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‘Half-London’ in Zambia: contested identities in a Catholic mission school: v. 27 (International African Library) - Softcover

Anthony Simpson

 
9780748618040: ‘Half-London’ in Zambia: contested identities in a Catholic mission school: v. 27 (International African Library)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 074861804X ISBN 13: 9780748618040
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2003

Synopsis

This book describes and analyses life in 'St Antony's', a Zambian Catholic boys' mission boarding school in the 1990s, using the context-sensitive methods of social anthropology. Drawing upon Michel Foucault's notion of the panoptic gaze, Anthony Simpson demonstrates how students are both drawn to mission education as a 'civilising process', yet also resist many of the lessons that the official institution offers, particularly with respect to claims of 'true' Christian identity and educated masculinity. The phrase 'Half-London' reflects the boys' own perception of their privileged but very partial grasp, in the Zambian context of acute socio-economic decline, of 'civilised' status. The book offers unparalleled detail and insight into the contribution of mission schooling to the processes of postcolonial identity formation in Africa. Its rich and compelling ethnography opens up a strong sense of everyday life within the school and raises compelling questions about identity in plural societies beyond the confines of St Antony's.

Anthony Simpson taught at the Zambian Catholic mission boys' boarding school from 1974 to 1997. He arrived in Zambia as an English teacher, but his involvement in the day-to-day life of St Antony's led him to an interest in anthropology and psychology.

Key Features

  • A lively account of African mission schooling , examining the process of postcolonial education
  • A practical demonstration of Michel Foucault's discussion of subjectivity and the invention of self
  • A detailed demonstration of religious plurality in an African setting

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Anthony Simpson taught at the Zambian Catholic mission boys’ boarding school from 1974 to 1997. He arrived in Zambia as an English teacher, but his involvement in the day-to-day life of St Antony’s led him to an interest in anthropology and psychology.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Publication date
2003
Language
English
ISBN 10 
074861804X
ISBN 13 
9780748618040
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
224