Book
Social facts and fabrications: 'customary' law on Kilimanjaro, 1880-1980
Cambridge University Press • Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] • Published In 1986 • Pages: xvi, 397
By: Moore, Sally Falk.
Abstract
This book discusses the transformation of the way of life of the Chagga peoples of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Combining information from ethnographic fieldwork and court files, the book illuminates changes that have occurred in Chagga “customary laws” relating to land tenure, family life and social organization since the advent of colonial powers in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The discussion is framed with a conceptualization of “pre-colonial Chagga legal system as having two dimensions.” One includes all that came under the immediate direction of government and administration, the other the residual part left to the Chagga to administer. While the later provided for what became known as “customary law”, it did not represent the entire Chagga legal system. Furthermore, changes in the broad political order and related non-legal aspects of Chagga life had far reaching consequences for what was recognized as “customary law.” The book discusses the many consequences of these changes especially at the family and lineage levels. When many Chagga men began earning cash income from coffee selling and employment opportunities, for example, they used the money in ways that transformed previously functioning customs. These included strategically 'fabricating' customs associated with the buying and selling of cattle and land, bride wealth payment, inheritance, court fees, religious dues, etc.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2010
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2010
- Field Date
- 1968-1984
- Coverage Date
- 1886-1984
- Coverage Place
- Chagga country, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- Notes
- Sally Falk Moore
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 376-384) and index
- LCCN
- 85007897
- LCSH
- Law, Chaga
- Customary law--Tanzania--Kilimanjaro
- Chaga (African people)--Social life and customs