Abstract
This study has argued that the literature on ethnicity has ignored and vitiated the precolonial history of SSA. This chapter discusses the role and the facets of this precolonial history in explaining tribal allegiance in SSA. Although one of these facets is transatlantic slavery, the chapter shows that transatlantic slavery is only one factor. One needs to go beyond transatlantic slavery, far deeper into the history of SSA, guided by the lurking question of why, comparatively, SSA has more tribes than the other regions that have been examined.
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Notes
- 1.
Peter Ekeh, “Social Anthropology and Two Contrasting Uses of Tribalism in Africa,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 32, no. 4, p. 673 (Ekeh 1990).
- 2.
A.G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa. London: Longman, 1973 (Hopkins 1973).
- 3.
Ekeh, “Social Anthropology and Two Contrasting Uses,” p. 693.
- 4.
See Jan Vansina, The Children of Woot: A History of the Kuba People, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978 (Vansina 1978).
- 5.
See S.N. Sangmpam, Pseudocapitalism and the Overpoliticized State: Reconciling Politics and Anthropology in Zaire, Aldershot: Averbury/Ashgate, 1994 (Sangmpam 1994); and S.N. Sangmpam, “Social Theory and the Challenges of Africa’s Future,”Africa Today, Vol. 43, no. 3 (1995b), pp. 39–66 (Sangmpam 1995b).
- 6.
J.D. Fage (with W. Tordoff), A History of Africa, London: Routledge, 2002, p. 238 (Fage 2002).
- 7.
Perry Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State, London: Verso, 1979 (Anderson 1979).
- 8.
Y. Talib and F. Samir, “The African Diaspora in Asia,” in M. El Fasi, ed., UNESCO General History of Africa III Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988, pp. 704–733, esp. pp. 707 and 715 (Talib and Samir 1988).
- 9.
See A.Bariagaber, “Ethnicity and Constitutionalism in Ethiopia,” in Cris Tofollo, ed., Emancipating Cultural Pluralism, Albany: New York University Press, 2003, pp. 221–234 (Bariagaber 2003).
- 10.
T. Tamrat, “The Horn of Africa: the Solomonids in Ethiopia and the states of the Horn of Africa,” in D.T. Niane, ed.,UNESCO General History of Africa IV: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984, p. 425 (Tamrat 1984).
- 11.
T.T. Mekouria, “The Horn of Africa,” in M. El Fasi, ed.,UNESCO General History of Africa, III: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988, p. 563 (Mekouria 1988).
Bibliography
Anderson, Perry. 1979. Lineages of the Absolutist State. London: Verso.
Bariagaber, A. 2003. “Ethnicity and Constitutionalism in Ethiopia.” In Emancipating Cultural Pluralism, ed. Cris E. Tofollo, 221–234. Albany: New York University Press.
Ekeh, Peter. 1990. “Social Anthropology and Two Contrasting Uses of Tribalism in Africa.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 32(4): 1203–1250.
Fage, J.D with W. Tordoff. 2002. A History of Africa. London: Routledge.
Mekouria, T.T. 1988. “The Horn of Africa.” In UNESCO General History of Africa, 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, ed. M. El Fasi, 558–574. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Sangmpam, S.N. 1994. Pseudocapitalism and the Overpoliticized State: Reconciling Politics and Anthropology in Zaire. Aldershot: Averbury/Ashgate.
———. 1995b. “Social Theory and the Challenges of Africa’s Future.” Africa Today 43(3): 39–66.
Talib, Y. and F. Samir. 1988. “The African Diaspora in Asia.” In UNESCO General History of Africa, 3: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, ed. M. El Fasi, 704–733. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Tamrat, T. 1984. “The Horn of Africa: The Solomonids in Ethiopia and the states of the Horn of Africa.” In UNESCO General History of Africa 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century, ed. D.T. Niane, 423–454. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
———. 1978. The Children of Woot: A History of the Kuba People. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Hopkins, A.G. 1973. An Economic History of West Africa. London: Longman.
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Sangmpam, S.N. (2017). Precolonial History and the Saliency and Persistence of Tribal Allegiance. In: Ethnicities and Tribes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50200-7_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50200-7_8
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