Book

Leadership and authority in an African society: the Afikpo village-group

University of Washington PressSeattle • Published In 1971 • Pages: xviii, 336 , plates

By: Ottenberg, Simon.

Abstract
This source contains a lucid and lengthy description and analysis of the social structure of the Afikpo village-group. The author builds his discussion from the smallest units (lineages, age sets, and secret societies) on out to larger units including the village and village-group. While there is information on the activities of all these groups, the focus is always on their structure, their place in the local authority structure, their leadership structure, and the process of decision-making within small groups. One of the major conclusions of this study is that, although the Afikpo village-group is organizationally complex in terms of the number of groups to which any person belongs, '…the complexities are reducible to a number of fundamental features, based on descent, age, and sexual distinctiveness, which interpenetrate each type of organization, and to a limited number of types of generalized leadership roles.
Subjects
Identification
Age stratification
Lineages
Community structure
Inter-community relations
Magicians and diviners
Trial procedure
Judicial authority
Legal and judicial personnel
Sodalities
Gender status
culture
Igbo
HRAF PubDate
2003
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Western Africa
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Eleanor C. Swanson ; 1980-1981
Field Date
1951-1953, 1959-1960, 1966
Coverage Date
esp. 1952-1960
Coverage Place
Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria
Notes
Simon Ottenberg
Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-328)
LCCN
77159436
LCSH
Igbo (African people)