bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Social Problems of Africa
Authors: Thurnwald Richard
Published: April 2006

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Of the 1.75 milliard people in the world to-day, about 550 million, that is roughly a third, belong to the white races. About 450 million of these live in Europe. Thus two-thirds of the whole of mankind are made up of members of the various other races, which are under the economic and cultural influence of different white nations, to a great extent even under their political influence as well. As a result of technical inventions and improvements distances are daily growing smaller, and the different sections of mankind are perceptibly being brought closer together. Moreover, through the wide-spread network of commerce our relationships with all the peoples outside the European-American zone of culture have become more numerous and intimate, leading to grave social and intellectual upheavals among the foreign nations. These occurrences and phenomena are the result of the enormous expansion caused by technical invention in Europe. It would be mistaken to regard them as having been deliberately and maliciously planned by the European nations, for technical progress manifested in inventions is a phenomenon less within the range of man's control than is generally imagined. These consequences of technical development have to be reckoned with, whether we will or no. As Mussolini said a short time ago in the course of a statement on the population question: ‘A statesman has to think at least fifty years ahead of his age.’
The Sociological Study of Native Diet
Authors: Firth Raymond
Published: April 2006

In Africa to-day the need for adequate investigation of nutritional problems is evident. As European civilization advances, the task of maintaining or providing for large sections of the native population diets which shall be adequate in quality as well as in quantity becomes more and more definite. In the practical sphere the problem is of a different complexion according to whether the community considered is an artificially induced concentration of people, as in schools, hospitals, prisons, and labour compounds, or is a comparatively spontaneous and free-moving aggregation in its own territory. A tribe which has been shifted back into a native reserve is in a kind of intermediate category. The index is, of course, the respective amount of initiative and control exercised by the European authority and by the native. What follows is a discussion of the dietetic situation in tribal conditions only. The maintenance of a balanced diet in a hospital or a labour compound is a comparatively simple matter if due scientific care is exercised; it is much more difficult to regulate the food-situation of a free-living native tribe. The two sets of problems are, however, not entirely unconnected, since with an increasing knowledge of the constitution of native foodstuffs, and experiment by the trial and error method, it has been found that quite a number of these are suitable for incorporation into a standard diet and can replace European foodstuffs. On the other hand, the advent of a money economy into the life of many tribes has made possible the purchase of imported foodstuffs to correct a deficiency in their diet if they so desire—though too often it has the opposite effect of inducing the abandonment of useful native elements. Here then the problem takes on an economic complexion, and relative costs of importation, local purchase, or home production have to be considered, with inevitable complications for the final decision.
La Voix de l'Afrique
Authors: Bereng David Theko
Published: April 2006

This is reproduced, with the permission of Mr. Christeller, manager of the Morija Book Depot, from the author's volume Lithothokiso tsa Moshoeshoe le tse ling (Morija, 1931). The translation has been made by the Rev. Georges Dieterlen, who says :‘J'ai essayé de rester aussi près du texte que possible.’
The Batwa: Who are They?
Authors: Jeffreys M. D. W.
Published: April 2006

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There are no such people, any more than there were such people as the Philistines.

In ‘L'origine du nom Fulani’, I showed that the words ‘Philistine’ and ‘Fulani’ come from a common root F-L which in the Indo-European languages means ‘foreigner, stranger, alien’ and, by a secondary meaning, ‘inferior’. Consequently there is no single group of people represented by the word ‘Philistine’ any more than there can be any special group represented by the word ‘Foreigner’. Such names are coined on the well-known principles of ethnocentrism, whereby one calls one's own group ‘The Men’ and all others ‘Outsiders’. Thus Meek writes that the Bachama tribe, Northern Nigeria ‘. . . call themselves the Gboare or Men, a term which is doubtless the same as Gbari (the name of a large tribe in the Niger and Zaria provinces), Bari (in Eastern Sudan) and Ka-Bwari (Tanganyika). The rootgba= man is also found in the Upper Ituri regions of Central Africa under the formmu-gbaorba-gba.’
The Kinship Terminology of a Group of Southern Ibo
Authors: Ardener E. W.
Published: April 2006

