Too often accounts of African family life have tended to describe the family in purely static terms. The contributors to this book emphasize the developmental or time dimension of the family, analysing it as a process. In the seven different societies described in East Africa, the Congo and the Transvaal the changing nature of the distribution of rights in the family property and resources is directly linked with the growth and change of the family itself. First published in 1964.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Too often accounts of African family life have tended to describe the family in purely static terms. The contributors to this book emphasize the developmental or time dimension of the family, analysing it as a process. In the seven different societies described in East Africa, the Congo and the Transvaal the changing nature of the distribution of rights in the family property and resources is directly linked with the growth and change of the family itself. First published in 1964.

Deliberately considering relevant theories put forward by earlier writers and examining them in the light of the research for this particular book, the author spent over 100 days attending funeral ceremonies and he attended 25 burial services. First published in 1962.

This book is based on an extensive field work in which the author tried to study the customary law of property of an African agrarian tribal community of Ama - also known as Nyima? - of the Nuba Mountains in the northern Sudan. The writer has tried to explain the nature of property holding in the light of the peoples philosophy evidenced in their social structure and their traditional beliefs. Special attention is paid to the traditional structure of political leadership in this highly segmented society that was prone not only to inter-tribal wars but was also in a constant fission and fusion among themselves when not at war with other neighboring tribes. In discussing jurisdictional issues, and traditional settlement mechanisms based partly on law and custom, both adopted by this egalitarian society, the study is made currently relevant by keen observation on the effect of modernity on traditional ethics and morality of the Ama society that was once described by some authors as being impervious to foreign influence. Furthermore, the reception and assimilation of the state law together with the Shariah laws in various areas such as that relating to property devolution, family institution, and burial rites is treated as being of great significance in the overall development of the tribal customary laws. Like any other Nuba tribe, the consciousness of the Ama people of their ethos of identity marks their ferociously guarded customs and traditions prevalent up-to-date. The book is not only a precious academic endeavor full of keen observations, in depth study and analysis of tribal customary laws of property; but is also a memoir for the author to commemorate formidable tribal group of the Ama people in the Nuba Mountains of the Sudan.

"The Africa House details the life of an English officer and gentleman and his remarkable house and colony in deepest Africa. In the ides of the British Empire, Stewart Gore Browne built himself a feudal paradise in northern Rhodesia, a sprawling country estate modeled on the finest homes in England, complete with uniformed servants, daily muster parades, rose gardens and lavish dinners finished off with vintage port in the library." "He wanted to share it with the love of his life, the beautiful, unconventional Ethel Locke King, one of the first women to drive and to fly. She, however, was nearly twenty years his senior, married and his aunt. Lorna, the only other woman he had ever really cared for, had married another. Then he met Lorna's orphaned daughter, so like her mother that he thought he had seen a ghost. It seemed he had at last found love - but the Africa House was his dream, and it would be a hard one to share." "Christina Lamb's updated account of this complicated man - a colonialist who beat his servants yet supported independence, a stiff Englishman with deep passions - is a masterpiece of biography and storytelling. Set against the backdrop of sweeping change across Africa, this is a tale of fantasies made real, tragedy endured and lifelong love."--BOOK JACKET.

This well-organized text continues to present the social-cultural anthropological concepts and theories which have influenced the mankind in the past, particularly in the twentieth century—between the years 1965 and 2000. The new edition is incorporated with two new sections—one defining the major concepts of sociology—defining society, community, association and so on, and the other an Appendix on Tribal Movement in India. The book further provides an anthropological analysis of cultural institutions relating to society, economy, polity, folklore and art. The description of the relation between language and culture and a separate chapter on Cultural Change, make this text unique. Examples are taken from all across the world to describe socio-economic, political, and religious institutions, and give a panoramic view of the diverse cultures. This book is intended to serve as a text for undergraduate students of Anthropology and postgraduate students of Anthropology and Sociology. In addition, it would also be beneficial for the students preparing for various competitive examinations. KEY FEATURES • Provides theoretical orientations in cultural anthropology. • Contains annotated references at the end of each chapter. • Gives an insight into the contributions of well-known anthropologists. • Illustrates concepts through diagrams and charts, thus enhancing the value of the text.

One of the world's most eminent social anthropologists draws upon his many years of study and research in the field of kinship and social organization to review the development of anthropological theory and method from Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) to anthropologists of the 1960s. It is the central argument of this book that the structuralist theory and method developed by British and American anthropologists in the study of kinship and social organization is the direct descendant of Morgan's researches. The volume starts with a re-examination of Morgan's work. Professor Fortes demonstrates how a tradition of misinterpretation has disguised the true import of Morgan's discoveries. He follows with a detailed analysis of the work of Rivers and Radcliffe-Brown and the generation of anthropologists inspired by them. The author states his own point of view as it has developed in the framework of modern structuralist theory, with ethnographic examples examined in depth. He shows that the social relations and institutions conventionally grouped under the rubric of kinship and social organization belong simultaneously to two complementary domains of social structure, the familial and the political. Meyer Fortes' contribution to the field of anthropology can best be understood in the context of balance of forces between these domains of the personal and public. In the latter part of the book, he gives detailed attention to the principal conceptual issues that have confronted research and theory in the study of kinship and social organizations since Morgan's time. He shows that kinship institutions are autonomous, not mere by-products of economic requirements, and demonstrates the moral base of kinship in the rule of amity.

This study analyses the way in which tribal ties are maintained in the development of a tribally mixed, middle class community in Kampala, Uganda. Political independence in the early nineteen sixties in much of Africa created expectations of increased development, education and living standards. There was hope that ethnic tensions arising from false colonial boundaries might be transcended by newly emerging socio-economic status-groups. However, the new national boundaries suddenly made aliens of peoples who had migrated and settled in towns distant from their home countries. The interplay of nationality, ethnicity and socio-economic status or class was given a new theatre. Hope was dramatically tempered by nationalist and ethnic conflicts which cut across ethnically mixed, small status groups of neighbours and friends. In Kampala, Uganda, this rapidly unfolding drama resulted in the expulsion of two Kenyan ethnic groups and polarised peoples from northern and southern Uganda. The essentialisation of ethnic and national identity imposed by colonialism was thus taken on in this new situation by the people themselves, with the result that they became 'cultural' starting-points of social and political judgement. Originally published in 1969.