Domesticating the World: African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization

Title Page, Series Page, Copyright, Dedication

Domesticating the World THE CALIFORNIA WORLD HISTORY LIBRARY Edited by Edmund Burke III, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Patricia Seed 1. The Unending Frontier: Environmental History of the Early Modern World, by John F. Richards 2. Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History, by David Christian 3. The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean, by Engseng Ho 4. Imperial Connections: India in the Indian Ocean Arena, 1860–1920, by Thomas R. Metcalf 5. Many Middle Passages, 1700–2000, edited by Emma Christopher, Cassandra Pybus, and Marcus Rediker 6. Domesticating the World: African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization, by Jeremy Prestholdt Domesticating the World African Consumerism and the Genealogies of Globalization Jeremy Prestholdt UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley . Los Angeles . London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. Chapter 1 previously appeared as “Similitude and Empire: On Comorian Strategies of Englishness,” Journal of World History 8, no. 2 (2007): 113–40. Chapter 3 appeared as “On the Global Repercussions of East African Consumerism,” American Historical Review 109, no. 3 (2004): 755–81. Chapter 4 appeared as “Mirroring Modernity: On Consumerism in Nineteenth Century Zanzibar,” Boston University Center for African Studies Working Paper Series, January 2006. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England© 2008 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Prestholdt, Jeremy. Domesticating the world : African consumerism and the genealogies of globalization / Jeremy Prestholdt. p. cm. — (The California world history library ; 6) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-25424-4 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-25423-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Consumer behavior—Africa, Eastern. 2. Globalization—Africa, Eastern. I. Title. HF5415.33.A354P74 2008 339.4’709676—dc22 2007011567 Manufactured in the United States of America 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on New Leaf EcoBook 50, a 100% recycled fiber of which 50% is de-inked post-consumer waste, processed chlorine-free. EcoBook 50 is acid-free and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/astm d5634–01 (Permanence of Paper). For my grandfather, Olaf Ofstad, who first taught me to imagine This page intentionally left blank This page intentionally left blank ...