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Full descriptions of the kinship terminology of the Ibo of south-eastern Nigeria are rare. One important reason for this is that, although the basic principles of kinship organization are similar over much of the Ibo culture area, terminology reflects, on the one hand, the extreme degree of dialect variation and, on the other hand, local variation in details of the kinship organization itself. Such variations occur sometimes over a very few miles. Certainly there is no single Ibo kinship terminology; there is only in a broad sense one southern Ibo terminology; while the area which can be said to have one terminology in the narrowest sense of an absolute identity of every term is often very restricted. Although this situation may be confusing to the investigator, it is not necessarily so to the Ibo. Every Ibo is conversant with kinship terms within and often far beyond the radius in which he may seek a wife, just as he is aware of dialectal variations in any other field of terminology. Thus it is that terminology in the literature has tended sometimes to be dialectally eclectic as well as incomplete. The growing body of publications in Ibo, both in the Onitsha and the Central dialects, also illustrates this tendency when kinship relationships are mentioned. It would therefore seem to be worth while to record one specific system of terminology in detail, within the social context of its area.
Ankole Folk Tales
Authors: Williams F. Lukyn
Published: April 2006

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Ankole is a district in the south-west of the Uganda Protectorate. Its inhabitants, as a result of fifty years of British administration, are being gradually welded together into one people, the Banyankole. There are, however, two distinct ethnic groups in the country: the Bantu aborigines who till the soil and the cattlekeeping Bahima. The latter were Hamitic invaders from the north, who brought with them their own long-horned cattle, easily distinguishable from the small shorthorned zebu type found already in the country. Their one aim in life was and is the well-being of their herds.
Self-Development in Native Housing in East London, Cape Province
Authors: Bettison D. G.
Published: April 2006

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East London is a rapidly growing port with a population of about 85,000 persons of all races, situated on the south-east coast of Africa. It is the city nearest to the largest Native Reserve in the Union, the Transkei, and hence uniquely situated in respect of its Native labour supply. It was a centre for the urban sociological studies of Professor Monica Wilson in her 1936 acculturation research, and more recently for a series of socio-economic studies by the author as an employee of the Municipality in 1949-50. An historical study of African settlement in the City, and of the relationship of Africans to the European controlled municipal council is presented here.
Dietary Change in a Sudan Village following Locust Visitation
Authors: Corkill N. L.
Published: April 2006

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The village of Ulu lies at about latitude 10° N. between the White Nile and the Blue Nile in the southern part of the Fung area of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The surrounding country is mostly thin savannah on black cotton soil but there are occasional outcrops of laterite as at Ulu itself. Water-holes are found and may be made in the larger watercourses after these have dried up at the termination of the rainy season. The dry season is roughly December to May. The inhabitants of Ulu call themselves Fung and are black Moslems of a possibly aboriginal stock. Wandering Araboid nomads of the Mesallamia and other tribes with camels, cattle, sheep, and goats may be encountered visiting traditional grazing areas. The Fung of Ulu cultivate millet, cow-peas and sesame seed as subsistence crops and in normal times surplus is bartered with the nomads for animals and no doubt clarified butter also. A small amount of cash is obtained by the gathering of acacia gum which is disposed of through the local Arab merchant.
Quelques Devinettes des Enfants Noirs de Léopoldville
Authors: Comhaire-Sylvain S.
Published: April 2006

Si l'eau et le feu ont particulièrement frappé l'imagination des petits Noirs qui se répètent régulièrement plusieurs devinettes qui s'y rapportent, les autres phénomènes ne les ont pas laissés indifférents comme nous verrons par la suite. Voyons d'abord l'eau:

Bakolamba eloko wana mpo na kotambwisa yango — Mai. On cuit cette chose-là pour la faire marcher — L'eau.
The Political System of Konkomba
Authors: Tait David
Published: April 2006

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The Konkomba live in Northern Togoland in both French and British Mandated Territory and principally about the banks of the Oti River, a tributary of the Volta. Their country lies between 9° and 9° 50' N. and 0° and 0° 50' E. The total population is about 45,000. Their language is one of the Gurma group of the Voltaic family. The great majority of them live on a grassland plain that lies between the low hills of eastern Dagomba and the Kotokoli hills. The plain is very low-lying and conditions are severe, alternating between considerable desiccation and severe flooding. The compounds are grouped in small hamlets of a dozen or so straggling along low ridges in the plain; in the wet season communication between hamlets is very difficult.
Psychological Methods for the Study of ‘Hard’ and ‘Soft’ Features of Culture
Authors: Bartlett F. C.
Published: April 2006

Since this paper will be chiefly concerned with the suggestion of methods for the investigation of a specific problem, it is necessary first to define the problem as clearly as possible.

