Pan-Africanism in the 21st Century

Ethnicity vs tribalism: Interview with Dr Enocent Msindo

Reprinted from The Zimbabwean at Kalanga.Org

Dr Enocent Msindo, you were born in Zimbabwe, got your PhD at Cambridge and are now a Senior Lecturer in African History at Rhodes University, South Africa. What drew you to history in the first place?

My interest in History began over two decades ago when I was a Secondary school student, precisely in form two when a very engaging teacher taught us in our first term about the transition from feudalism to capitalism (that old piece of World History!) and the ensuing class struggles.

Podcast: Enocent Msindo on his recent book 'Ethnicity in Zimbabwe'

Enocent Msindo

Africa Past & Present

Enocent Msindo (History, Rhodes U.) on his recent book Ethnicity in Zimbabwe: Transformations in Kalanga and Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990. He explores chiefly politics, class, language, and local sources to show the creation of ethnic identity in southwestern Zimbabwe was not solely the result of colonial rule or African elites. Ordinary Africans created and shaped an ethnic consciousness based on precolonial histories and 20th-century innovations, while much-neglected Kalanga identities resisted both colonial and Ndebele hegemony.