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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:British Administrators, Colonial Chiefs, and the Comfort of Tradition: An Example from Uganda
Author:Gartrell, Beverly
Year:1983
Periodical:African Studies Review
Volume:26
Issue:1
Period:March
Pages:1-24
Language:English
Geographic term:Uganda
Subjects:indirect rule
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
colonialism
History and Exploration
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/524608
Abstract:During the years of colonial rule in Uganda, the British used a hierarchy of appointed Africans to carry out day-to-day administration. The degree of continuity between this imposed colonial structure and precolonial political systems differed greatly from one part of the Protectorate to another. The present study focuses on the way in which British colonial officials perceived the bases of authority of their subordinate African officials, or 'chiefs', in two areas - Lango and Teso - where the people were formerly chief-less. While British officials' perceptions of their chiefs fluctuated over time there was a widespread assumption that the wide powers wielded by the appointed chiefs were based on custom, even in formerly acephalous areas, and that the colonial appointees were in some sense representative of the Africans they ruled. This 'misperception' can be seen as part of a process of cognitive readjustment on the part of British colonial officials which was necessary to maintain the system of beliefs that legitimated to the officials themselves their position and actions. Notes, ref.
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