Society and culture: general Books

First published in 1998, this volume responded to and evaluated criticisms of McTaggart's atemporal philosophy of time. Established philosophical positions on time had positioned themselves in relation to either the A Series (past, present and future) or...

First published in 1999, this volume examines how under the patronage of James I and then Charles I, Ben Jonson wrote no less than 28 court masques. Paying particular attention to the antimasque, Lesley Mickel discusses in detail those court...

Scientific Influences on Early Childhood Education offers a new framework for examining the diverse scientific perspectives that shape early childhood education.As the field takes on an increasing role in addressing children's educational,...

Originally published in 1957, analyses the rituals celebrated by groups of kinsmen on the occasion of births, marriages and deaths within the age villages of the Nyakyusa. the connection between the form of the rituals and the kinship structure is...

Originally published in 1959, this book includes detailed accounts of Nyakyusa traditions of origin,  osmology and moral values, often in direct quotations from informants, while part of the book is devoted to a description of Christian missions,...

Originally published in 1934, and inevitably a product of the time in which it was published this book nevertheless remains an important volume in African sociology and psychology. Topics such as race, economics, family and kinship, tribal organization,...

Originally published in 1973, this book reconstructs the political and economic organization and the social life of the Tio kingdom at the end of the 19th century by means of a critical synthesis of documentary and ethnographic data. Based on a detailed...

Originally published in 1964 these papers discuss the recovery and critical interpretation of oral traditions and written documents, problems of dating and analysis of material from archaeological sites, the use of linguistic evidence, and methods of...

Originally published in 1964 this book made available for the first time David Tait's writings on the Konkomba with whom he lived and worked for 5 years. Including some previously unpublished material, this volume discusses the political system of the...

Originally published in 1961, this book analyses economic changes in Africa and the restructuring of social relations to which this hs led. there are also detailed studies of the character of social changes in individual communities. There is a...

Originally published in 1948 and then updated in 1961 outlines the religious and social background of the Zulus and discusses the rise of the Independent Church Movement. It examines the organization and inner workings of the different Churches, their...

Originally published in 1960, this is a details study of the successive forms of government in the Hausa chiefdom of Zaria in Northern Nigeria. It presents a comparative analysis of the political organization and development of Zaria under successive...

Originally published in 1965, this is a study of Christian secessionist sects in the southern Province of Nyasaland (Malawi). It discusses the nature and context of sectarianism in Africa and analyses the developemnt of the sects, their ritual and...

Originally published in 1975 this book analyses the factors making for success and failure in agricultural development among black Zimbabweans during the 20th century. A detailed analysis is given of 2 tribal trust lands, including government policies...

Originally published in 1949, this is the first of 2 volumes studying the Bantu tribes inhabiting the westernmost part of Kenya. The book analyses family, lineage and clan structure, kinship relations and the various rituals connected with every stage of...

In this study of the Ndembu of Zambia, ritual is examined under two aspects: as a regulator of social relations over time and as a system of symbols. Social life is thereby given direction and meaning. An extended case-study of a series of ritual...

Originally published in 1964, this is a detailed ethnographic record and sympathetic study of Ambo beliefs and activities. The significance of the clan and the matrilineage are discussed and the organization of the village and chiefdom analysed...

Originally published in 1931 this book was the first detailed ethnographic study of the Bavenda people. It pays particular attention to the double system of kinship groups which is unusual among the Bantu peoples. Richly illustrated with over 60 black...

When originally published in 1979, this was the first comprehensive study of the Jakhanke in any language. Despite the 19th ambience of jihad, the Jakhanke maintined their tradition of consistent pacifism and political neutrality which is unique in...

Originally published in 1960, this book is a study of religion among the Tlhaping, a rural Bantu society who were the first among the Tswana tribes to come into contact with Europeans. The religious organization of the Tlhaping has been viewed within the...

Originally published in 1954, this book is a pentrating study of Nupe religion and the increasing influence that Islam has had on indigenous forms of worship. The practise of witchcraft, forms of ritual, Gods and faith in medicine are all examined as an...

Originally published in 1942 this now classic book is a study of the Nupe of Northern Nigeria. The economic and political complexity of their kingdom evoked comparisons with the civilization of Byzantium. The detailed description and analysis of their...

The 18 papers in this volume, originally published in 1969 in English and French, with summaries in the other language, define and analyze in their wider social contexts the fundamental ideas and procedures to be found in African traditional systems of...

Originally published in 1953, this book discusses the Sukuma people who represent the largest ethnic group in Tanzania. It is devoted mainly to the resources, use, problems and systems of tenure of the territory of Sukumaland, but also contains an...

