Felicitas Becker | University of Gent (original) (raw)

Papers by Felicitas Becker

Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 2020

This article traces the history of slavery and of post-slavery struggles for livelihood and statu... more This article traces the history of slavery and of post-slavery struggles for livelihood and status in the layout, the physical structures, and the social lives of three towns on the southern Swahili Coast: Kilwa, Mikindani, and Lindi. These towns were long surrounded by plantations that relied on the labor of enslaved people. In the first decades of the twentieth century, slave populations dissipated quickly. In towns, the colonial cash crop economy, voluntary ruralurban migration, and the decline of slave-owning elites combined to allow former slaves to assimilate and adopt new urbanite identities. Sufi orders played a central role in affording ex-slaves a respectable presence in town. Nevertheless, former slave owners and former slaves lived in different parts of these towns, former slaves' livelihoods were more precarious, and the imputation of slave origins remains offensive, even today. Indeed, the era of slavery still divides people and still engages the social imagination.

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2020

This paper examines how both rhetoric about custom and practices drawing on elements of deep-root... more This paper examines how both rhetoric about custom and practices drawing on elements of deep-rooted political culture remain relevant in post-colonial Tanzania. This is the case despite the Tanzanian government's aggressively modernising stance and the erasure of colonial-era 'traditional' chiefs after independence. The paper identifies three patterns. Firstly, witchcraft cleansing remains a rare flashpoint over which rural people are willing to defy officials, amid legislation that has barely moved on from the colonial period. Secondly, for defenders of certain practices, describing them as customary is a way to try to place them beyond criticism, while for officials it becomes a way to wash their hands of the attendant problems. Lastly, a performative political practice can be discerned in the interactions between rural populations, officials and development experts that resonate with descriptions of pre-colonial political encounters. By looking for local legitimacy in interactions with so-called elders, development experts have become arbiters of (pseudo-)traditional authority despite their modernising identity. These observations show that discourses about and practices drawing on the customary have become deeply imbricated with the political practices of the rural state.

The Journal of Religion in Africa, 2016

This paper offers a close examination of statements on patriarchal masculinity from three widely ... more This paper offers a close examination of statements on patriarchal masculinity from three widely traded sermon recordings produced in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It sets them in the context of Islamic reform, Muslim political discontent, and the consumption of sermon recordings in East Africa. Despite similar assertions on the need for men to protect and control women, in close reading the three preachers offer quite divergent characterisations of the patriarch’s methods, obligations, and entitlements within the household. The sermons show that Islamic reform in Zanzibar cannot be reduced to political discontent, and that it hearkens back to longstanding regional history. They also suggest that the concept of patriarchy is more relevant to the understanding of asymmetrical gender relations than recent discussion of Western gender relations has allowed, and highlight the centrality of bearing and rearing children as a site for both assertion and failure of patriarchal control. Lastly, they i...

Journal of Global History, 2008

Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this p... more Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this process typically focus on Muslim traders, proselytizing ‘holy men’, and the conversion of ruling elites, as the limited sources suggest. Yet it cannot be assumed that Islamization always made sense for elites as a power-enhancing stratagem, or that rulers or holy men were willing or able to shape the religious allegiances of commoners. In fact, studies of contemporary Islamic societies demonstrate the relative autonomy of commoners’ religious observance, and the tendency of elites towards accommodation. Evidence from a recently Islamized region in East Africa shows that, rather than following elite converts, ordinary villagers initiated rural Islamization. They learned from coastal Muslim ritual rather than scripture, and evoked Islam to challenge social hierarchies and assert a more egalitarian social ethos. The possibility of similar processes also exists in other sites of gradual Isla...

The Journal of African History, 2004

This article places the origins of the Maji Maji rebellion in Southeast Tanzania within the conte... more This article places the origins of the Maji Maji rebellion in Southeast Tanzania within the context of tensions between coast and interior, and between ‘big man’ leaders and their followers, which grew out of the expansion of trade and warfare in the second half of the nineteenth century. Without discounting its importance as a reaction against colonial rule, the paper argues that the rebellion was driven also by the ambitions of local leaders and by opposition to the expansion of indigenous coastal elites. The crucial role of the ‘Maji’ medicine as a means of mobilization indicates the vitality of local politics among the ‘stateless’ people of Southeast Tanzania.