In the Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1943 I said, ‘Every culture has its “hard” and its “soft” points. If change is first sought at the former it will provoke resistance and very likely open discord, while the latter are yielding and it is from them that reformation will spread.’ There seems to be no possible dispute about the fact. But to admit the fact carries us only a very little way towards solving the problems to which the existence of yielding and unyielding features of culture gives rise. In the lecture I attempted to go no farther than a very general discussion of these problems. I was therefore pleased when, some time ago, I received a letter from the Editor of this Journal inviting me to discuss more fully what psychological methods may be applied, not merely to recognize those ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ points of culture which history has demonstrated, but to predict them before such demonstration.
The Voice of Africa: A Bit of Bunyan
Authors: Mubitana Moses
Published: April 2006

Translation is not commonly esteemed to rank among the highest of literary arts; but it is a very useful art. Here is an example of what Africans are doing to naturalize glories of English literature. It is taken from the rendering of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress into Ila (a language of Northern Rhodesia) which won the prize in the Institute's Competition, 1937–8: the immortal scene of the trial of Christian and Faithful in the town that was named Vanity. The Rev. J. W. Price, who spent nearly twenty-seven years among the Ba-ila, has put it back into English as literally as possible, to show the degree to which Moses Mubitana has caught the meaning and spirit of the original.
Land Tenure among the Nsaw of the British Cameroons
Authors: Kaberry Phyllis M.
Published: April 2006

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The Nsaw are a section of the Tikar people who are believed to have come originally from the region of Bornu and to have established themselves near Tibati in what is now the French Cameroons. About 300 years ago small bands, some under the leadership of sons of the King, broke away and eventually reached Bamenda. The sequence of the various migrations is confused, but among the last was probably that of the Nsaw under their Paramount Chief, the Fɔn. They are a negroid people who speak a semi-Bantu language, and they now number approximately 32,000. Their territory, some 700 square miles in area, is bounded on the east by the frontier of the French Cameroons, on the south by the Ndop Plain, on the west by Oku (an independent sub-tribe of Nsaw), and on the north-west and north by Bum and Nsungli. Most of it is high rolling grassland at an average height of 5,000 feet above sea-level, but the landscape, nevertheless, presents an appearance of alternating woodland and meadow, for in the villages, which are anything from one to five miles apart, compounds are overshadowed by tall dark groves of kola trees, while along the numerous streams are plantations of raffia palm.
African Rhythm
Authors: Jones A. M.
Published: April 2006

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Most people are vaguely aware that the characteristic feature of African music is its rhythms. Some would say with the late Professor Hornbostel of Berlin that ‘it is syncopated past comprehension’; others would claim that any competent Western musician could reproduce African rhythms. Does the truth lie with either of these views or does it lie somewhere between them ? It is time we knew what Africans really do: and it is the purpose of this paper to give some account of the bases of their musical practice.
Suggestions for an Amended Spelling and Word Division of Nyanja
Authors: Atkins Guy
Published: April 2006

Most of the problems of Nyanja orthography are simple and capable of a straightforward solution. What is needed is a revision and clarification of the existing rules and usages rather than any basic reform. The need for such revision has long been felt in Nyasaland as well as in Northern Rhodesia.
Marriage of Near Kin among the Tswana
Authors: Schapera I.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

In a paper written at the end of 1946 (but not published until 1950), I discussed incidentally the types and frequency of marriages with kin among the Tswana tribes of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. I showed there that such marriages are more usual among nobles (descendants of chiefs) than commoners, and also that the two classes differ in the kinds of relative they mostly marry. Since then I have recorded several other genealogies of both nobles and commoners. This new material provides the opportunity for a more detailed analysis than was previously given of rates and types of kin marriage among the Tswana, and in particular for a discussion of the changes that have taken place during the past few generations.
New Sources for Research in Nigerian History
Authors: Perry Ruth
Published: April 2006

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Under the influence of two important developments of the past few years, studies in Nigerian history may be expected in the future to take on a new focus, using for the first time four categories of material which have been either unavailable or neglected in the past. The establishment of the University College Library at Ibadan, with a policy of making as complete as possible its collections of the indigenous publications of the country, and the appointment in 1951, by the Nigerian Government, of a Supervisor of Public Records for the purpose of surveying and preserving the archives of the country, whether official or unofficial, have already brought to light materials which will challenge the historian for many years to come.
Sociétés secrètes et Mouvements prophétiques au Congo Belge
Authors: Comhaire Jean
Published: April 2006

