In the Shadow of Mau Mau
Detainees and Detention Camps during Nyasaland's State of Emergency
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4604093 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Mccracken (0000-0001-6945-4762, University of Stirling, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 535-550 |
| Publication date | 2011-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03057070.2011.602894 |
| OpenAlex | W1996869140 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
This article explores the influence of Mau Mau and of the counter-insurgency strategies devised by the British in Kenya on the state of emergency declared in Nyasaland in March 1959. It focuses on the hitherto largely undisclosed history of Malawian detainees both in Gwelo and Marandellas prisons in Southern Rhodesia and in Kanjedza camp near Blantyre, where conditions were notably more severe. The Kenyan influence was particularly evident in the Pinney Plan of April 1959 which was predicated on the need for detainees to be ‘rehabilitated’ (cleansed of their mistaken beliefs) through a combination of hard work and confession. This assessment, however, was challenged in the Colonial Office partly as a result of the Hola Camp massacre in Kenya but also because of the publicity given to the mistreatment of detainees in Kanjedza. The extreme brutality of the early weeks was largely abandoned; at the same time detainees took control of much of the internal workings of Kanjedza. Much remains to be studied concerning the social profile of the detainees and the world they made for themselves in the camps. What is clear is both the extensive influence of Kenya on colonial strategies during Nyasaland's state of emergency and also the fundamental differences in approach and outcome that ultimately separated the two territories from each other. Also apparent is the fact that, following independence, some nationalists used their experience of detention under the British as a benchmark in demanding that a new generation of detainees should be treated with even greater brutality
Criminology · Political science · Shadow (psychology · Sociology · State (computer science · State of emergency · State of exception · African history and culture studies · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law · Psychology
Bibliography of Books and Articles Published in English on Colonialism and Imperialism in 2011
Palestinian Political Organizations in Israeli Prisons
Translation Imperatives
Colonialism and Penality
State writing, subversion and citizenship in Southern Rhodesia’s state of emergency, 1959–1960
Rethinking the State and Political Opposition Through the Prism of the Prison
The Productivity of Political Imprisonment
Introduction
| Citations per year | 0.53 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2026 (16) |
| Highly cited | No |