Book
The structure of Kanuri society
University Microfilms • Ann Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1960 • Pages:
By: Cohen, Ronald.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is Cohen's Ph.D. dissertation in anthropology submitted to the University of Wisconsin. It contains a good, detailed analysis of Kanuri social organization focusing on the sociopolitical system. Cohen shows how the patterning of interpersonal relations at the kinship-marriage-family-household level carries over into the wider-scaled structures of economic and political organization, and social stratification. The basic objective of this study is to provide a description and explanation of trends of social change, conceptualized in terms of stability and instability in the social system. The major hypothesis generated through this analysis is that the stability of the Kanuri social system is based on the processes whereby 'the society is cross linked by class and status on the one hand which bring together people of similar goals, rank, class and wealth; and on the other hand, by feudal chains of superior/subordinate relations that link up individuals into a vertical system of loyalties so that a man's ties are both with his class and with his superiors' (p.353). Thus any weakening or disruption of these cross linkages would result in instability and further social change. This interpretation is said to be in line with Gluckman's theoretical position as set forth in his CUSTOM AND CONFLICT IN AFRICA (1955). Certain categories of data are explicitly omitted by the author as irrelevant to his analysis. Among these is religion; yet it does seem strange that in a Muslim society various ritual roles, groups, and categories would not be integrally involved in the system of sociopolitical relations. Cohen, accompanied by his wife, did most of his field work in the village of Magumeri (population ca. 2,000), and in the surrounding hamlets of the Magumeri village area. He also made a number of trips to the larger village of Geidam in the north, where another anthropologist, Abraham Rosman, and his wife were working. Finally, Cohen and his wife lived for the last three months of their research in Maiduguri, the capital of Bornu Emirate. After the first four months, according to Cohen, most of his research was conducted in the Kanuri language.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- History
- Kinship terminology
- Kin relationships
- Family relationships
- Household
- Mode of marriage
- Ethnic stratification
- Occupational specialization
- Accumulation of wealth
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kanuri
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Social Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Robert O. Lagacé ; Sigrid Khera ; 1969-1970
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1956-1957
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1956-1957
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Magumeri, Borno State, Nigeria
- NotesAdditional notes
- By Ronald Cohen
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Wisconsin, 1960
- UM 60-986
- Cohen's concept of the 'extended household organization' has been indexed for Community Structure ( 621) since it denotes a unit composed of more than one household (in OCM terms), and thus may be viewed as a local subdivision of a community
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 356-360)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kanuri (African people)