When first published in 1933, this monograph shed new light on the life of the Valenge women of Portuguese East Africa. It discusses their social organisations, family relationships, education, tribal customs, and contains detailed information concerning...

Originally published in 1958 this book presents a straight-forward and vivid picture of Adamawa Province in Nigeria. It discusses the varying fortunes of the territory, the life of its people, the efforts of its explorers and the achievements of the...

Originally published in 1970, this book explores the role of concepts of disease in the social life of the Safwa of Tanzania, particularly through beliefs concerning witchcraft and sorcery. Examining Safwa ideas about the cuasation of disease and death...

Originally published in 1969, this is a study of the Congolese community of Kinsangani (formerly Stanleyville), as it was in 1952-3 under Belgian administration. It pays particular attention to the tribal heterogeneity of the community, and to the...

Originally published in 1953, this study examines the effect of social change on African domestic organization and marriage. Changes to African social organization due to increased contact with the West are analyzed and accounts given as to how these...

Originally published in 1933, this book is a comparative study of the labour market in the early part of the twentieth century in different parts of Africa. It focusses particularly on the impact of Western influence, both on an industrial and...

Originally published in 1937, this book describes and compares the tribes of the Mongalla Province in what is now South Sudan. In the second part of the book some 27 individual tribes are discussed in detail, and topics such as linguistics, culture,...

Originally published in 1971 and written in English and French, with summaries in both languages, the essays in this volume dsicuss the effects of internal economic and political conditions and of external relations on the development of trade and...

Originally published in 1961, this study of the indigenous system of government in Ruanda-Urundi until the beginning of the 20th century, describes the complex relationship between the Tutsi and the Hutu and shows how the Tutsi succeeded in maintaining...

Originally published in 1956, the main emphasis of the book is on the complex age-set organization which constitutes the framework within which the life of every Kikuyu is regulated from infancy to old age. The book shows how the political and...

Originally published in 1958, this book discusses how marriage and Fulbe family life, the economy and the whole organization of society is centred on cattle; how the welfare of the herd and its increase, the balance betweent he size of the herd and the...

Originally published in 1964, this book analyses the unique type of social stratification which is more akin to a social class system in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. Liberia, established in 1847 has no history of rule by a colonial power and is of...

Originally published in 1975, this book presents the results of research into social change in Ghana. The book looks in detail at the problems of particular sub-groups and sectors in one single nation and they show that the field-worker with a wide...

While Christian approaches to the problem of evil have been much discussed, the issue of theodicy in Islam is relatively neglected. A Muslim Response to Evil explores new insights and viewpoints and discusses possible solutions to theodicy and the...

Originally published in 1949, this book takes the analysis of Tale social structure further. It shows how the patriarchal principle regulates domestic life and thus moulds individual development among the Tallensi. The analysis of the inter-connexion of...

Originally published in 1980 and here re-issued with an updated preface, this book deals with the role of the horse in the societies of West Africa during the pre-colonial period. It traces the history of its introduction and its diffusion within West...

Originally published in 1975, the studies in this volume examine the range of factors which mediate the development of social processes in both town and country: as well as migration there is the ebb and flow of beliefs, ideologies and educational and...

Originally published in 1975, the papers collected in this volume review African pastoralism in both West and East Africa, in relation to economy, ecology, social and community organisation, kinship, inter-group relations, modern administrative attitudes...

Originally published in 1966, this book brings together papers dealing with the emergence and development of elites in sub-Saharan Africa among social categories ranging from farmers and women market traders through foremen and merchants to...

Originally published in 1957, this is an account of the Chiga, a Bantu tribe of Western Uganda. The Chiga are an independent farming people who have no tribal organization, and unlike the neighbouring East African peoples of a similar culture, no caste...

Originally published in 1963, this was the first monograph concerning an African people in which an irrigation-based society was studied in detail and its implications explored. The Sonjo, a Bantu-speaking people isolated among cattle pastoralists of...

Originally published in 1951 this book analyses the social values and institutions involved in the establishment and maintenance of marital relationships. Most of the data is derived from Umor, the largest of the five Yakö villages. As well as...

Originally published in 1956 this book contains extracts of the 18th century diary of an Efik chief and documents the activities of slave-traders, the rituals of the Egbo society and many details of domestic life of among the Efik. This volume includes...

Originally published in 1964 this volume collects together 25 years' worth of journal articles from the UK and USA. It brings together detailed descriptions and analyses of various aspects of the Yakö peoples of the Cross River area of Eastern Nigeria...