'Clining to the chiefs': some contradictions of colonial rule in Basutoland, c. 1890-1930

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Book chapter

Title:	'Clining to the chiefs': some contradictions of colonial rule in Basutoland, c. 1890-1930
Author:	Kimble, Judy
Book title:	Contradictions of accumulation in Africa: studies in economy and state
Year:	1985
Pages:	25-69
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Lesotho United Kingdom
Subjects:	colonization political economy traditional rulers
Abstract:	The first section of this paper deals with Moshoeshoe's Sotho kingdom from c. 1830 to its annexation by the Cape Colony in 1868, and the ensuing decade of Cape colonial rule. The second section concerns British colonial domination from c. 1890 to 1930, during which the key parameters of the political relations and struggles of the later colonial period were established. This account of the genesis of the colonial State demonstrates the initial ambivalence of British rule in Basutoland and suggests how this stamped the character of the political alliance between senior chiefs and colonial officials. The institutional content of political articulation is then explored, with particular reference to the areas of utmost concern to all parties: the courts and taxation. The nature of production relations and class formation is indicated to show how the development of the colonial State was tied to the entrenchment of the system of migrant labour. Bibliogr., notes.