Scenes from African Urban Life: Collected Copperbelt Papers

Abstract

This collection of essays from the distinguished anthropologist, Arnold Epstein, examines life in the copperbelt townships of Zambia a decade before Independence. Subjects covered include the role of networks in urban social organisation; the emergence of the distinctive CiCopperbelti language of the towns; and the remarkable evangelical success of Jehovah's Witnesses. A chapter on the resurgence of beliefs in banyama, or vampires, is also included, as is a retrospective essay giving a personal account of Epstein's years of fieldwork in the Copperbelt. The introduction to the volume draws together the themes of the book, discusses the relation between Epstein's own work and that of other members of the 'Manchester School' and gives the genesis of each chapter and its theoretical basis.

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