Rumour under Conditions of Charismatic Leadership and Racial Political Tension

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Periodical article

Title:	Rumour under Conditions of Charismatic Leadership and Racial Political Tension
Author:	Bettison, David G.
Year:	1968
Periodical:	African Social Research
Issue:	6
Period:	December
Pages:	413-462
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Malawi
Subjects:	rebellions communication Politics and Government Ethnic and Race Relations
Abstract:	Independence in Malawi was preceded by a period of stress. The racial and political disturbances of February and March 1959 in what was then Nyasaland were caused by and gave rise to rumour circulating among Africans as well as Europeans. This study deals with this rumour and its effects on the decisions of people and is concerned with the nature of the social uncertainties surrounding the individual, in this case Dr. Hastings Banda, and the relation of these uncertainties to the course of events and to the rumour circulating among members of the opposed parties, the African National Congress in Nyasaland and the Protectorate or Territorial Government supported by the Federal and British Governments. The two main sections of the study 1) The development of the situation: prelude to rumour and 2) Rumour during the crisis are followed by an elaborate discussion of the subject matter. Ref.