Book

The structure of Kanuri society

University MicrofilmsAnn Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1960 • Pages:

By: Cohen, Ronald.

Abstract
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.
Subjects
History
Kinship terminology
Kin relationships
Family relationships
Household
Mode of marriage
Ethnic stratification
Occupational specialization
Accumulation of wealth
culture
Kanuri
HRAF PubDate
1998
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Social Anthropologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Robert O. Lagacé ; Sigrid Khera ; 1969-1970
Field Date
1956-1957
Coverage Date
1956-1957
Coverage Place
Magumeri, Borno State, Nigeria
Notes
By Ronald Cohen
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
UM 60-986
Includes bibliographical references (p. 356-360)
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Wisconsin, 1960
LCSH
Kanuri (African people)