Matthew Shelley

Final Exam Essays

ANTH366
Dr. Smith

Essay 1

James Scott defined resistance, simply put, as “any act by a member

of a subordinate class that is or are intended to either mitigate or deny

claims made on that class by superordinate classes, or to advance its own

claims vis-a-vis those superordinate classes.” The meaning behind this is

simply any act which will in some way help relieve the sacrifice and

limitation put upon that class level by a 'superior' class. Societies around

the world and throughout history have exalted the resistor, those people

who would attempt to circumvent or outright usurp the influence of the

superordinate both in fact as well as in story and fable.

The ways in which to express resistance is manifold, and finds its way

into peasant folk culture readily and pervasively. Myths and stories develop

worldwide based on ideas of resistance: cunning, evasion, roguish nobility.

In western culture this is perhaps best represented by the character of Robin

Hood. In chapter 10 of Robbins' text it also makes references to Br'er Rabbit

of American descent, as well as the Malaysian Sang Kancil, both of which are

cunning creatures and embody the notion of resistance, without crossing

over into outright revolt.

The actual practice of resistance is often more subtle. The ultimate

goal of resistance is rarely, if ever, a complete overthrow of the government

or power class, rather to be permitted to live their traditional lives in relative

peace, free from their perceived oppression. The desire is simply to survive.

This can most readily be applied in simple gossip or character assault.

Not just any gossip will do, but specific, targeted assaults most often

applied against the rules that the targets themselves helped to erect. In the

United States this is most obviously represented by the Civil Rights

Movement of the 1960's, where a country that proclaimed to be based on

concepts of freedom and equality would subjugate its citizenry with ethical

contradictions like racial segregation.

When the “Green Revolution” came to Sedaka, some poor became

wealthier (although still poor by Malaysian standards) and many poor simply

became poorer. Applied gossip of course was used against the newly rich.

Theft of rice to feed the hungry was justified as a substitute for the charity

on which the poor would have relied. In this situation however, a further

step was required, sabotage. Harvester combines and other agricultural

equipment was systematically destroyed.

None were fighting to control the government or overthrow a

bourgeois class, and by definition a peasant resistance is modest in its ideals

and desires, simply a desire to continue to live and exist in their traditional

ways without having to sacrifice their existence or their rights completely to

an unjust authority.
 Essay 2

The violent uprising of the Mau Mau movement in Kenya can easily

trace its roots to the colonial influence of the 19 th century. In 1884, Britain

and Germany had economically 'carved' eastern Africa to their own needs,

wholly ignoring the social and tribal connections of the indigenous people.

Kenya was entirely under British rule at the dawn of the 20 th century.

Between ruthless military actions and the spread of disease, Kenyan deaths

ranged from 50 to 95% of the population.

In this atmosphere, Britain encouraged its citizenry to settle in the now

empty lands of eastern Africa in 1902. The largest cultural group of Kenya,

the Kikuyu, were primarily horticulturalists and sedentary pastoralists. They

saw the British invasion rightly as a threat to their existence, and began

attacking settlers and resisting the British military might, to no avail.

Advertising in England painted a picture of prosperity and a golden land ripe

for the plucking in Kenya, attracting settlers from Europe as well as South

Africa.

These newly settled regions would of course require manual labor to

work the lands, and the Kikuyu were resistant to work for wages.

Conceptually, the British perceived the Africans as barely a step above

savages, but made docile and loyal by the presence of enlightened European

civilization. To ensure the labor of the Africans, the government introduced

a hut and poll tax, forcing them to work for wages to afford their taxes.
Meanwhile, they prevented them from producing any cash crops including

coffee and maize, as well as forcing them to wear a kipande, a pass that

bore their name, tribe, work history, and other personal information

including photographs later. Any white could ruin future work prospects by

writing negative work reviews onto the kipandes of individuals they

perceived as “lazy” or “arrogant”.

To aid in government control, the British assumed, wrongly, that all

tribes must have a chief or similar individual leader. They placed their own

chiefs onto the Kikuyu, a mediator between the white government and the

Africans who were now the labor force. These chiefs had absolute authority

over their subordinates, power of property, power to punish, power of life

and death. Any dissent was met with canings or immediate execution.

Simultaneously, the British trained Africans to staff their own police force,

under white officers, creating an African aristocracy loyal to the British with

total power over the populace.

Between 1920 and 1950, the settlers attempted to make the Kikuyu

entirely dependent on the white population, removing their lands and

livestock. The colonial government passed legislation in 1937 to give the

settlers near total control over the labor force, which they quickly used to

eliminate most Kikuyu livestock and increase their yearly workday

requirement from 180 to 270 days. In addition, settlers could claim any

Kikuyu crop, take livestock, anything to ensure they would become

dependent wage laborers.

The Mau Mau rebellion began in 1952, made up of disposed farmers

and urban dwellers who had attempted to escape to Nairobi to maintain

some level of independence, in vain. Resistance was attempted as much as

possible, women refused to work on government projects, labor unions

attempted strikes. The Mau Mau Oath quickly became a point of pride

amongst resistors, and a point of hatred for the British. The concept of an

oath is strongly intertwined in Kikuyu culture, believed to cause death if

broken. The Mau Mau Oath began ostensibly as a promise to stay true to

the movement, later evolving into an elaborate ceremony. This was then

villainized and demonized by the British media, placing all blame for the

movement entirely on the oath itself, ignoring work, living, and economic

conditions under which the Kikuyu had to attempt subsistence.

