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The City in Time and Space
This ambitious book treats urbanisation and urbanism all over the world, and from the earliest times to the present. Aidan Southall, a pioneer in the study of African cities, discusses the urban centres of ancient Sumeria, Greece and Rome, as well as medieval European cities, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic and Indic cities, colonial cities, and the great metropolises of the twentieth century. Drawing on this historical and comparative perspective, he offers a fresh analysis of world urbanisation in the contemporary period of globalisation. The study emphasises the enduring paradox of the city, which juxtaposes splendid cultural productions with the poverty and deprivation of the majority.
Alur Society
Alur Society became a classic for a number of reasons. Being much more than a descriptive account of an African society, it was the first intensive ethnography to adopt the ideas of Max Weber. It pioneered the idea that religion and ritual could be the basis of political action. It also showed how state systems could evolve not just on the basis of conquest but as a result of societies without kings inviting those with kings to govern them. Author Aidan Southall's theory of the segmentary state was adopted by political anthropologists throughout the subject and also by political scientists, being applied not just to Africa but also to India and other parts of the world. The book was able to arrive at such long-lasting and imaginative conclusions through the use of ethnographic material of a quality rarely surpassed. It is moreover arguably the best book in social anthropology of a Nilotic-speaking people. Southall's own command of their language and his overall scholarly knowledge of Nilotes is also unsurpassed.
Alur Hourglass
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Freedom of One's Feet
Aidan Southall's cultivated the enjoyment of life's simple luxuries. He loved travelling. Difficulties encountered on journeys were extraneous to the destinations' experiences. As a researcher, tourist or and pilgrim, he believed in travelling with "an open mind, leaving back light footprints, and returning with treasuries of memories". Born in Birmingham, moved as a baby to "Fenlands" where the love for simple life developed while cycling, swimming in rivers, camping and hitch hiking. During family holidays, besides rowing, and standing on his head (his life long mode of exercise), he already demonstrated an anthropological predilection: quizzing and recording fishermen about their boats and fish. Two years after arriving in Uganda, he established anthropology syllabus in 1947; departed Makerere in 1964 having chaired the department of anthropology and sociology; and directed the Social Research Institute. In 1991 he retired from the University of Wisconsin Madison, his base since 1969, to Southwest France.
Social Change in Modern Africa
Originally published in 1961, this book analyses economic changes in Africa and the restructuring of social relations to which this hs led. there are also detailed studies of the character of social changes in individual communities. There is a particular focus on changing kinship status and neighbourhood as the impact of modern economic conditions is felt in Tropical Africa.
Urban Anthropology in China
This book is based on the papers that were presented at the First International Urban Anthropology Conference, which was opened in Beijing on December 28, 1989. It contains twenty-two papers and six introductory contributions, dealing with the following subjects: 'Comparative Urbanism: Socialist and Asian Cities'; 'Chinese Urbanization'; 'Chinese Urban Ethnicity'; 'Chinese Urban Culture and Life Cycle'. These papers are written by Chinese and non-Chinese authors. The conference of 1989/1990 marked the beginning of urban anthropology in China. Before this, the objects of ethnological, sociological and anthropological research in China were rural, rather than urban. Besides, the attention of scholars was mostly directed towards the ethnic minorities in China. In the late 1970's however, contacts with Western anthropologists helped in redirecting part of Chinese anthropology towards the study of urban conglomerations. The congress of 1989/90 marked the acceptance of this new approach in China.
Partitioned Africans
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Urban Anthropology in China
This book is based on the papers that were presented at the First International Urban Anthropology Conference, which was opened in Beijing on December 28, 1989. It contains twenty-two papers and six introductory contributions, dealing with the following subjects: 'Comparative Urbanism: Socialist and Asian Cities'; 'Chinese Urbanization'; 'Chinese Urban Ethnicity'; 'Chinese Urban Culture and Life Cycle'. These papers are written by Chinese and non-Chinese authors. The conference of 1989/1990 marked the beginning of urban anthropology in China. Before this, the objects of ethnological, sociological and anthropological research in China were rural, rather than urban. Besides, the attention of scholars was mostly directed towards the ethnic minorities in China. In the late 1970's however, contacts with Western anthropologists helped in redirecting part of Chinese anthropology towards the study of urban conglomerations. The congress of 1989/90 marked the acceptance of this new approach in China.
Early State Economics
The central theme of this volume is the political economy of early state societies: the ways in which the income of the central government of such systems was collected and spent. The work contains descriptive as well as narrative and commemorative essays. Contributions present data on early states as diverse as the Interlacustrine states of East Africa, the Sudanic states of West Africa, prehistoric Cahokia in the Mississippi Valley, Aztec Mexico, the Classical Maya, eighteenth-century Nepal, and Polynesian, Tahitian, and Mayan case studies. At the theoretical end of the spectrum, the book offers a general discussion of the concept of political economy; modes of production in antiquity, and...
