The Significance of Cattle Exchanges in Lovedu Social Structure

Africa ◽  
1939 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Krige
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social System ◽  
Focus Attention ◽  
Real Place ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Social Arrangements ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Good Behaviour ◽  
Better Than

Opening ParagraphThe Louedu of the NE. Transvaal are patrilineal and marriage, which is patrilocal, involves (as it does among other S. Bantu tribes) the transfer of munywalo. This,institution has been variously interpreted as the legalization of the marriage, as a guarantee of a wife's status or good behaviour, and in terms of compensation, economic or ritual. But these interpretations are rather like parodies in which the emphasis on the features mentioned is not so much wrong as a caricature. We have, often complacently, projected our own values and motivations as universally valid. Much might be said in favour of such a caricature, if it is infused with the life of a character in Dickens, especially when the purpose has been to ennoble an institution which many regard as degrading. The kindly cartoon is better than the derogatory stereotype. It would, however, be better still if we could accommodate ourselves to a system in which the social arrangements are incommensurable with our own. More specifically, and that is the purpose of this article, we might try to discover the real place of munywalo in the social system. The manner in which we phrase the subject, that is, as the relation of the cattle exchanges to the social structure, is not meant to disguise our approach. It is intended to focus attention on the facts that cattle constitute the essence of munywalo, and that the exchanges of cattle involved are both the basis of important social arrangements and by far the most important use to which cattle are put in the society.

The Concept of ‘Bewitching’ in Lugbara

Africa ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Opening ParagraphIn this paper I consider some Lugbara notions about witches, ghosts, and other agents who bring sickness to human beings. I do not discuss the relationship of these notions, and the behaviour associated with them, to the social structure. The two aspects, ideological and structural, are intimately connected, but it is possible to discuss them separately: on the one hand, to present the ideology as a system consistent within itself and, on the other, to show the way in which it is part of the total social system. Here I attempt only the former.

Polygamy in Mεnde Country

Africa ◽  
1937 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Crosby
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social System ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphPolygamy is a social system, and is intimately bound up with the subject of property, of labour, and of the difference in status between men and women. If this paper appears to trespass into other fields it is because of the complexity of the subject and because polygamy is not something that can be abstracted from the social organization generally and be examined by itself; it is both symptom and cause of widespread difference in Mende society from that of our own.

Tsimihety Kinship and Descent

Africa ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Adequate Account ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
A Minor

Opening ParagraphThough the Tsimihety tribe is the subject of three monographs by Molet (1953, 1956, 1959) and a number of papers by various authors (e.g. Mattei, 1938; Magnes, 1953), its social structure has not yet been adequately described. Indeed, there is no adequate account of the social structure of any Malagasy group, although Ottino's (1963) analysis of aspects of Vezo social structure is very illuminating. The primary aim of this paper therefore is to describe two of the major features of Tsimihety social structure—kinship and descent. As there are facets of Tsimihety kinship and descent that have some bearing on recent discussion of these topics, a secondary aim is to contribute, in a minor way, to that discussion.

An Analytical Commentary on the Social Structure of the Dogon

Africa ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Tait
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphIt is useful to review existing ethnographic writings from time to time in the light of advancing theory. The data considered here are contained in an impressive body of first-rate material collected in accordance with the best descriptive methods on which French ethnographers rely. This paper is in no sense a summary of the data collected by the various Missions Griaule; it is an ‘analytical commentary’ dealing only with the social system of the Dogon of Sanga that a structural analysis of the material reveals. Its purpose is to direct attention to some problems of structure for which further investigation is needed. It can most usefully be read side by side with the principal works on this people so far published.

The Social Structure of Modern Bamako

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Meillassoux
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social ◽  
North Bank ◽  
Niger River ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
The Town

Opening ParagraphAccording to a partial census taken in 1960, Bamako city has about 130,000 inhabitants. Small by Western standards, it is still by far the largest city in Mali. At the time of the French conquest Bamako had only between 800 and 1,000 inhabitants; it was the capital of a Bambara chiefdom, grouping about thirty villages on the north bank of the Niger river, with a total of about 5,000 people. The ruling dynasty was that of the Niaré, who, according to their traditions, came from the Kingi eleven generations ago (between 1640 and 1700). For defence against the neighbours and armed slave-raiders fortifications were built around the town and a permanent army of so-fa (horsemen) was raised. Soon after its foundation Bamako attracted Moslem Moors from Twat who settled as marabouts and merchants under the protection of the Niaré's warriors. Among them, the Twati (later to be called Touré) and the Dravé became, alongside and sometimes in competition with the Niaré, the leading families.

