Quarrying African Indigenous Political Thought on Governance: A Case Study of the Ndebele State in the 19th Century

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Periodical article

Title:	Quarrying African Indigenous Political Thought on Governance: A Case Study of the Ndebele State in the 19th Century
Author:	Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J.
Year:	2005
Periodical:	Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Volume:	4
Issue:	2
Pages:	449-470
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Zimbabwe South Africa
Subjects:	Matabele polity governance indigenous knowledge political philosophy History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Law, Human Rights and Violence
Abstract:	African indigenous political thought on governance and human rights has remained victim to mythology, Western stereotyping, colonization as well as African romanticization. The net effect has been that African styles of governance have either been stigmatized and reduced to a long night of savagery and violence or celebrated as a golden age of freedom and equality. The reality lies somewhere in-between these two erroneous views. This article re-examines the debate on governance in Africa by means of a case study of the Ndebele state (present-day Zimbabwe). Of special interest is the kind of governance style that the Ndebele constructed, the values that underpinned it, how it was operated and articulated, as well as the general political ideology of the Ndebele in the 19th century. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]