African Affairs, 2006

In the Tanzanian country town of Rwangwa, a bitter confrontation has developed between Sufi Musli... more In the Tanzanian country town of Rwangwa, a bitter confrontation has developed between Sufi Muslims and Islamist reformers. The Islamists draw on Middle Eastern inspiration, but the conflict arises equally from local, regional and national context, and is cultural as well as religious and political. Situated in an economically and educationally disadvantaged region, access to land and trade forms the focus of conflicts between the young (Islamists) and the older (Sufis). Islamists criticize the closeness of Sufis to government, which they accuse of discrimination against Muslims. The main objects of debate, though, are ritual and scripture. The Islamists reject Sufi burial rites and appeal to their superior knowledge of the Quran to justify their stance, reinforcing and profiting from the ongoing transition from orality to literacy. While mainstream Muslim observers condemn the Islamists' aggressive posturing and opposition to authority, they accept their claim to superior learning and to possession of an Islamic alternative to western notions of progress. THIS ARTICLE ANALYSES a conflict between traditionalist Sufi Muslims and anti-Sufi Islamists, which I encountered during field work in a southern Tanzanian country town called Rwangwa. 1 It is a case study of a striking feature of Islamist movements: their ability to combine a fairly unchanging and consciously universalist message, presented in nearidentical form in sites as diverse as Egypt and Nigeria, with very specific local concerns. Islamists in Rwangwa expounded typical Islamist views, e.g. on returning to 'original' Islam as lived by the Prophet, and the importance of women's modesty. Yet, in other regards, their stances were improvised, eclectic and dependent on local, regional and national

African Affairs, 2013

This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere... more This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere in 1999. It argues that the ruling party uses rhetoric as a means of 'soft power', but also documents how this rhetoric, though geared towards legitimizing Nyerere's successors, employed tropes that were rejected by some people and were used by others to critique leaders who were perceived to lack the selfless integrity attributed to Nyerere. The article compares funerary songs by a government-sponsored band, popular at the time of Nyerere's death, with memories of Nyerere in rural areas in the early to mid-2000s. While the image of Nyerere in the funeral songs as a benign family patriarch writ large still persists, it coexists with strongly divergent constructions of Nyerere as an authoritarian ruler or a self-seeking profiteer. Moreover, the 'official', benign Nyerere has been employed not only by government and party faithful, but also by striking workers, opposition politicians, and critical newspapers as a measure of the shortcomings of his successors. The invocation of Nyerere as a paragon of an endangered ideal of virtue in public office indicates widespread anxieties towards a state that often disappoints but occasionally delivers, in unpredictable turns, and the limits of the government's ability to shut down dissent. THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXAMINATION of the views and attitudes expressed around the death in 1999 of Tanzania's first President, Julius Nyerere, and the memories of Nyerere in rural areas in the early to mid-2000s. It draws on interviews, informal conversations, and newspapers from the thirteen years since his death to analyse two phenomena. 1 One is the promotion by officials, and by state and private media, of a particular

Africa, 2009

Muslim radicalism in Tanzania has tended to be perceived as a political problem, and as part of a... more Muslim radicalism in Tanzania has tended to be perceived as a political problem, and as part of a trans-regional wave of Islamist movements. The present article instead seeks to demonstrate the connections between current debates among Tanzanian Muslims and long-standing ritual and social concerns, by highlighting debates on funerary practice. While these debates focus on the correct ritual process of burial (with reformists decrying elements of traditional practice as inappropriate innovation), their underlying concern is with the ability of the living to safeguard the well-being of the deceased. This concern, in turn, can be connected both to long-term social change and to the interaction between Muslim and indigenous religious notions. As propitiation of God supplants that of ancestors, the fate of the dead is increasingly construed as depending on the supplication of the living. Ultimately this religious debate is as concerned with society as with doctrine or ritual, and the opp...

Aids and Religious Practice in Africa, 2009

Journal of Religion in Africa, 2007

This paper examines Tanzanian Muslims' practical and discursive stances on AIDS in relation t... more This paper examines Tanzanian Muslims' practical and discursive stances on AIDS in relation to the context in which they are produced. The AIDS problematic is interacting with lively debates, as for the last two decades Muslim reformists have been demanding revisions to ritual practice and a more restrictive application of Muslim social norms. The state-sponsored central organisation for Tanzanian Muslims is viewed with distrust not only by reformist, but also many 'mainstream' Muslims, and there is no organisation to provide an inclusive forum for debate. Official AIDS education programmes reached provincial Muslims before the epidemic had become acute, and were initially greeted with the same formulaic, passive acceptance as many other state initiatives. Since AIDS deaths have become more frequent, recommendations for prevention have become the subject of intense debate. Understanding of the epidemic draws on local religious notions as well as Muslim teachings, and inv...

This paper examines why Muslim congregations have found it harder than Christian ones in Tanzania... more This paper examines why Muslim congregations have found it harder than Christian ones in Tanzania to engage with donors and aid organisations. Focusing particularly on HIV/AIDS control efforts, it argues that there are nevertheless some Muslim organisations and individuals that seek to position themselves as plausible aid recipients by adopting certain discursive and performative styles. While they have had some success, the process indicates that the formal procedures and expectations of donors function as a strong filter that limits their ability to interact with constituencies that do not conform to them.