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En 1936, feu Édouard De Jonghe publiait dans Africa une revue des sociétés secrètes du Congo Beige qui est demeurée l'étude classique sur le sujet. Après tant d'années cependant, une mise au point paraît justifiée.
Urbanization in Southern Rhodesia
Authors: Ibbotson Percy
Published: April 2006

When addressing the Congress of the Southern Rhodesia Municipal Association at the Victoria Falls in May 1944, Sir Evelyn Baring, then Governor of Southern Rhodesia, expressed the view that the historian of the future, when he came to write the story of Southern Rhodesia during the present period, would conclude his survey by remarking that the problem of the urban Native was one of the most vital of those which faced the colony during the 1940's, and that-steps taken then to meet it had a profound effect on future years.

This article is an attempt to assess the importance of certain aspects of this problem and indicate directions in which thought, planning and action are necessary if the problem is to be satisfactorily solved. The implications of urbanization cannot be treated lightly nor can a laissez-faire attitude be adopted.
The Voice of Africa: A Zulu Poem
Authors: Vilakazi B. Wallet
Published: April 2006

We have taken this poem from the author's volume Inkondlo Kazulu, published in The Bantu Treasury by the University of Witwatersrand Press, Johannesburg. The translation was made by Dr. J. Dexter Taylor. He has followed the original almost line by line, used the same metre, and has not introduced an idea or an observation that is not in the original. It was printed in Bantu Studies, vol. ix, 1935. We acknowledge the courtesy of Dr. Taylor and of Dr. C. M. Doke, Editor of The Bantu Treasury, who have given permission for reproduction in Africa.
Principles of Phonetic Adaptation in Swahili Applied to Christian Names
Authors: Bühlmann Walbert
Published: April 2006

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It is a well established fact that every culture contact has its effect on language. Every new thing or concept that is introduced requires a name. This is achieved either by coining a word in the language of the people to whom it is introduced or by the adoption of a foreign word. Thus it is possible to trace the different culture influences on any people by establishing the origin of the foreign words in their language. The fact that in Swahili most commercial terms are of Arabic origin (e.g. fedha = money, duka = shop, biashara = trade, &c.) would seem to prove that from ancient times Arabic traders sold their wares on the coast of East Africa. Today the increasing number of English words in Swahili is indicative of the influence of British administration and its introduction of modern amenities (baisikeli = bicycle, motakaa = motor-car, reli = railway, &c). The spread of Christianity in Africa may be seen by the general use of such words as padre (priest), ubatizo (baptism), Biblia (Bible), &c, as also from the use of Christian names now heard everywhere. Even among pagans there are so-called wapenda jina (people who desire a name), who are ashamed of their pagan names and call themselves Pauli, Kasiani, &c, in order to belong, by name at least, to Christianity, the religion of the day.
Hysteria in Sukuma Medical Practice
Authors: Tanner R. E. S.
Published: April 2006

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It is proposed to describe two specialized aspects of the practice of magicians in the northern part of Sukumaland, Tanganyika Territory, in curing patients who are assumed to be ill because of the malevolence of the spirits of their ancestors. Both the curative powers of these specialists and the diseases they treat are closely connected with the cult of the ancestors, which remains the basic spiritual force in the lives of the majority of the Sukuma people. This cult rests on the belief that the spirits of ancestors may take control of their descendants either partially or completely, and also that to establish contact with the ancestors requires the offices of a magician. It is alleged that these magicians become at times temporary and passive mediums through which their ancestors assist them to diagnose the ills of the people who have paid to consult them; this usually takes the form of self-induced hysteria. Certain other specialized magicians are able to induce hysteria in others as a means of curing them of sickness.
An Outline of the Traditional Political System of Bali-Nyonga, Southern Cameroons
Authors: Kaberry P. M. , Chilver E. M.
Published: April 2006

