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The Rise of an African Middle Class: Colonial Zimbabwe 1898-1965
Author(s): Michael West (Author)
- Publisher: Indiana University Press
- Publication Date: 19 Aug. 2002
- Language: English
- Print length: 344 pages
- ISBN-10: 0253340853
- ISBN-13: 9780253340856
Book Description
In this fine-grained history, Michael O. West focuses on how the unintended consequences of colonialism lead to the creation of an African middle class in Zimbabwe. Tracing Africans’ quest for social recognition from the time of Cecil Rhodes to Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence, West shows how some Africans were able to avail themselves of scarce educational and social opportunities in order to achieve some degree of upward mobility in a society that was hostile to their ambitions. Though relatively few in numbers and not rich by colonial standards, this comparatively better class of Africans challenged individual and social barriers imposed by colonialism to become the locus of protest against European domination.”The Rise of an African Middle Class” explores the origin, identity, and consciousness of the new ‘elite’ as well as their educational and residential patterns, political and social affiliations, and the community associations that provided structure and strength to their numbers. Eventually becoming the political and social leaders of their country, West points to Zimbabwe’s African middle class and their roles, interests, aspirations, and unity of purpose as a key factors in building the postcolonial democratic state. West’s extensive and original book lends unique perspective to the complex relations between colonisers and colonised.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Offers an extremely sophisticated, nuanced view of the social and political construction of an African middle class in colonial Zimbabwe.” -Elizabeth Schmidt “… the most important book to date on the origins and activities of the African elite in Southern Rhodesia… ” -John Higginson
About the Author
Michael West is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is co-editor (with William Martin) of Out of One, Many Africas: Reconstructing the Study and Meaning of Africa.
Michael O. West teaches in the Departments of Sociology and Africana Studies at Binghamton University. He is co-editor (with William G. Martin) of Out of One, Many Africas: Reconstructing the Study and Meaning of Africa. He has written widely on Zimbabwean and southern African history, and on the African diaspora.
