Ethnic studies Books

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...

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...

Originally published in 1971 this book argues that certain aspects of traditional African social systems have been misunderstood because of a failure to appreciate what is implied by important differences between the technologies of the major traditional...

Originally published in 1967 (second edition) presents an account of the life and social organisation of the Lo Wiili of the Haute Volta and Ghana. Chapters on the geographic and ethnographic background and economic system are followed by a detailed...

Originally published in 1945, this book analyses Tale social structure at the level of corporate group organization. Tale culture is discussed primarily as the content of social relations and not in its own right. Customs, beliefs, conventional usages,...

Originally published in 1972 this study analyses the process of economic growth and social change in the riparian communities of the Lower Volta River in Ghana, which came about in large part due to the construction of the Volta dam in 1963. With its...

Originally published in 1962, this study discusses the changes in the life of the Ovimbundu from the time of their caravan trade in slaves, rubber, and ivory down to the more recent period when the organization of their chiefdoms was influenced by the...

Originally published in 1943 this book discusses the life and culture of the Lovedu, a Bantu tribe in South Africa. As well as discussing the Rain-Queen, much of the book is devoted to the royal institutions; the network of links woven by kinship,...

Originally published in 1967 this volume presents studies of 10 West African kingdoms which have played an important part in the economic, political and cultural life of the region. Ranging geographically from the kingdom of Benin in southern Nigeria to...

Originally published in 1947 and reprinted with a new preface in 1961, this book is based on field studies and gives an account of the social organization of the Swazi, wiith special reference to the aristocratic structure of their society and the way in...

Originally published in 1954 this book was originally designed for administrators but has become a key title for anthropologists. It includes a summary account of the history and social organisation of the Nuer and provides a descriptive analysis of...

This book illuminates the experiences of a set of students and faculty who are members of the Dalit caste - commonly known as the 'untouchables' - who are relatively 'successful' in that they attend or are academics at a prestigious university.

As China globalises the number of marriages between Chinese people and foreigners is increasing. These Chinese-foreign marriages have profound implications for China's cultural identity. This book, based on extensive original research, outlines the...

Originally published in 1950 and updated in 1968, this book discusses the functions and status of native chiefs in what were the French colonies in West Africa. It also examines the relation of the French legal code to native law and custom and the...