Teso in Transformation: Peasantry and Class in Colonial Uganda, 1890-1927

328 Pages·1992·11.495 MB·English

by  Vincent

JOAN VINCENT
Tesoin
Teso in Transformation
The Political Economy of Peasant and Class
in Eastern Africa
Joan Vincent
“This approach to the development of the
political economy in a relatively little-
known region of Uganda during the period
when British rule was imposed over East
Africa is a unique contribution to what
may be called the ‘anthropology of colo¬
nial history.’” —William A. Schack
A major contention put forward in Teso
in Transjormation is that the history of Teso
can only be understood within the frame¬
work of the world capitalism system which
preceded colonialism into eastern Africa.
Upon African labor rested the industrial
revolution of nineteenth-century England;
upon British imperialism rested the peace
and social order of her industrial towns.
The story of Teso’s domination begins,
therefore, with Britain’s loss of American
cotton in 1865 and her search for new
sources of the fibre—white gold—upon
which her economy depended.
The specific case of Teso is placed with¬
in the context of the military and economic
needs of the emergent colonial dependency
and a detailed account is given of the meth¬
ods by which indigenous tribal and mainly
pastoral peoples were converted into a
peasantry producing cotton for the world
market. The destructuring of Teso’s in¬
digenous economy and, especially, its
trade, the introduction of cash crops, the
growth of small towns, and the simultan¬
eous development of a laboring class oc¬
curred within the space of one generation.
A distinctive feature of the study is its
handling of African ethnography within
Ijbtary^
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2020 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.0rg/details/tesointransformaOOOOvinc
Teso in Transformation
Teso District
Teso in Transformation
The Political Economy of Peasant and
Class in Eastern Africa
Joan Vincent
University of California Press
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 198Z by
The Regents of the University of California
(
Printed in the United States of America
123456789
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Vincent, Joan.
Teso in transformation.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
I. Teso, Uganda—Economic conditions, z. Peasantry-
Uganda—Teso—History. 3. Social classes—Uganda—
Teso—History. 4. Great Britain—Colonies—Africa—
History. I. Title.
HC870.Z7T478 330.9676T 80-28813
ISBN 0-520-04163-1
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vi
Acknowledgments vii
A Note on Orthography ix
Introduction i
1. The Uganda Protectorate 14
2. Bukeddi: The Moving Frontier 41
3. Teso Economy and Society on the
Eve of Conquest 62
4. Political Organization and Reaction to Conquest
5. Hegemony and Pacification; Primary and
Secondary Modes 106
6. The Colonial Establishment 141
7. Development and Underdevelopment 161
8. The Making of a Peasantry 189
9. Laboring Men: The Making of a Rural
Proletariat 212
10. Nascent Class in the World Economy 232
Glossary 263
Bibliography 265
Index 297
Figures and Tables
Figures
Frontispiece Teso District
1. Speke’s Map of i86z 19
2. Vandeleur’s Map of 1895 31
3. A Diagrammatic Representation of Teso History 78
4. Political Fields in Northern Teso on the
Eve of Conquest 83
5. Political Fields in Southern Teso on the
Eve of Conquest 87
6. The Conquest of Teso 97
7. Teso District, 1912 133
8. The Omadi-Kirk Land Sale Agreement, 1908 135
Tables
1. Census of Kumi District, 19ii 143
2. The Native Population of Teso District, 1921 146
3. Poll Tax in Teso District by Region, 1910-1927 153
4. Occupations of Male Natives in Teso, 1921 157
5. Religious Affiliations in Teso, 1921 159
6. Mill Hill Mission Records for Teso, 1913—1927 160
7. Cotton Sales in Kumi District, November 1909—
July 1912 165
8. Measures of Development by County and
Region, 1920 183
9. Deaths From Famine, January—June 1919 185
10. Statistics of Cotton Cultivation, Teso, 1909—1927 i
11. Statistics of Arable and Animal Husbandry, Teso,
1909-1927 197
12. Distribution of Luwalo by County and
Region, 1935 216
13. Salary Scales of Teso Chiefs, 1929 234