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A survey of the traditional political organization of a number of chiefdoms in the Bamenda Grassfields of the Southern Cameroons was made by the writers from May to mid-September 1960. Bali-Nyonga (sixteen miles to the west of Bamenda Station) was one of the chiefdoms studied. Our inquiries were directed mainly to situations and events in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, within the living memory of a few aged informants and of the parents of present title-holders. A few contemporary accounts of conditions exist for Bali-Nyonga for the last decade of the nineteenth century: those of Zintgraff (who was the first European to reach Bali-Nyonga), Hutter, Esser, and scattered notices in administrative, scientific, and missionary publications. These provide a rough chronological framework for Bali-Nyonga affairs for 1889–1914. British administrative officers in the course of tax assessment, the establishment of native courts and the resolution of land cases, collected oral traditions from the Mfon (Chief) of Bali-Nyonga and his elders, and accounts of earlier judicial and executive institutions from informants who had experienced them before the establishment of the German Imperial Military Station at Bamenda in 1902. We are not directly concerned in this paper with the expansion of the German administrative, trading, labour-recruiting, and missionary frontier, but with Bali interpretations of their own constitution at the period of contact (1889) and a little before and after. We hope to show that this constitution developed in intelligible circumstances which its special characteristics reflect.
Esquisse sur l'Habitat Guerzé
Authors: Mengrelis Thanos
Published: April 2006

Emplacement et Milieu

Les villages guerzé (kpèllè), et ceux des groupes ethniques apparentés de la région forestière de la Guinée, sont généralement bâtis sur une hauteur, à proximité d'un point d'eau, mais jamais dans un bas-fond auprès d'un ruisseau. Us sont situés à l'orée d'une forêt ou au milieu d'une clairière. Le village est souvent entouré par une ceinture d'éléments de forêt secondaire. Cette zone est respectée pour protéger les habitations des tornades violentes. Elle est indispensable pour la pratique des coutumes d'initiation et des sacrifices, et, très probablement, dans le passé, elle était utilisée à des fins défensives, ce rideau de forêt dense étant favorable aux guérillas. Souvent l'endroit choisi est l'emplacement d'anciens champs de culture abandonnés. Ainsi, les habitants ont l'avantage d'occuper un terrain épuisé et en même temps défriché.
Remarques Préliminaires a une Étude des Emprunts Arabes en Peul
Authors: Lacroix P. F.
Published: April 2006

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Quiconque s'est quelque peu penché sur les sociétés peules ne peut être que frappé par la rareté des traits culturels qui leur sont propres et la quantité considérable d'emprunts que les fulbe ont fait, dans les domaines les plus divers, aux sociétés et aux civilisations avec lesquelles ils se sont trouvés en contact. Cette perméabilité aux influences extérieures a naturellement entrainé l'assimilation au peul d'une grande quantité d'éléments signifiants provenant d'autres langues. Parmi ces apports, les emprunts faits à l'arabe occupent une place particulière tant de par leur mode particulier de transmission que par leur importance numérique et leur présence dans tous les dialectes de la langue.
Legal Innovation and Social Change in a Peasant Community: A Senegalese Village Police
Authors: Snyder Francis G.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

Many strategies of rural development in Africa propose greater reliance on local institutions (Girard 1963; Seibel and Massing 1974; The World Bank 1975: 33–40; Tall 1976). Sometimes these proposals are primarily political rhetoric (Migot-Adholle 1970; Cliffe 1970); but they may, on the contrary, genuinely take account of rural social organization and history (Hamer 1967; Magid 1972; 1976: 154-69). Despite their merits, such proposals often fail to consider sufficiently the changing social and economic bases of rural institutions. One factor which deserves more emphasis is the dependence of rural dwellers on wider economic forces. As producers of cash crops, purchasers of imported goods, and suppliers of wage labour, rural Africans are integrated into the national and ultimately international economy. Integration and dependence are facilitated and encouraged by numerous government policies. Peasants are increasingly drawn to the cities by the symbiotic, subordinate relation of rural villages to the urban capitalist export sector, whose interests require a supply of cheap labour (Amin 1974a; 1974b; Meillassoux 1975; Seidman 1974) and predominate in the making of policy. The consequent dislocation and disintegration of rural communities limit severely the possibilities of delegating new tasks to existing rural institutions or of using them to decentralize authority, foster mass participation, or promote self-reliance.
Changing Family Structures among the Rural Hausa
Authors: Goddard A. D.
Published: April 2006

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In a predominantly agricultural society, the family unit has remained a fundamental element underlying economic organi2ation among the Hausa. There is, however, surprisingly little reference in the literature to the organization of this unit since it was described by Greenberg (1946; 1947) for pagan Hausa, and by Smith (1955) for Moslems. This paper discusses those aspects of the family structure which are directly related to the organization of rural production. In particular it is concerned with the family farming unit which may be defined as those members of a kinship group who combine their farming operations under a common leadership and organization, to form the basis for a common unit of domestic economy.
Histories and Political Opposition in Ahafo, Ghana
Authors: Robertson A. F.
Published: April 2006

