The Social Anthropology of West Africa

Abstract

Since World War II, West Africa has been the source of consistently innovative work, much of it relevant to the field of anthropology in general. British structural-functionalist ethnography, particularly the Cambridge school of Fortes and Goody, set theoretical and empirical standards which have rarely been matched anywhere. Again, briefly in the 1970s, anglophone social anthropology was almost overwhelmed by a school of French structuralist Marxists' with its base in West African research. Moreover, the region has been a crucible for the emergent synthesis of anthropology and history; economic anthropology, the study of urbanization and economic development, and the politics of decolonization have all been prominent there; and West Africa's independent women have attracted the attention of numerous feminist anthro­ pologists. For these and many other reasons, developments in the social anthropology of West Africa are of more than parochial interest. This paper is an introduction to the best regional literature of the last four decades, paying most attention to the period since 1970. It cites many more books than articles. The subject matter is social anthropology, which means that much cultural anthropology and archaeology has been omitted. The bias in materials selected is toward anglophone writings. The majority of texts are introduced with only a few words each. The paper is therefore a discursive means of entry for interested outsiders rather than a critical addition to profes­ sional knowledge of the region. The presentation is divided into three main sections. The first of these covers the late colonial period (ca 1940-1960); the second addresses the immediate postcolonial decade (roughly the 1960s); and the third seeks to identify the trends of the last 15 years or so. The periods refer to date of pUblication, not to the time of original research, thereby lending a