Dissertation Research: Sociopolitical Identity in Herero Ritual

在多元社会中，特殊的视觉符号，如服饰，被许多人用来表示地位、地位、从属关系或阶级。虽然人类学家已经认识到，这是公开表达社会认同的一种常见方式，但很少有人注意到群体为什么会形成独特的风格，以及其他群体在社会和政治上对这些发展的反应。该项目分析了南部非洲Herero牧民中“国家乐队”准军事团体的最新发展。这些协会已经开始使用维多利亚时代和西方化的军事服装形式，作为在抵抗仪式中公开表达社会身份的工具。仪式中使用的物质文化将与区域社会政治背景和赫雷罗社会的变革相联系。这项研究将使我们能够更好地了解博茨瓦纳和纳米比亚部落群体使用的非暴力政治抵抗形式，同时展示物质文化和社会认同之间关系的动力。

Specialized visual symbols, such as dress, have been used by many peoples to denote rank, status, affiliation, or class in plural societies. While anthropologists have recognized that this is a common way to publicly express social identity, little attention has been paid to why groups develop distinctive styles and how other groups react socially and politically to these developments. This project analyzes recent developments in "National Band" paramilitary groups among the Herero pastoralists of southern Africa. These associations have begun to use Victorian and Westernized military forms of dress as vehicles for the public expression of social identity in resistance rituals. The material culture used in the rituals will be examined in relation to the regional sociopolitical context and transformations in Herero society. This study will enable us to better understand the nonviolent forms of political resistance in Botswana and Namibia used by tribal groups, while demonstrating the dynamics that underlie the relationship between material culture and social identity.