The paper traces performative aspects in seemingly-bureaucratic actions and processes in colonial... more The paper traces performative aspects in seemingly-bureaucratic actions and processes in colonial and post-colonial rural development in Lindi, Tanzania. It argues that through this kind of performance, development is integrated into place-specific political relations and helps manage the relationship between provincial officials and rural constituencies that are less quiescent than is often assumed.

This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere... more This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere in 1999. It argues that the ruling party uses rhetoric as a means of 'soft power', but also documents how this rhetoric, though geared towards legitimizing Nyerere's successors, employed tropes that were rejected by some people and were used by others to critique leaders who were perceived to lack the selfless integrity attributed to Nyerere. The article compares funerary songs by a government-sponsored band, popular at the time of Nyerere's death, with memories of Nyerere in rural areas in the early to mid-2000s. While the image of Nyerere in the funeral songs as a benign family patriarch writ large still persists, it coexists with strongly divergent constructions of Nyerere as an authoritarian ruler or a self-seeking profiteer. Moreover, the 'official', benign Nyerere has been employed not only by government and party faithful, but also by striking workers, opposition politicians, and critical newspapers as a measure of the shortcomings of his successors. The in-vocation of Nyerere as a paragon of an endangered ideal of virtue in public office indicates widespread anxieties towards a state that often disappoints but occasionally delivers, in unpredictable turns, and the limits of the government's ability to shut down dissent.

The paper identifies parallels between debates on funerary ritual, in particular the practice of ... more The paper identifies parallels between debates on funerary ritual, in particular the practice of 'instructing' the dead on their interaction with the angels that will take their soul, in Tanzania on one hand and Aceh, Indonesia, on the other. It argues that they reflect similar anxieties among marginal rural populations about the reproduction of ordered sociality.

Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this p... more Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this process typically focus on Muslim traders, proselytizing 'holy men', and the conversion of ruling elites, as the limited sources suggest. Yet it cannot be assumed that Islamization always made sense for elites as a power-enhancing stratagem, or that rulers or holy men were willing or able to shape the religious allegiances of commoners. In fact, studies of contemporary Islamic societies demonstrate the relative autonomy of commoners' religious observance, and the tendency of elites towards accommodation. Evidence from a recently Islamized region in East Africa shows that, rather than following elite converts, ordinary villagers initiated rural Islamization. They learned from coastal Muslim ritual rather than scripture, and evoked Islam to challenge social hierarchies and assert a more egalitarian social ethos. The possibility of similar processes also exists in other sites of gradual Islamization.

Becoming Muslim in Mainland Tanzania, 1890-2000, 2008

Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 2020

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2020

The Journal of Religion in Africa, 2016

Journal of Global History, 2008

The Journal of African History, 2004

African Affairs, 2006

African Affairs, 2013

Africa, 2009

Aids and Religious Practice in Africa, 2009

Journal of Religion in Africa, 2007

This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere... more This article examines the changing uses of political rhetoric around the burial of Julius Nyerere in 1999. It argues that the ruling party uses rhetoric as a means of 'soft power', but also documents how this rhetoric, though geared towards legitimizing Nyerere's successors, employed tropes that were rejected by some people and were used by others to critique leaders who were perceived to lack the selfless integrity attributed to Nyerere. The article compares funerary songs by a government-sponsored band, popular at the time of Nyerere's death, with memories of Nyerere in rural areas in the early to mid-2000s. While the image of Nyerere in the funeral songs as a benign family patriarch writ large still persists, it coexists with strongly divergent constructions of Nyerere as an authoritarian ruler or a self-seeking profiteer. Moreover, the 'official', benign Nyerere has been employed not only by government and party faithful, but also by striking workers, opposition politicians, and critical newspapers as a measure of the shortcomings of his successors. The in-vocation of Nyerere as a paragon of an endangered ideal of virtue in public office indicates widespread anxieties towards a state that often disappoints but occasionally delivers, in unpredictable turns, and the limits of the government's ability to shut down dissent.

Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this p... more Many societies became Muslim gradually, without conquest by Muslim rulers. Explanations of this process typically focus on Muslim traders, proselytizing 'holy men', and the conversion of ruling elites, as the limited sources suggest. Yet it cannot be assumed that Islamization always made sense for elites as a power-enhancing stratagem, or that rulers or holy men were willing or able to shape the religious allegiances of commoners. In fact, studies of contemporary Islamic societies demonstrate the relative autonomy of commoners' religious observance, and the tendency of elites towards accommodation. Evidence from a recently Islamized region in East Africa shows that, rather than following elite converts, ordinary villagers initiated rural Islamization. They learned from coastal Muslim ritual rather than scripture, and evoked Islam to challenge social hierarchies and assert a more egalitarian social ethos. The possibility of similar processes also exists in other sites of gradual Islamization.

Becoming Muslim in Mainland Tanzania, 1890-2000, 2008