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This book examines the aftermath of eSwatini's fiftieth anniversary of independence and the COVID-19 pandemic, when many citizens of this last absolute monarchy in Africa took to their communities in unprecedented protests for democratic reform. For raising their voices, they were met with brutal police violence.
Customary Nationalism in Crisis offers snapshots of life in the Kingdom leading up to and in the aftermath of this epic moment, providing lessons to the world on the power of the government to shape our lives through the guise of custom and tradition and the power of ordinary people to resist this.
Through a range of research written primarily by scholar-nationals of eSwatini, the book shows how ordinary women, men, and young people redefine language and their identities-ethnic, racial, and gender-and question what it means to be a citizen, from their classrooms to clinics, and from their workplaces to the halls of Parliament.
Customary Nationalism in Crisis shows that, despite the persistence of authoritarianism, citizens also adapt over the long-term to survive and thrive.
This volume will appeal to scholars and students in African studies, political science, anthropology, sociology, and gender studies, as well as policymakers, human rights advocates, and development practitioners interested in southern Africa.
The chapters in this volume were originally published as a special issue of
Journal of Contemporary African Studies.
List of contents
Note for the Reader
Introduction - Customary nationalism in crisis: Protest, identity and politics in eSwatini
1. Dualism's dilemmas: Citizenship and migration in contemporary eSwatini
2. Race, politics and constitution-making in the negotiations leading to Eswatini's independence (formerly Swaziland) 1960-1968
3. Raising the profile of siSwati as a national language
4. Interrogating traditionalism: Gender and Swazi Culture in HIV/AIDS policy
5. Leadership and gender in Eswatini: Swati politics through the prism of Gelane Simelane Zwane, 1990-2018
6. Between collaboration and conflict: Patterns of interaction between labour and pro-democracy politics in post-colonial Eswatini, 1973-2014
7. Understanding the 2021 eSwatini school protests: Theoretical reflections of an educator
About the author
Vito Laterza is Associate Professor in the Department of Global Development and Planning, University of Agder, Norway, and was 2024-2025 SCAS-Nordic Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, Sweden. He is an anthropologist and media scholar writing and editing for a range of scholarly journals and presses and popular media.
Casey Golomski is Professor of Anthropology and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of New Hampshire, USA, and author of two books-God's Waiting Room: Racial Reckoning at Life's End and Funeral Culture: AIDS, Work and Cultural Change in an African Kingdom.
