"An Interesting Experiment": Kibangile and the Quest for Chiefly Legitimacy in Kongolo, Northern Katanga, 1923-1934

"An Interesting Experiment": Kibangile and the Quest for Chiefly Legitimacy in Kongolo, Northern Katanga, 1923-1934

Author: 
Loffman, Reuben
Publisher: 
African Studies Centre, Boston University
Date published: 
2017
Record type: 
Journal article
Region: 
Africa
Central Africa
Journal Title: 
The International Journal of African Historical Studies
Source: 
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2017, pp. 461-477
Subject: 
WITCHCRAFT
Governments' Legitimacy
DECENTRALIZATION
GOVERNMENTS
VIOLENCE
Abstract: 

The article explores the story of a violent witch-finding movement known as Kibangile, that took root in the Kongolo territory in the former Katanga province southeast of the Belgian Congo in April 1934. It discusses the three inter-related general meanings of Kibangile, one is identified as an apparatus used by local leaders to extract confessions from suspected witchcraft. It argues Mahmood Mamdani's historical model of decentralized despotism in which chiefs were insulated by violence.

Language: 
English
Catagory URL: 
http://www.bu.edu/
Subject profile : 
Politics / Democracy / Governance / Human Rights / Election

CITATION: Loffman, Reuben. "An Interesting Experiment": Kibangile and the Quest for Chiefly Legitimacy in Kongolo, Northern Katanga, 1923-1934 . : African Studies Centre, Boston University , 2017. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2017, pp. 461-477 - Available at: https://library.au.int/frinteresting-experiment-kibangile-and-quest-chiefly-legitimacy-kongolo-northern-katanga-1923-1934