Book contents
- The Temne of Sierra Leone
- The Temne of Sierra Leone
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Table
- Preface
- Acknowledgment
- List of Abbreviations
- Part I Historical Epistemology
- Part II Beyond the Colonial Sphinx: African Agency in the Making of the Colony
- 3 Realpolitik and Boundaries of Power: The Temne in Local Administration
- 4 Intergroup Relations and Genealogies of Conflict: The Temne and Freetonian Dichotomy
- Part III Ethnocentrism and New Frames of Popular Culture
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Realpolitik and Boundaries of Power: The Temne in Local Administration
from Part II - Beyond the Colonial Sphinx: African Agency in the Making of the Colony
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2017
- The Temne of Sierra Leone
- The Temne of Sierra Leone
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Table
- Preface
- Acknowledgment
- List of Abbreviations
- Part I Historical Epistemology
- Part II Beyond the Colonial Sphinx: African Agency in the Making of the Colony
- 3 Realpolitik and Boundaries of Power: The Temne in Local Administration
- 4 Intergroup Relations and Genealogies of Conflict: The Temne and Freetonian Dichotomy
- Part III Ethnocentrism and New Frames of Popular Culture
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The chapter explores the agency of the Temne in local administration, and how they organized themselves around various symbols of authority in the colony. This aspect of the colony’s history is significant, because the history of local administration is extensively viewed through the prism of the Municipal Council, or Freetown Corporation/Freetown City Council, run by Freetonians. By equating local or native administration with the Municipal Council, the historical literature downplays the role indigenous ethnic communities played in fostering local governance in this hodgepodge British territory. The chapter shows that local administration and community governance in the colony contributed to the success of the British colonial project in Sierra Leone.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Temne of Sierra LeoneAfrican Agency in the Making of a British Colony, pp. 63 - 86Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017