Overview

Reexamining a classical work of Social Anthropology, African Political Systems (1940), edited by Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, this book looks at the colonial and academic context from which the work arose, as well as its reception and its subject matter and looks at how the work can help with analysis of current politics in Africa. This book contributes to the history of anthropology, which is critically reflected upon. It also contributes to a political anthropology which is aware of its antecedents, self-reflexive as a discipline, conscious of pitfalls and biases, and able to locate itself in its academic, social and political environment.

Full Product Details

Author:   Aleksandar Bošković ,  Günther Schlee ,  Adam Kuper ,  Bilinda Straight
Publisher:   Berghahn Books
Imprint:   Berghahn Books
Volume:   26
ISBN:  

9781800734722

ISBN 10:   1800734727
Pages:   312
Publication Date:   01 April 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword Adam Kuper Chapter 1. The Right Book at the Right Time: Early Reactions and Continuing Debates Aleksandar Bošković Chapter 2. African Political Systems and Political Anthropology Herbert S. Lewis Chapter 3. Complementary Segmentary Opposition, Early Kingship and the Looming State: Bridging the Dichotomy of African Political Systems Simon Simonse Chapter 4. The Shilluk reth: Early King or Head of State? An Inter-Nilotic Exploration Simon Simonse Chapter 5. From African Political Systems and Tribes Without Rulers via The Early State towards a New Approach to the Political Anthropology of Africa Petr Skalník Chapter 6. Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment in Ankole: Revisiting the Chapter by Oberg Günther Schlee Chapter 7. Beyond African Political Systems? The Relevance of Patrilineal Descent in Moments of Crisis in Northern Somalia Markus V. Hoehne Chapter 8. Some Notes on the Tuareg (Kinin) of Northern Darfur Munzoul Assal Chapter 9. The Nkandla Controversy: Insights from African Political Systems Robin Palmer Chapter 10. Rethinking Tswana Kingships and Their Incorporation in Modern Botswana State Formation Ørnulf Gulbrandsen Afterword Bilinda Straight Index

Reviews

The book is a high quality discussion by a group of established and upcoming anthropologists of the impact and value of a classical and foundational text in social anthropology ... The result is a strong contribution to social anthropology with new theoretical and comparative insights. C.S. van der Waal, Stellenbosch University

“African Political Systems Revisited is a rich collection…that…more than succeeds in obliging us to acknowledge the ongoing empirical and theoretical value of a disciplinary monument without succumbing to either theoretical nostalgia or postcolonial posturing.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute “The book is a high quality discussion by a group of established and upcoming anthropologists of the impact and value of a classical and foundational text in social anthropology … The result is a strong contribution to social anthropology with new theoretical and comparative insights.” • C.S. van der Waal, Stellenbosch University

“The book is a high quality discussion by a group of established and upcoming anthropologists of the impact and value of a classical and foundational text in social anthropology … The result is a strong contribution to social anthropology with new theoretical and comparative insights.” C.S. van der Waal, Stellenbosch University

Author Information

Aleksandar Bošković is Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Belgrade. His books include William Robertson Smith (Berghahn Books, 2021), Mesoamerican Religions and Archaeology (Archaeopress, 2017) and Other People’s Anthropologies (Berghahn Books, 2008, editor). Günther Schlee is one of the Founding Directors of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. Prior to this appointment he was until 1999 Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bielefeld. His main publications include Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya (Manchester University Press, 1989) and How Enemies Are Made: Towards a Theory of Ethnic and Religious Conflict (Berghahn Books, 2008).

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