Traders and trade in colonial Ovamboland, 1925-1990 : elite formation and the politics of consumption under indirect rule and apartheid / Gregor Dobler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dobler, Gregor, 1971- author.

Series:

Basel Namibia studies series ; 8.

Basel Namibia Studies Series, 2296-6986 ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stores, Retail--Namibia--Owambo--History--20th century.

Stores, Retail.

Merchants--Namibia--Owambo--History--20th century.

Merchants.

Owambo (Namibia)--Commerce--History--20th century.

Owambo (Namibia).

Namibia--Politics and government--1946-1990.

Namibia.

Namibia--Economic conditions--20th century.

Namibia--Social conditions--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (282 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Basel, Switzerland : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2014.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Taking the history of trade and of traders as its subject matter, this book offers the first economic history of northern Namibia during the twentieth century. It traces Namibias way from a rural, largely self-relying society into a globalised economy of consumption. This transformation built on colonial economic activities, but it was crucially shaped by local traders, a new social elite emerging during the 1950s and 1960s. Becoming a trader was one of the few possibilities for black Namibians to gain monetary income at home. It was a pathway out of migrant labour, to new status in the local society and often to prosperity. Politically, most traders occupied a middle ground: content of their own social position, but intent on political emancipation from colonial rule. Economically, their energy and business acumen transformed northern Namibia into an increasingly urban consumer society. The development path they chose, however, depended too much on the colonial reserve economy to remain sustainable after 1990. Their legacy still shapes spatial and social structures in northern Namibia, but most traders businesses have today closed down. By telling the history of the rise and decline of traders and trade in northern Namibia, this book is thus also a reflection on the conundrums of economic development under conditions of structural inequality.

Contents:

Cover; Title page; Copyright page; Contents; Acknowledgment; Introduction; A short literature review; Trade and consumption; Modern elites; Civil society; Structures and agency in domination; Ovamboland: a short geographical and historical outline; Terminology, Methods, Sources; The book's story line; 1. The early years: from itinerant traders to monopoly stores; The era of trade expeditions and mission trade (1850-1925); Missionary trade; Migrant workers; Early attempts to open stores; The establishment of the first stores; 2. The monopoly stores, 1925-1952

Institutional history of the monopoly stores Trade organization and shopping; Turnover; Getting supplies to Ovamboland; Trade and the administration; 3. The first locally owned stores, 1937-1955; The pioneer: Simon Galoua in Ombalantu; Population growth and settlement expansion after 1927; The first wave of new traders, 1951-55; Why Stores?; 4. From indirect rule to liberation war: Ovamboland 1948-1978; Modernizing the administration, 1948-1978; Changing South African Policies; Ovamboland administration under apartheid; Apartheid development policy; Liberation movement and guerrilla war

5. Traders in a modernizing society Three biographies of early traders; Types of stores; Turnover; Stock and supplies; The social role of traders; Credit and traders' networks; 6. Stores and spatial organization after 1950; "Piccanins with guns" - Ondangwa in 1950; The geography of stores, 1950-1965; Central Ukwanyama: development stalled by the war; Small towns: New centers in the rural areas; Ondangwa and Oshakati: the new towns; Frontier spaces: Social life in the new towns; 7. Taking sides? Traders and politics during the liberation war; Traders between old and new elites

Profiting or dying: Traders in war Traders as development partners for a modernizing administration; Civil society or uncivil despotism?; Conclusion; Trade in central-northern Namibia after 1990; Colonial domination and local elites in Ovamboland; Homeland development and economic structures; Consumption, trade and social order; Entrepreneurship, dependency and economic structures; Annex: Price List Ondjodjo and Omafo 1941; List of Illustrations; References; Index; Back cover

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9783905758566

3905758563

OCLC:

898755740