Paper short abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in rural Malawi , this paper explores the significance of popular practices of freedom, particularly surrounding the unknowability of the heart, in shaping democratic practice in a rural constituency during the 2019 Tripartite Elections.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the relevance of the notion of freedom in democratic practice and electoral politics in rural Malawi during the 2019 Tripartite Elections. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in a rural constituency in the central region, it highlights the importance of one practice of freedom commonly adopted by interlocuters when participating in electoral politics, where they were able to keep their intentions hidden from others. This drew on popular practices and discourses, particularly discourses surrounding the Chichewa word for heart (mtima) and the unknowability of others. The significance this has in shaping political relationships and constituting democratic practice in rural Malawi is highlighted. The implications of this are both that the concept of freedom is important in understanding local political practice in rural Malawi and democratic freedom can be interpreted and refigured by populations in ways that expand normative definitions of freedom or democracy.