Democracy, Morality and Imagination: the Importance of Elections in a Chewa Village in Rural Malawi
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Social Anthropology
Abstract
The study will investigate the relationship between political identities and wider social imaginaries in a rural Chewa village in Malawi during the 2019
general elections. After 30 years of dictatorship under Dr Hastings Banda, Malawi conducted its first multiparty elections in 1994. However, government
policies have largely failed to improve the conditions of the majority of the population, and, after a series of corruption scandals, trust in politicians is
very low. Moreover, voting tends to be very regional with parties rarely gaining large support outside their regional bases. Yet participation in elections
remains very high, with close to 71% of eligilble voters participating in the 2014 elections. Taking a cue from recent anthropological reflections on the
political (Candea, 2011; Curtis and Spencer) and studies of elections (Spencer, 2007; Banerjee, 2014), as well as Harri Englund's (2006, 2011) work
on liberalism and popular grievances in Malawi, the research will attempt to understand the importance of voting and democracy to members of a
chewa village. Paying particular attention to non-elite moral imaginaries and grievances, their relationship to political identity, and the mediums and
settings they are generated in. The study aims to contribute to the small but growing anthropology on democracy and elections. As well as exploring
themes of liberalism and the postcolonial state; South-Central African politics; media; moral narrative and ethics
general elections. After 30 years of dictatorship under Dr Hastings Banda, Malawi conducted its first multiparty elections in 1994. However, government
policies have largely failed to improve the conditions of the majority of the population, and, after a series of corruption scandals, trust in politicians is
very low. Moreover, voting tends to be very regional with parties rarely gaining large support outside their regional bases. Yet participation in elections
remains very high, with close to 71% of eligilble voters participating in the 2014 elections. Taking a cue from recent anthropological reflections on the
political (Candea, 2011; Curtis and Spencer) and studies of elections (Spencer, 2007; Banerjee, 2014), as well as Harri Englund's (2006, 2011) work
on liberalism and popular grievances in Malawi, the research will attempt to understand the importance of voting and democracy to members of a
chewa village. Paying particular attention to non-elite moral imaginaries and grievances, their relationship to political identity, and the mediums and
settings they are generated in. The study aims to contribute to the small but growing anthropology on democracy and elections. As well as exploring
themes of liberalism and the postcolonial state; South-Central African politics; media; moral narrative and ethics
People |
ORCID iD |
Harri Englund (Primary Supervisor) | |
Sam Thomas Farrell (Student) |
Publications
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ES/P000738/1 | 30/09/2017 | 29/09/2027 | |||
1953725 | Studentship | ES/P000738/1 | 30/09/2017 | 30/03/2022 | Sam Thomas Farrell |
Description | Discrectionary Funding - Language learning |
Amount | £1,599 (GBP) |
Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2018 |
End | 06/2018 |
Description | Discretionary Funding - Fieldwork |
Amount | £1,870 (GBP) |
Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2018 |
End | 06/2018 |
Description | The Graduate Student Fund |
Amount | £350 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Department | King's College Cambridge |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2018 |
End | 06/2018 |
Description | The Richards Fund |
Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Department | Department of Social Anthropology |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2018 |
End | 05/2018 |
Description | Research affiliation |
Organisation | University of Malawi |
Country | Malawi |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | NA at present |
Collaborator Contribution | Institutional support and advice for bureaucratic formalities, and conducting research generally in Malawi. |
Impact | Such an affiliation was a requirement for receiving a student permit and ethical clearance from the relevant Malawian authorities, allowing the research to take place. |
Start Year | 2018 |