the manner in which this process was both thought and carried out. The overall result is a model of contemporary relevant scholarship.' - W. Arens in Choice 'Her work adds considerable richness and depth to the well-established historiography of Swahili coastal society in East Africa' - Timothy Burke in American Historical Review '...a superb book. Perhaps most important, it puts the struggle of former slaves in centre stage and makes them the major actors in their struggles for self-respect. It also gives us feeling for the way some Africans lived in colonial Africa.' - Martin A. Klein in ARAS 'Laura Fair's uncommon, well-wrought book... On balance, this is an impressive book. Fair succeeds in marrying political and economic history with cultural narrative and analysis. For this reason, the book has much to tell us about how this type of study is done. As the grip of social history and political economy on African history is loosening, Fair's book will serve as a model to the way forward. More important, her work has a lot to tell us about Zanzibar's complex grid of social and cultural interactions. Nowhere is there a better depiction of a coastal cultural and identity system in ceaseless mutation.' - Kennel Jackson in H-Net 'Fair's central accomplishment, ...is to explore how ordinary men and women use leisure activities to humanize the colonial experience . The book is well researched and colorfully written... - Jonathon Glassman in African Studies Review

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available