M. Larmer, E. Guene, B. Henriet, I. Peša, R. Taylor (eds.), 'Across the Copperbelt: Urban & Social Change in Central Africa’s Borderland Communities'

cover image

The Central African Copperbelt has been central to the study of modernisation and rapid social and political change in Africa. This volume expands on earlier studies by examining the mining communities of Katanga (DR Congo) and Zambia, on both sides of the border, from pre-colonial history to the present and encompassing diverse economic, social and cultural identities and activities. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the contributors explore the Copperbelt’s sense of identity – expressed in comic strips, football matches and religious teaching, the communities’ precarious and inventive ways of living, and the processes and impact of urbanisation and development, environmental degradation and changing gender relations.

The volume is available Open Access in perpetuity - download PDF file. The physical version of the book will be published in June 2021. See link to publisher’s website

This book is based on research that is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no: 681657): ‘Comparing the Copperbelt: Political Culture and Knowledge Production in Central Africa’

Introduction - Enid Guene and Benoît Henriet and Miles Larmer and Iva Pesa and Rachel Taylor

PART 1: MICRO-STUDIES OF URBAN LIFE
Beyond Paternalism: Pluralising Copperbelt Histories - Iva Pesa and Benoît Henriet
Being a Child of the Mines: Youth Magazines and Comics in the Copperbelt - Enid Guene
Divergence and Convergence on the Copperbelt: White Mineworkers in Comparative Perspective, 1911 - 63 - Duncan Money
Football on the Zambian and Katangese Copperbelts: Leisure and Fan Culture from the 1930s to the Present - Hikabwa D. Chipande
Beware the Mineral Narrative: The Histories of Solwezi Town and Kansanshi Mine, Northwestern Zambia - Rita Kesselring

PART 2: THE LOCAL COPPERBELT AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Kingdoms and Associations: Copper's Changing Political Economy during the Nineteenth Century - David M. Gordon
Of Corporate Welfare Buildings and Private Initiative: Post-Paternalist Ruination and Renovation in a Former Zambian Mine Township - Christian Straube
From a Colonial to a Mineral Flow Regime: The Mineral Trade and the Inertia of Global Infrastructures in the Copperbelt - Hélène Blaszkiewicz
Houses Built on Copper: The Environmental Impact of Current Mining Activities on "Old" and "New" Zambian Copperbelt Communities - Jennifer Chibamba Chansa

PART 3: PRODUCING AND CONTESTING KNOWLEDGE OF URBAN SOCIETIES
"The British, The French and even the Russians use these Methods": Psychology, Mental Testing and (Trans)Imperial Dynamics of Expertise Production in Late Colonial Congo - Amandine Lauro
Historical Knowledge Production at the University of Lubumbashi (1956 - 2018) - Donatien Dibwe dia Mwembu
The Decolonisation of Community Development in Haut Katanga and the Zambian Copperbelt, 1945 - 1990 - Miles Larmer and Rachel Taylor
Reimagining the Copperbelt as a Religious Space - Stephanie Lämmert

The volume is edited by members of the Comparing the Copperbelt project

Miles Larmer, PrincipaI Investigator

Enid Guene, Research Associate in Cultural History

Iva Pesa (Groningen), Research Associate in Environmental History (Jan 17-Sep 19)

Benoit Henriet (VUB), Research Associate in the History of Haut Katanga (DRC) (Jun 17-Sep 18)

Rachel Taylor, Research Associate in the History of Haut Katanga (DRC)

 

JUNE 2021 | 414 PAGES | JAMES CURREY | OPEN ACCESS

ISBN 978-1-84701-266-1 (PAPERBACK)

ISBN 978-1-80010-148-7 (ePDF)

The volume is available Open Access in perpetuity - download PDF file.