10 - Mafeje and Langa: The Start of an Intellectual’s Journey
Corresponding Author(s) : John Sharp
Africa Development,
Vol. 33 No. 4 (2008): Africa Development: Special Issue Public Sector Reforms in Africa
Abstract
Drawing on material in the Wilson papers in the University of Cape Town ar- chives, this article reviews the contribution Archie Mafeje made to Monica Wilson’s research project in Langa (Cape Town, South Africa) in the early 1960s. It also discusses the character of the relationship between Wilson and Mafeje that emerged in the course of his contribution to the project, showing how a warm and respectful relationship was sustained through the difficult period of the late 1960s, and into the 1970s when Mafeje reformulated his arguments relating to Langa and his assessment of liberal, ‘assimilationist’ South African anthropology. The article concludes by drawing out some of the wider implica- tions of this episode of intellectual history, seeking to contextualise the antipa- thy towards anthropology that Mafeje expressed in later years.
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- Jabavu, N., 1960, Drawn in Colour: African Contrasts. London: John Murray.
- Kayser, R. & Adhikari, M., 2004, ‘Peasant and Proletarian: A History of the African Peoples’ Democratic Union of South Africa’, Kleio, 36: 5–27.
- Mafeje, A., 1975, ‘Religion, Class and Ideology in South Africa’, in M. Whisson &
- M. West (eds). Religion and Social Change in Southern Africa: Anthropological Essays in Honour of Monica Wilson. Cape Town: David Philip & London: Rex Colling, pp. 164–84.
- Mafeje, A., 1998a, ‘Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or End of an Era?’, African Sociological Review, 2(1): 1–43.
- Mafeje, A., 1998b, ‘Conversations and Confrontations with my Reviewers’, African Sociological Review, 2(2): 95–107.
- Magubane, B., 1973, ‘The “Xhosa in Town” Revisited: Urban Social Anthropology – A Failure in Theory and Method’, American Anthropologist, 75(5): 1701–15.
- Mayer, P. (with I. Mayer), 1963, Townsmen or Tribesmen: Conservatism and the Process of Urbanisation in a South African City., Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
- Whisson, M. & West, W. (eds), 1975, Religion and Social Change in Southern Africa: Anthropological Essays in Honour of Monica Wilson. Cape Town: David Philip & London: Rex Collings.
- Wi son, M. & Mafeje, A., 1963, Langa: A Study of Social Groups in an African Township. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
References
Jabavu, N., 1960, Drawn in Colour: African Contrasts. London: John Murray.
Kayser, R. & Adhikari, M., 2004, ‘Peasant and Proletarian: A History of the African Peoples’ Democratic Union of South Africa’, Kleio, 36: 5–27.
Mafeje, A., 1975, ‘Religion, Class and Ideology in South Africa’, in M. Whisson &
M. West (eds). Religion and Social Change in Southern Africa: Anthropological Essays in Honour of Monica Wilson. Cape Town: David Philip & London: Rex Colling, pp. 164–84.
Mafeje, A., 1998a, ‘Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or End of an Era?’, African Sociological Review, 2(1): 1–43.
Mafeje, A., 1998b, ‘Conversations and Confrontations with my Reviewers’, African Sociological Review, 2(2): 95–107.
Magubane, B., 1973, ‘The “Xhosa in Town” Revisited: Urban Social Anthropology – A Failure in Theory and Method’, American Anthropologist, 75(5): 1701–15.
Mayer, P. (with I. Mayer), 1963, Townsmen or Tribesmen: Conservatism and the Process of Urbanisation in a South African City., Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Whisson, M. & West, W. (eds), 1975, Religion and Social Change in Southern Africa: Anthropological Essays in Honour of Monica Wilson. Cape Town: David Philip & London: Rex Collings.
Wi son, M. & Mafeje, A., 1963, Langa: A Study of Social Groups in an African Township. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.