Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt (Perspectives on Southern Africa)

Perspectives on Southern Africa

by James Ferguson

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.

Genres: Anthropology, Africa, Economics, Nonfiction, History, Economic Development, Academic

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is James^^^Ferguson.

James Ferguson was an American anthropologist. He is known for his work on the politics and anthropology of international development, specifically his critical stance (development criticism). He was chair of the Anthropology Department at Stanford University. His best-known work is his book, The Anti-Politics Machine. He delivered the most prestigious lecture in anthropology, the Morgan Lecture, in 2009, for his work on basic income.
Ferguson earned his B.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University.

Reviews

[Sara Salem · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so interesting reading this because it focuses on the Zambia of the 50s-70s. When I lived there, in the 1990s, the country had completely changed. Industrialization had failed and there was widespread poverty and desperation. The copper mines in many ways have always been central to the Zambian economy and when Ferguson mentions that mine workers in the 60s could afford to travel to the UK for vacation it struck me just how major the changes have been.

It's a great book and I only have 2 reservations. One is that, because he is an anthropologist, there are points where the objectification of his informants is quite clear. I don't think this is related to him per se but to the disciplinary structure of anthropology itself. The second is that he doesn't give a lot of detail about Zambia's position in the global economy which it seems to me is necessary to a book like this.

[Zach]

Athropological case-study on Zambia in the wake of neoliberalism/corporate globalization. From the book... "the abjected, redlined spaces of decline and disinvestments in the contemporary global economy are as much a part of the geography of capitalism as the booming zones of enterprise and prosperity--they reveal less the outside of the system than its underbelly...disconnection and abjection occur within capitalism, not outside it."

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ferguson covers an anthropological exploration of urban mining culture in the Zambian Copperbelt amidst the ongoing economic decline into the 90s. I was worried because i felt it started a bit dry but eventually it took shape into a very personal and sensitive narrative that deeply discussed the cultural and social effects of what the onset and collapse of the “Industrial Revolution” and “development” of the country had on those working in the sectors leading them. Although this was published over 20 years ago, so much of the social climate can still be observed in the rural and urban areas. The idea that urbanization, and to some extent westernization, is a goal for many, which can be seen in the way parents send their children to boarding schools or to live with relatives in urban centers. However, even in the past two years, i have seen significant growth in industry and population in many of the towns and cities. Though i can’t comment empirically on the economic situations within them. It would be interesting to see an updated study.

[Brurce Mecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came from Indonesia where --although some may argue is undergoing progressive economic decentralization-- almost its entire wealth is concentrated in the capital. The rate of urbanization is palpable. Hence, I enjoyed the parallel in which Ferguson delineated the effect of city’s downward spiral economy to the shift of early rural's image, from being ‘heaven’, ‘nostalgic fantasy’, and ‘moral high ground’ towards ‘terrifying destination’ which was inundated by antagonism between urban workers and rural dependents –indirectly conflated self-blames toward Zambians’ identity.

[Mubanga]

I grew up on the Copperbelt province and went to school in Kitwe - so far this book is really intriguing it offers an academic (anthropology) spin on the "modernization" or "urbanization" of African settlers on the Copperbelt province. A really intriguing and insightful discussion of the two group "localists" and "cosmopolitans" and the issue of dualism as it relates to the culture on the Copperbelt.

[Ethan Harner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ferguson shows the falsity that is teleological modernization and industrialization. For the people of Zambia, modernization was but a fleeting period that is now looked upon with nostalgia. Brings an ethnographic approach to seeing modernity from all sides, even those dispossessed and discarded.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was one of the better ethnographies I've read. I enjoyed how he used the vignettes of the miners/locals/cosmopolitans to expand his theories.