Ethnicity and the colonial state finding and representing group identifications in a coastal West African and global perspective (1850-1960)

Ethnicity and the Colonial State analyses, through a comparison of three West African communities (Wolof, Temne, and Ewe), the ways in which ethnic labels and arguments are used (or omitted) in dealings with colonial administrations. It follows these strategies and choices over more than a century,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Keese, Alexander
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Leiden Brill [2016], 2016
Series:Studies in global social history
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:Ethnicity and the Colonial State analyses, through a comparison of three West African communities (Wolof, Temne, and Ewe), the ways in which ethnic labels and arguments are used (or omitted) in dealings with colonial administrations. It follows these strategies and choices over more than a century, between the conquest periods and independence. Where state structures were weak as a factor of group cohesion, ethnic arguments were especially likely to come into play. The analysis discusses internal fissures and conflicting interests within the communities as other incentives for ethnic coalition-building. The observations made in this book are put into the context of a global historical perspective, for which "ethnicity" has so far remained a badly defined concept
Item Description:"An earlier version of this monograph was accepted as habilitation thesis by the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Berne, Switzerland, in 2010"--Title page verso
Physical Description:ix, 377 pages
ISBN:9789004307346
9004307346