Review of "The Swazi: A South African Kingdom," by Hilda Kuper

 Review of

The Swazi: A South African Kingdom, by Hilda Kuper, ISBN 0030426154

Four out of five stars

Good primer on a small independent state

 Swaziland or the land of the Swazi tribal group is a small independent state within the larger and more prosperous South Africa. This book was published in 1963, when the racial segregation known as apartheid was the law in South Africa. This created an unusual combination of tension with necessity for the Swazi people in their dealings with South Africa. They were opposed to the apartheid system yet were forced to economically engage with South Africa.

 The history of the Swazi people predates the European colonization of southern Africa, so their history includes the encroachment of the European civilization upon the Swazi culture. Like all other locations in the world where the Europeans colonized the land, there were strains that were the seemingly inevitable conflicts between European cultural and economic mores and those of the native people. Unlike other tribal groups, the Swazi were able to maintain a fairly high level of independence from the Europeans.

  This book is a short, balanced examination of the history and culture of the Swazi people from their origins as a distinct tribal group to their niche in the modern world. Their culture has many social parameters that are followed. There are rules of kinship, a political structure with roles for both a king and queen, definitions of wealth and how work is socially defined, ways in which the youth are educated, and a large role for the supernatural in Swazi society.

 It was very interesting to read about the Swazi as they were making what is a significant transition from a localized tribe into one that must develop a more global outlook and interact with more powerful forces. This book is a good primer on the Swazi people at a critical time in their existence.

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