Distribution Agreement In presenting this thesis or dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Emory University, I hereby grant to Emory University and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive, make accessible, and display my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, including display on the world wide web. I understand that I may select some access restrictions as part of the online submission of this thesis or dissertation. I retain all ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. ________________________________________________________ _______________________________ Katherine G. V. Fidler Rural Cosmopolitanism and Peasant Insurgency: The Pondoland Revolt, South Africa (1958-1963) By Katherine Grace Victoria Fidler Doctor of Philosophy Department of History ___________________________________________________ Clifton Crais, Ph.D. Adviser ____________________________________________________ Mark Ravina, Ph.D. Committee Member ____________________________________________________ Pamela Scully, PhD. Committee Member Accepted: _______________________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies ___________________________ Date Rural Cosmopolitanism and Peasant Insurgency: The Pondoland Revolt, South Africa (1958-1963) By Katherine Grace Victoria Fidler B.A. Reed College 2003 Advisor: Clifton Crais, Ph.D. An Abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History 2010 2010 Abstract Rural Cosmopolitanism and Peasant Insurgency: The Pondoland Revolt, South Africa (1958-1963) By: Katherine Grace Victoria Fidler This study examines a revolutionary moment when a group of rural South Africans, calling themselves iKongo, sent a petition to the United Nations requesting recognition of their sovereignty and engaged in a insurgency against the apartheid state. iKongo members rejected the policies of the South African state and, for a brief moment, between 1950 and 1962 created a new government. In 1960, as part of its counter-insurgency campaign, the South African government placed the region under emergency regulations. No systematic study of the Pondoland insurgency exists. Through an examination of the insurgency, beginning with the inception of the movement in the late 1940s through its suppression in 1963, this study explores the contributions of rural Africans in contesting colonial rule and defining their vision of independence. Rather than advocating a return to a pre-colonial past or adopting the framework of the modern nation state, iKongo insurgents engaged in a rural cosmopolitanism that simultaneously engaged with elements of the modern nation state and familiar lexicons of social control and order. In addition to exploring the society created by iKongo, this study examines the suppression of the insurgency by the South African state and argues that South African officials participated in discussions about the suppression of anti-colonial movements across the colonial world. Finally, this study explores why a movement that threatened rule of law in the Transkei and garnered the approval of large-scale resistance organizations of the African National Congress is now largely absent from a historical narrative of anti-apartheid resistance. This study argues that the reason for this is located precisely in the fact that iKongo constituted a moment of rural cosmopolitanism. Unable to reconcile the lexicons of the supernatural that iKongo insurgents utilized, members of the ANC seized upon elements of iKongo commensurate with ANC ideology. The ANC transformed iKongo members from independent rural insurgents into members of the ANC’s peasant vanguard. An examination of the Pondoland insurgency as a moment of rural cosmopolitanism contributes both to a history of resistance to apartheid in South Africa and to an understanding of insurgency in the contemporary world. Rural Cosmopolitanism and Peasant Insurgency: The Pondoland Revolt, South Africa (1958-1963) By Katherine Grace Victoria Fidler B.A. Reed College, 2003 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History 2010 Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation is a collaborative process. While I have spent much of this process in solitude, an extraordinary number of people have participated in the creation of this document. Throughout the years leading up to this moment, I have received so much support and it is now my great joy to begin to express my deep gratitude for and appreciation of that support. I have looked forward to this moment for a very long time – it means that I am finishing a part of my life that has been challenging and rewarding in so many ways. As I sit down to finally do what I have looked forward to for so long, I find that, in some ways, this is more difficult than writing the dissertation itself. During my time as a graduate student, I discovered how committed Emory University is to the success of its students. I have worked with incredible professors throughout the University. The conversations I have had with professors and students have greatly enriched my time at Emory. Grants provided by the Graduate School, the Department of History, and the program of African Studies, allowed me to pursue language training and field research in the United States and South Africa. That research, in addition to Emory’s commitment to academic excellence, contributed to my successful application for a Fulbright Fellowship in 2007. The single most important figure in my intellectual life is my advisor, Dr. Clifton Crais. Clifton is a brilliant scholar and I remain in awe of the breadth and depth of his knowledge. To say that his influence on my development as a scholar is significant does not adequately describe the impact that he has had on my life. Only now am I beginning to really understand what he has taught me over the past six years. Shepherding a graduate student through the process of writing a dissertation is a major commitment, and I deeply appreciate his guidance. I have learned more from Clifton than anyone else. I hope that, as I continue in my career, I will make him proud. My committee members, Dr. Pamela Scully and Dr. Mark Ravina, have also played an incredibly important role in the formulation and writing of this dissertation. Over the course of many years, both Pamela and Mark have been instrumental in many of the concepts articulated in this work. Pamela’s enthusiastic and thoughtful support of this project means so much to me. Her insights have pushed this work further than I anticipated it might go. I first began to work with ideas about cosmopolitanism and insurgency during several classes that I took with Mark years ago when I was still in coursework. I remember those early conversations with great fondness. The entire committee pushed me to think in ways that I did not immediately understand and encouraged me to keep writing especially when I thought that I had hit a wall. For this I am grateful. A wonderful part of this entire process was the opportunity to research and live in South Africa. My time in Cape Town and the Eastern Cape as a Fulbright scholar in 2007 and 2008 were among the happiest moments in my life. I spent many months working in the Cape Archives. The entire archival staff contributed greatly to the completion of my research and I enjoyed so much of the time spent in the reading room. I look forward to many more research trips. While in Cape Town, I had the opportunity to teach several sections of an introductory southern African history class at the University of the Western Cape. It was my first time in the classroom and, while there were challenging moments, it was during those classes that I first realized how much I loved teaching. Research can be a time of great loneliness and solitude. However, in Cape Town, a remarkable group of South Africans welcomed me into their hearts and their homes. I met Andrew Fleming, Ciske Priem, Andrew Bailey, Martin Klopper, and Jean Henning early on in Cape Town and they brought an immense amount of joy and laughter to my life. We enjoyed many days in the Cape vineyards or by the pool and many evenings on the patio of the Mt. Nelson Hotel. Through them, Cape Town became a second home of sorts. I look forward to more adventures with them in the coming months and years. When I began researching and writing this dissertation, I am sure that my friends and family never anticipated that they would develop such a familiarity with South African historiography, studies of rural resistance and insurgency, and learn so much about iKongo’s struggle against the apartheid state. Whether through intense discussion about rural cosmopolitanism and states of exception or through patiently listening to my, sometimes incoherent, ramblings, my friends and family now know so much about this small region in South Africa. I could not have done this without their love and infinite patience. Dana Irwin is my partner-in-crime. Over the years, we have sat together in classes and seminars and embarked on an equal number of non-Emory adventures. Aprés Diem has been our Atlanta headquarters for many years – a place where, over martinis and White Russians, we have talked about… everything. I adore Dana and cannot imagine my life without this strong, kind and brilliant man. He is, and always will be, part of my family. I met Sienna Brown during my first year in a class on the Frankfurt School.