‘Black Settlers’: Hybridity, Neoliberalism and Ecosystemic Change Among Tonga Farmers of Southern Zambia, 1964-2008 By Toby Leon Moorsom Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Program in History In conformity with the reQuirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Queen’s UniVersity Kingston, Ontario, Canada October 5, 2016 Copyright © Toby Leon Moorsom CC BY-NC-ND i Abstract This dissertation examines a process of indigenous accumulation among Tonga farmers in Zambia’s Southern Province. In the 1970s multiple authors concluded that capitalist farmers had emerged among Tonga agro-pastoralists, predominantly within private titled holdings. Relying on archival research, newspapers, secondary sources and extensive oral testimony this thesis fills a 35-year gap on the topic, providing insights into the social and environmental impacts of neoliberal policy among African peasants and capitalist farmers. In contrast to dominant narratives of the post- independence period, this study argues that Zambia did experience a developmental process post-independence, which saw significant achievements made in the agricultural sector, including the doubling of national cattle stocks. The data reveals a painful process of disarticulation beginning in the late 1980s. Following neoliberal adjustment, we observe significant heterogeneity in production systems, some regional specialization, and processes of migration. Most importantly, the thesis uncovers processes of overwhelming ecosystemic change that contributed to livestock epidemics of severe scale and scope. Amazingly, this went largely undocumented because of the simultaneous crisis of the state, which left the national statistics office and other state bodies incapable of functioning from the late 1980s into the 2000s. In response, the Zambian state has introduced a number of neodevelopmental initiatives in the sector, yet the lack of animal traction remained up to 2008 and agricultural production declined, while more capitalized farmers (largely white, and/or with foreign direct investment) have become more significant players in the country. This thesis provides compelling evidence to challenge dominant economic thinking of the Washington institutions as well as many of the common Marxian formulations. ii Acknowledgements By far the most memorable experiences in my life haVe been in Africa. My knowledge and appreciation of the continent were cultiVated during my undergraduate degree. This was largely thanks to the courses of DaVid Black, Jane Parpart, Timorthy Shaw and Phil Zachurnuck, who gaVe me the opportunity to study alongside many graduate students from across Africa. My focus on Zambia also began then, almost by accident as I was seeking a case study to examine the processes of democratic and economic liberalizations taking place across the continent in the 1990s. It was a fortuitous turn for me because Jane and Tim both had produced some of their seminal works on the country, thus providing an inspiring foundation to launch from. I would never have ended up in the PhD if I had not had the inspiring mentorship of them, along with the life-changing opportunity to study in the Master’s degree with John S. Saul. He is a prolific, rigorous and inspiring ‘actiVist-scholar’ who showed me it was possible to write in solidarity with those in Africa struggling for a better world. I faced many barriers bringing this thesis to completion. Had I known it would take more than a decade to complete, I am not sure I would haVe eVer taken it on. Life, however, works out in ways we cannot always predict. Some of my detours came out of difficult challenges and others fortunately came from joyous events. My participation in this degree has depended upon the support of a Variety of medical personnel. I was very fortunate to have had the care of a progressiVe general practitioner, Dr. Meredith Mackenzie. I am also indebted to all the administratiVe staff at Queens’ health facility and am particularly grateful to their former employee and my friend, Deborah Tracy, who made my times in the waiting room much friendlier. I felt extremely grateful to haVe had the care of Dr. Stephanie Baxter at the Hotel Dieu Ophthalmology clinic as she ensured my frustrating eyes were in the best shape possible. Not only is she an exceptionally knowledgeable and talented doctor, but she was also available for email consultations from Zambia. Lastly, I was also supported during the last phase of my degree by Dr. Mariam Deria, and others at the Ottawa CiVic Hospital. I owe thanks to the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of History at Queen’s for supporting this study and stretching policies to make accommodations. I am particularly grateful to Sandra Den Otter for her supportiVe role, first as Graduate Chair in the Department of History and then as Associate Dean in the School of Graduate Studies. I am also