Scream for Me, Africa! Heavy Metal Identities in Post-Colonial Africa

Abstract

Nyerere and other postcolonial leaders had to make difficult choices in light of persistent economic constraints on imported goods, petrol and other commodities that were essential to a thriving transport infrastructure. Despite – or perhaps through – these challenges, however, the men who dominated the motor transport sector built their conception of personhood through the technological expertise with which they navigated and negotiated the infrastructural constraints and technological challenges of an African motoring society. Masculinity, Grace argues, was connected to and produced through and with the hard materiality of cars, rooted in the claims to expertise and social mobility made by mechanics, drivers and vehicle owners. Grace’s narrative combines detailed case studies with broader national or regional narratives that create what he describes as an “interscalar history” that weaves together the micro, meso and macro (32). In the process, he moves us beyond the typical technological histories of African incorporation or appropriation that Mavhunga decries to reframe the history of development altogether. As such, African Motors marks a major contribution to the history of African automobility, technology and development that is both challenging for experts and accessible for undergraduate students.