Antecedents and adaptations in the borderlands: a social history of informal socio-economic activities across the Rhodesia-Mozambique border with particular reference to the city of Umtali, 1900-1974
Date
2012-10-01
Authors
Duri, Fidelis Peter Thomas
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Abstract
This work explores the informal pursuits for a livelihood across the border separating the
Rhodesian town of Umtali and the Portuguese colony of Mozambique by Africans
marginalised by colonial rule during the period 1900-1974. Some of these activities pre-dated
the advent of European colonisation while others were improvised during the colonial period.
This study focuses on five forms of informal cross-border activities, namely: socio-cultural
interactions, irregular labour mobility and practices, the theft of property in Umtali and its
disposal in Mozambique, illicit alcohol brewing and commerce, and dagga trafficking.
Without overlooking the role of other social networks based on gender, class and generation,
it is the central contention of this thesis that family and kinship affiliations and dynamics
dating back to the pre-colonial period and those that prevailed, and at times forged after the
advent of colonisation, played a significant role in the development of informal cross-border
pursuits for a livelihood by marginalised Africans. These activities in turn, together with
other prevailing socio-economic dynamics, sometimes enhanced or destabilised family and
kinship solidarity. Without necessarily deconstructing other analytical tools such as gender,
class and generation, this thesis seeks to underline the importance of family and kinship
dynamics as a tool of analysis in the study of informal cross-border activities.
Description
Ph.D. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2012