
Hunting Game
Raiding Politics in the Central African Republic
Louisa Lombard(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 9. June 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-108-74618-2 (ISBN)
Description
Northeastern Central African Republic - a vast space bordering Chad, Darfur, and South Sudan - is a quintessential 'stateless' space, where the government has little presence and armed actors operate freely. In this first ethnographic and historical study of Central African raiding, Louisa Lombard investigates practices of forceful acquisition, a distinctive political repertoire in which claims to social status are linked to the ability to take (from wild spaces, or from others) and are frequently overturned. People have developed raiding skills to survive and live in a stateless borderland for over 150 years. From the trans-Saharan slave trade, to colonial forced labour regimes, big game hunting and coercive conservation, to rebellion, raiding has flourished where people's status in relation to each other is unclear and where institutional guidance is absent. Hunting Game offers rich comparative insights into the vibrant, if not always salutary, role that forceful acquisition plays in the world today.
Reviews / Votes
'In this theoretically engaging new book, she explores how analysis of a "buffer zone" in northern CAR and its dynamics of raiding and hunting can enrich social science. The book is ethnographically very rich, and presents in an engaging way the vast experience of the author in northern CAR.' Valerio Colosio, PoLAR Online 'The book is well written, using the sources that the author has mobilized, which include interviews, observations, archives, and iconographies.' Kelma Manatouma, African Studies ReviewMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 3 Maps; 6 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-74618-2 (9781108746182)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
03/2020
Cambridge University Press
€116.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Louisa Lombard is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, Connecticut. Her research focuses on African borderlands, politics, violence, sovereignty, peace-building, and conservation. She is the author of State of Rebellion: Violence and Intervention in the Central African Republic (2016) and articles in journals such as Comparative Studies in Society and History, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, African Affairs, and the Political and Legal Anthropology Review.
Content
1. Introduction: force, status, and uncertainty in arts of acquisition; 2. Zariba contests and collaborations; 3. Manhunt: the dominance of acquisition in an unfortunate colony; 4. Big game hunting and regulatory sociality; 5. The limits of law in coercive conservation; 6. Camouflage skills; 7. Denunciation and liberty; 8. Rebellion: force and hopes for status and entitlement; 9. Conclusion: sovereignty and distribution amid forceful acquisition.