Wearing Cloth, Wielding Guns: Consumption, Trade, and Politics in the South Central African Interior during the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The deterministic aspects of this neo-Marxist argument have fallen into disrepute among Africanists, even while scholars follow some of its main contours. The argument is developed by reflecting on the social, military, political and economic implications of imported guns and cloth. Following a sketch of the changing dynamics of international politics and commerce that drove changes in the South Central African interior and connected the South Central African interior to the world economy during the nineteenth century, this chapter turns to the political economy particular to the import of guns and cloth and their South Central African uses. The chapter considers the instability and warlordism fostered by the supply of foreign imports. As foreign imports became more widespread, their impacts changed, depending on local patterns of production and demand. International imports could stimulate and feed into regional sites of production and trading networks or undermine them. Keywords: Africanists; economic implication; imported cloth; imported guns; military implication; neo-Marxist argument; political implication; social implications