In reality, the British had systematically created a powder keg in the

region, and then ignored, placing the blame entirely on an abstract oath.

This created an inquisitorial air in Kenya, police and military seeking out and

arresting tens of thousands accused of aiding the Mau Mau and giving or

taking the oath. Jomo Kenyatta, who would later be the first Kenyan

president, was thought of as the “Evil Genius” behind the movement, but

was really kept entirely out of its actual body, due to his European

connections and preference for peaceful negotiations.

By 1953, 30,000 members had joined the movement, living and hiding
in nearby forests, 3,000 of which were an active army. Arms had been

outlawed for Africans long before, so firearms were procured by murdering

individual police, then later assaulting police stations. Despite this, the

rebels were not armed enough to mount a major assault on British military

might, instead relying on hit-and-run tactics, targeting symbolic buildings

and structures.

The assassination of Senior Chief Waruhiu caused the government to

declare a 'state of emergency', and immediately arrest Jomo Kenyatta as the

mastermind. By 1953, over 3,000 Mau Mau had been killed, a thousand

captured, and nearly 100,000 supporters had been arrested. The forest

home of the Mau Mau proved difficult terrain for the British forces, resorting

to digging a fifty-mile-long ditch between the forest, filled with barbed wire

and sharpened bamboo sticks, dug by forced Kikuyu women, children, and

elderly, under the supervision of loyal chiefs. The British then bombarded

the forest from the air using small airplanes, dropping a total of 50,000 tons

of explosives and expending 2 million rounds of ammunition strafing the

forest.

Following the forest assault, British forces then rounded up 1 million

Kikuyu and forced them into internment camps. Within these fenced camps,

surrounded by barbed wire, a witch hunt began, seeking to 'purify' the

Kikuyu of their oaths, thinking this would be all it took to return them to

docile laborers for the settlers lands. The capture of Mau Mau leader Dedan
Kimathi brought an end to the organized resistance in 1956, but the camps

continued to operate years later.

In 1959, 11 Kikuyu were brutally murdered by guards, despite their

attempts to cooperate. When the officer in charge claimed they drank

polluted water and that was their cause of death, an outcry began to be

heard from England, leading to canceling the state of emergency and a

release of the captives. 11 deaths did what 11,000 deaths could not.

Due to economic hardships in Britain, interest in continued efforts in

Africa diminished. A plan was developed to turn Kenya into a parliamentary

democracy, decades before the white settlers had predicted. On December

12, 1963, Kenya gained its independence with Jomo Kenyatta at its head. A

policy of “Forgive and Forget” was pursued, attempting to move on and

begin integrating the myriad peoples of the young country, but the members

of the Mau Mau movement were largely forgotten, the lands they had hoped

to reclaim were never given back, their positions taken away. Kenyatta was

severely criticized, and the Mau Mau attempted to find a new home in the

political realm for their ideology.

Today, Kenya has an overabundance of population, a rich African

aristocracy living in the former white estates, and the poor remain poor in

the streets of Nairobi.

 Essay 3

The last 500 years has seen dramatic and unthinkable changes around

the world, the mass colonization by European powers of nearly every section

of the habitable Earth. This has created global super powers like Great

Britain and the United States, and created discord and unrest across the

globe. It seemed more or less a precarious situation, to say the least. The

20th century became the boiling point for so many seemingly disconnected

events, world wars, revolutions, cold wars, and economic control.

A revolt in Nicaragua was inevitable in the early 20th century. A self

sustaining government without interest in its people, growing foreign

influence and domestic struggle, it was just a matter of time. It wasn't until

1979 that the revolution gained enough momentum to emerge victorious.

However, this new government was not what the United States deemed

appropriate. Not out of care for the Nicaraguan people, not out of desire to

see the nation successfully integrate into a capitalist market. The United

States only real interest in the new government of Nicaragua was only that it

was communistic, and America didn't like communism. It wasn't even

simply that they had a different economic ideology, but they may ally

themselves with the Soviet Union, the real enemy of the United States

thanks to 40 years of cold war. Outright war could not be fought due to the

enormous size of these super blocs, so instead smaller, proxy wars would be

waged for various reasons and in various places.

 Nicaragua, in Central America, small and relatively powerless, and to

this day the poorest nation in Central America, now was the battleground for

United States interests. Dissenters from the old regime were united and

armed by American CIA, given free reign to terrorize the countryside to

attempt to thwart the new power.

Colonial giants like Great Britain carved up huge sections of continents

for their economic playground. Their empire stretched around the world, a

power unlike any other in human history. Countless power struggles have

been fought in lands they once controlled. In essay 2 I discussed the history

of Mau Mau movement in Kenya, a direct result of British involvement, and a

revolt which was dealt with by that same superpower.

After World War II, when Britain relinquished control on many of its

colonies and protectorates, it left a power vacuum which has lead to discord

and violence through to today. The establishment of the nation of Israel,

and the subsequent expulsion of Palestinians from those same lands, is a

direct result of British involvement and their attempts to divide the area up

for the varied groups it had promised the land to.

Revolutions are not caused only by super powers like Great Britain or

Russia. Revolutions are caused by imbalances, the idea that one person is

better than another, which is what these great powers have also brought

forth, the idea that they are better and more deserving than every other

region of the world, so much so that they went so far as to involve

themselves in the running of those regions, be it through colonialism,

political or economic influence, or outright military action.