ABSTRACT Renewed attention on customary authority in both scholarship and development interventions renders it pertinent to revisit how contemporary engagement with this form of authority is still informed by colonial legacies. These legacies include: first, the penchant to see customary authority as solely invested in ‘chiefs’, rather than being relational and multifaceted; second, compartmentalized approaches that emphasize chiefs’ role as political authorities, while overlooking ritual, medicinal and spiritual aspects; third, misanalysing the role of female agency in the customary domain; and fourth, drawing on dichotomies that are often heavily inscribed in Western understandings, in particular, the modern versus traditional and state versus non-state divides. A growing body of work, however, has overcome these biases and developed more nuanced understandings of customary authority. Building on this work we propose to approach both the constitution of customary authority as well as knowledge production on this social institution in terms of ‘contested coproduction’. This concept helps focus on the socially constructed boundaries between different categories, and to see customary authority as a contextually shaped product of both structure and agency. It, therefore, advances the project of developing general conceptual tools that can capture the bewildering variety of expressions of customary authority while still enabling comparison.

中文翻译：

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重新审视中非和东非关于习惯权威的知识生产中的殖民遗产

摘要在奖学金和发展干预措施中，人们对习惯权威的重新关注使我们有必要重新审视殖民遗产仍如何使当代对这种权威形式的参与产生影响。这些遗产包括：首先，倾向于将习惯权威视为对“酋长”的唯一投资，而不是关系和多面性；第二，采用分立的方法，强调酋长作为政治权威的作用，同时忽略仪式，医学和精神方面的问题；第三，错误地分析了女性代理在习惯领域中的作用；第四，借鉴了通常被西方理解的二分法，特别是现代与传统，国家与非国家之间的鸿沟。但是，越来越多的工作 已经克服了这些偏见，并发展了对习惯权威的细微差别的理解。在这项工作的基础上，我们建议从“有争议的共同生产”的角度来探讨习惯授权的构成以及该社会机构的知识生产。该概念有助于关注不同类别之间由社会构建的边界，并将习惯权威视为结构和代理的上下文塑造产品。因此，它推进了开发通用概念工具的项目，这些工具可以捕获习惯授权令人困惑的各种表达方式，同时仍然可以进行比较。在这项工作的基础上，我们建议从“有争议的共同生产”的角度来探讨习惯授权的构成以及该社会机构的知识生产。该概念有助于关注不同类别之间由社会构建的边界，并将习惯权威视为结构和代理的上下文塑造产品。因此，它推进了开发通用概念工具的项目，这些工具可以捕获习惯授权令人困惑的各种表达方式，同时仍然可以进行比较。在这项工作的基础上，我们建议从“有争议的共同生产”的角度来探讨习惯授权的构成以及该社会机构的知识生产。该概念有助于关注不同类别之间由社会构建的边界，并将习惯权威视为结构和代理的上下文塑造产品。因此，它推进了开发通用概念工具的项目，这些工具可以捕获习惯授权令人困惑的各种表达方式，同时仍然可以进行比较。