grateful to Monica Corbett for all the administratiVe frustrations she helped me through. Most importantly, I valued the essential Queen’s Graduate Award funding I receiVed. This included the additions of the Dorothy Warne Chambers Memorial Fellowship, the Keppel-Jones Award from the former Southern Africa Research Centre, and the Arts and Science Graduate Growth Funding. I may neVer haVe ended up at Queen’s if I had not followed Karen Cocq to Kingston for her Master’s degree. In fact, she is also partly responsible for bringing Zambia back into my life in the midst of my protracted Masters’ degree at York UniVersity. I am grateful for haVing shared some wonderful periods of my life with her as we fought the good fight. In addition to John S. Saul, I owe thanks to Dick Bryan and Bob Shenton for their help in getting me into the program. The PhD drastically changed the ways I think about development and human history. It was the greatest privilege to read classics of political economy in Bob Shenton’s Idea of Development seminar. This included the entirety of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations! My political economy analysis was also greatly enriched by the various deVelopment studies courses I worked in as a Teaching Assistantship for Marcus Taylor. In fact, the Global iii DeVelopment Studies program always proVided a secondary home for me, as I worked there and in the Department of History before I even started the PhD. I am thankful to DaVid McDonald, Paritosh Kumar and others who integrated me into the dynamic and enriching space. I am grateful to have maintained lasting friendships with a number of former students who haVe gone on to haVe exciting careers. I am also fortunate to have gained some academic mileage from the Research Assistant work I conducted for David McDonald. By far the most enriching aspect of the PhD came from my coursework on global environmental and agrarian history with Colin Duncan. In fact, I would say that if there are any moments of brilliance in this thesis they are inspired by his guidance and the insights I derived from the materials he presented in his seminars and the undergraduate course I worked in as a Teaching Assistant. Colin is a powerful, original thinker who reads with more breadth than anyone I have known. He is also intellectually generous, has a deep respect for his students, and opens up innumerable opportunities for their growth. Like Bob Shenton, he does not offer answers, but poses the Questions, presents the complications and pushes students to find answers themselVes. In turn, he always provided elaborate and useful feedback in a timely manner. I am fortunate to be able to consider Colin my friend. I began teaching as a course instructor in the second-year of my PhD. It was likely not a good career decision, but it was enriching and it helped me explore various topics dealt with in this thesis. I would eVentually teach in four different uniVersities, with many oVerlaps between them. One year I taught at the UniVersity of Toronto, Scarborough campus, Queens and Trent all in the same time. In total, I wrote 14 separate syllabi oVer the course of completing this degree. ObViously, there were large stretches of time where little of the thesis was getting done and a lot of course preparation was taking place. Administrators know they can pay us less as contract faculty, in part because the teaching process is most often Very enjoyable. It is a Very priVileged form of work, even when we, as a teaching underclass are systematically mistreated by the institutions we work within. Despite the insufficient remuneration and lack of professional development opportunities that is the lot of so many contract academic staff, teaching was a source of huge growth for me. I met many inspiring students oVer the years and was particularly fortunate to be able to keep up distance education courses at Queen’s while liVing in Dakar, Senegal, where a good portion of my writing took place. I am proud of the role I played in the movement to build a union of Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows at Queen’s and haVe the deepest respect for all those who took part in the process. Tiffany Jones, Rosa Barker, Dave Thomas, Christopher Churchill, Athena Elafros, Christopher Canning, Enda Borphy, Emily Van der Meulen, IVan Stoiljkovik, Jonathan Sears, Martin French and Simon Kiss were among the first group of comrades I worked with in this protracted struggle. It, however, took three rounds, and the 2008 financial crisis, to get it right. Fortunately, there were so many additional and Very capable unionists that were to take up the task, finally culminating in a victory with the Public SerVice Alliance of Canada. As someone striving to be an organic intellectual I always felt that, in addition to study, it was essential to simultaneously take part in collective processes of trying to change the world.