Underdevelopment and Class Formation in Ovamboland, 1845–1915
Underdevelopment and Class Formation in Ovamboland, 1845–1915
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奥万博兰的欠发达和阶级形成，1845 年至 1915 年
DOI：
10.1017/s0021853700014316
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发表时间：
1975
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
R. Moorsom
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
W. Clarence;R. Moorsom
奥万博人和他们的恩昆比邻居生活在一个洪泛平原上，这个平原被安哥拉和纳米比亚之间目前的边界人为地分割开来。从世纪中期到第一次世界大战，他们经历了一个不发达和阶级形成的过程，这与西方社会商业关系的演变有关。1845年至1885年间，象牙贸易暂时丰富了奥万博人，并通过引进火器扩大了他们经济的生产基础。然而，与此同时，火器成为一种必需品，从而形成了对西方社会的永久依赖。大象被射杀后，牛取代象牙成为出口商品，但奥万博人自己的牛资源受到的压力在很大程度上是通过在安哥拉南部的系统性袭击而避免的。在世纪之交，自然灾害和葡萄牙人对袭击的有效抵抗使这一解决方案失败，并导致奥万博社会的普遍崩溃。这种剥夺的社会影响是极不均衡的，因为国王及其追随者通过严厉和任意的税收制度将其传递给社会中更脆弱的成员。因此，一个新的没有牛的阶层被迫转向纳米比亚和安哥拉的移民劳工。1915年的殖民征服将这种情况冻结为一种经常性的劳动力迁移的永久制度。
The Ovambo and their Nkhumbi neighbours live in a flood plain, which is artificially divided by the present frontier between Angola and Namibia. From the mid-nineteenth century until World War I, they underwent a process of underdevelopment and class formation linked to the evolution of commercial relations with western societies. Between 1845 and 1885 the ivory trade temporarily enriched the Ovambo and widened the productive base of their economy through the introduction of fire-arms. At the same time, however, fire-arms became a necessity, and thus forged permanent links of dependence on western societies. Cattle replaced ivory as an export item after the elephants had been shot out, but pressure on the Ovambo's own cattle resources were largely avoided by systematic raiding in southern Angola. After the turn of the century natural disasters and effective Portuguese resistance to raiding made this solution inoperative, and led to a general impoverishment of Ovambo society. The social impact of this impoverishment was extremely uneven, for the kings and their followers passed it on to the more vulnerable members of society through a system of harsh and arbitrary taxation. A new stratum of men without cattle was thus forced to turn to migrant labour in Namibia and Angola. The colonial conquest of 1915 froze this situation into a permanent system of recurrent labour migration.