Define and Rule : Native as Political Identity /

Dubbed in 2008 as one of the world's top public intellectuals by readers of Prospect Magazine in the UK and Foreign Policy in the US, Mamdani (Columbia Univ.) justifies his reputation with this series of lectures focusing on the concept and consequences of colonial indirect rule. He argues that post-late-19th-century colonialism (especially British) changed focus from direct rule of conquered elites to one of indirect rule that created tribal identity and reified custom. "Colonial privilege took two forms: racial and tribal." Racial identity rested with cosmopolitan settler culture; tribal identities were established by demanding an ethnic historiography of native populations. Administrative practice then created tribal homelands discriminating in favor of "native tribes and against non-natives systematically," often creating postcolonial conflict. Using examples from Rome, Sudan, east-central Africa, India, and Julius Kambarage Nyerere's mainland Tanzania (as the positive response to indirect rule), Mamdani describes the contrasts between direct and indirect administrative rule and finds indirect rule one of not just defining but creating a nativism by dividing and ruling based on this artificial identity. This is a stimulating exploration and essential reading for the colonial and postcolonial historian, political scientist, and diplomat alike. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. R. M. Fulton Northwest Missouri State University