Prejudice, Discrimination, and Alienation in Educational Environments

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-60
Author(s):  
Didem Çelik Yılmaz ◽  
Türkan Argon
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
The Social ◽  
Students First ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Negative Impacts

In today's societies where cultural singularity is almost destroyed, diversity can be an important richness, thanks to individuals displaying peace-based approaches. Schools are affected by this diversity and will continue to be cultivated as small but highly effective stakeholders of the social structure. It can be said that it is important for educational organizations to gain human values before teaching theoretical lessons to their students and that the necessary studies should be carried out both for school administrators and teachers and for students. First of all, raising awareness on this issue is a great need during the construction of the peace society. Therefore, in addition to contributing to the literature with this study, it is aimed to present different and diverse perspectives of prejudice, discrimination, and alienation of students and teachers, giving examples of cause and effect relationships. It is also aimed to make suggestions to reduce negative impacts and thus to raise awareness on the subject.

16. Still a Discipline After All These Debates?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Wæver
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Social System ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Intellectual Structure ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relations Of Power

This chapter considers how the arguments associated with the thirteen different theories of International Relations discussed in the book sum up. More specifically, it asks whether IR is (still?) a discipline, and whether it is likely to remain one. The chapter examines the intellectual and social patterns of IR and the discipline as a social system, along with its relations of power, privilege, and careers. It also reflects on where, what, and how IR is today by drawing on theories from the sociology of science, whether IR can be regarded as a subdiscipline within political science, and the social structure of IR. It argues that the discipline of international relations is likely to continue whether or not ‘international relations’ remains a distinct or delineable object. It also contends that the core of the intellectual structure in the discipline of IR has been recurring ‘great debates’.

Crown Land and Royal Patronage in Mid-Sixteenth Century England

1980 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine S.H. Wyndham
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Royal Patronage ◽  
Regular Source ◽  
Accurate Picture ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mary Tudor ◽  
Localized Knowledge

Yf you thincke yt to be suche lande as I maye geve wythe my honor, I shall thincke yt verye well bestowyd, for that he is one that hathe well desarvyd yt and hathe had no kynde of recompence.So wrote Mary Tudor to the Marquis of Winchester in 1554. The subject of the Queen's approval was Sir Edmund Peckham, one of her most trusted councilors. The result of that approval was an outright gift of land worth nearly one hundred pounds a year.Land, the basis of the social structure of the age, was one of the crucial instruments of patronage. The crown estate not only had its financial function as a regular source of income and an emergency source of realizable capital, but one directly relevant to social control and to government. It was a means by which past services to the prince could be rewarded and future services perhaps anticipated. The way land was used for this purpose and whether the frequency and extent of its usage can throw any light on problems and methods of government are questions meriting close consideration. The period taken here—the late 1530s to the early 1570s—spans several very different phases of government: how far did policy towards patronage vary from phase to phase? And how far did these variations reflect the needs of each successive government?To acquire an accurate picture of the use of the crown's estate, some localized knowledge is essential.

scholarly journals Economisation of social policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 489-492
Author(s):  
Jakub Stelina
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social System ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject

The subject of this study is the so-called economisation of social policy understood, however, not as rationalisationof activities of state agencies in support of specific social objectives, but as perception of social problemssolely from an accounting perspective, that of a profit and loss account. While such a view may sometimes be justifiedconsidering the situation of public finance, it can, nevertheless, lead towards weakening of the state’s protectivefunction, and thus towards destabilisation of the social system. For that very reason it is necessary to find a “goldenmean” whereby the two values, conflicting with each other at least to a certain degree, could be reconciled. Presentedbelow are two representative examples of the phenomenon, as inherent in the practice of Poland’s social policyof recent years.

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