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Expectations of Modernity
Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt
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James Ferguson
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
1999
About this book
Once lauded as the wave of the African future, Zambia's economic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s was fueled by the export of copper and other primary materials. Since the mid-1970s, however, the urban economy has rapidly deteriorated, leaving workers scrambling to get by. Expectations of Modernity explores the social and cultural responses to this prolonged period of sharp economic decline. Focusing on the experiences of mineworkers in the Copperbelt region, James Ferguson traces the failure of standard narratives of urbanization and social change to make sense of the Copperbelt's recent history. He instead develops alternative analytic tools appropriate for an "ethnography of decline."
Ferguson shows how the Zambian copper workers understand their own experience of social, cultural, and economic "advance" and "decline." Ferguson's ethnographic study transports us into their lives—the dynamics of their relations with family and friends, as well as copper companies and government agencies.
Theoretically sophisticated and vividly written, Expectations of Modernity will appeal not only to those interested in Africa today, but to anyone contemplating the illusory successes of today's globalizing economy.
Ferguson shows how the Zambian copper workers understand their own experience of social, cultural, and economic "advance" and "decline." Ferguson's ethnographic study transports us into their lives—the dynamics of their relations with family and friends, as well as copper companies and government agencies.
Theoretically sophisticated and vividly written, Expectations of Modernity will appeal not only to those interested in Africa today, but to anyone contemplating the illusory successes of today's globalizing economy.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: James Ferguson
James Ferguson is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development," Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (1990). He is also coeditor, with Akhil Gupta, of Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science (California, 1997) and Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology (1997).
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
ix -
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List of Tables
xi -
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List of Cases
xiii -
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Acknowledgments
xv -
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1. The Copperbelt in Theory
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2. Expectations of Permanence
38 -
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3. Rural Connections, Urban Styles
82 -
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4. "Back to the Land"?
123 -
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5. Expectations of Domesticity
166 -
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6. Asia in Miniature
207 -
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7. Global Disconnect
234 -
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Postscript: December 1998
255 -
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Appendix: Mineworkers' Letters
259 -
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Notes
269 -
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References
295 -
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Index
321
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 5, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780520922280
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
343
eBook ISBN:
9780520922280
Keywords for this book
african history; cultural history; 1960s; 1970s; economy; cultural studies; african culture; zambia; economic boom; finance; precious metals; exports; copper; urban; labor; modernity; copperbelt; analysis; scholarly; zambian culture; social studies; global economy; global; international; money; economics; ethnography; african studies; urban economy; africa; academic
