National Commitment Among Local Élites in Western Zambia

Abstract

As part of a broader study concerned with tribal–national relations in modern Zambia, the research reported here deals with a complex, indigenous state, the Barotse Kingdom, in which adjustments to post-colonial arrangements have been fraught with difficulties. Here I deal with the results obtained by analysis of interview schedules collected during 1966–7 among a sample of local élites in one of the Districts of the then Barotse Province (now called Western Province). Employing a conceptual framework which emphasises the distribution of information — what Theodore Schwartz calls a distributive model of culture — the analysis focuses on several factors considered crucial in understanding how local groups become incorporated into the nation-state. Finally, the influence of traditional attachments on this process is explored.