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Towards the end of my 1968–9 period of study in Ghana an audience was arranged for me with the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II. He was ailing at the time and his readiness to see me was largely attributable to his acute interest in the political affairs of Ahafo, the district in which I was working. One of the first questions he asked me was whether I had been told in Ahafo about a certain ‘Asibi Entwi’. I replied that I had heard a great deal about this person. Otumfuo then assured me emphatically: ‘Asibi Entwi is a lie. No such man ever lived.’
Seasonal hunger among the Ngoni and Ntumba of central Malaŵi
Authors: Nurse G. T.
Published: April 2006

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The cultural significance of regular ‘hunger periods’ in tropical Africa, however much it may be disputed by anthropologists, has for a long time been apparent to less objective observers. It is generally accepted by those concerned in the engagement of migrant labour that at certain regular times of the year the supply is greater than at others: and it is believed that the number of men presenting for engagement is related to the quantity of food available in the villages. This view, as will be shown below, is an over-simplification. Ogbu (1973), though he relates seasonal hunger among the Poka to labour migration, sees die latter as a cause rather than a result of the former. He apparently considers that migration reduces the number of agricultural workers to below an unstipulated critical level above which it might still be possible to produce a sufficiency of food at all seasons, provided that animal pests could be controlled and agricultural techniques made more efficient. Seasonal hunger among the Ibo of Onicha he blames on shortage of farmland, low yield, and high storage loss of foodstuffs. At first sight it might appear that the cultural concomitants of the hunger period contrast rather strikingly between the two populations; and yet the recurrent hunger period is recognized by the FAO and other authorities (though Miracle (1961) questions its existence) as being a phenomenon widespread in sub- Saharan Africa, and one which might in consequence be expected to result from similar or related causes in most of the situations in which it occurs.
The Missions and Political Development in the Congo
Authors: Markowitz Marvin D.
Published: April 2006

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The history of European colonization in Africa is to a large degree a story of Christian missionary penetration. Yet, relatively scant attention has been paid to their political activities and influence, especially during the period following the First World War. This paper is an attempt to deal with this problem as it manifested itself in the former Belgium Congo. For reasons that I hope will become obvious to the reader, the Catholic missions will receive greater attention than the Protestant.
The Masked Figure and Social Control: the Mandinka Case
Authors: Weil Peter M.
Published: April 2006

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Within a historical and comparative context, the following paper describes and analyses the role of masked figures in social control among the Mandinka of the Gambia. A direct relationship will be demonstrated between the problems of rule-application in hierarchical communities, where authority for rule-making and rule-application is dispersed, and the presence and behaviour of masked figures. In such communities secular actions taken in the rule-application process by individuals or groups bear a load of potential conflict. Masked figures in this context provide a mechanism through which the probability of sustained, divisive conflict is decreased by converting secular actions of rule-application into sacred, suprasocial actions. The integration of the hierarchically ordered elements of the community is thus accomplished in two ways: (1) through the capacity of the masked figures to apply rules while remaining above all elements of the community and (2) through the organized actions involved in creating and maintaining the masked figures and the ceremonial context in which they operate. It will be shown that the socio-cultural milieu in which sacred masked figures have functioned has changed, and that with the changes masked figures are becoming secularized and are disappearing.
Migration and Socio-Economic Links Between Urban Migrants and their Home Communities in Nigeria
Authors: Adepoju Aderanti
Published: April 2006

Introduction

The observation that migrants in most of Africa's towns maintain close ties with their home communities, initially made with respect to labour migrants, has been extended to include all kinds of migrants—seasonal, semi-permanent, and permanent (Van Velsen, 1960: 265–78; Gugler, 1971: 405; Caldwell, 1969: 140; Mitchell, 1959: 12–47).

It has been stated that a migrant who spends most of his working life in the town still regards his community of origin as his real home, owes social allegiance to it, ‘and reduces rural-urban migration to a mechanical process involving forward and backward movement between the town and country’ (Imoagene, 1972: 4).

This paper investigates the nature and the role of such links between urban migrants and their various places of origin–both rural and urban–in Nigeria. The study is approached from a micro-level by examining the pattern of socio-economic relationships between individual migrants and their families at their various places of origin rather than using aggregate data.
The silika: a co-operative labour institution
Authors: Charsley S. R.
Published: April 2006

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There is a type of labour agreement encountered in agrarian societies, which almost inevitably gets labelled ‘traditional’. This is the arrangement, occurring in a variety of styles which I discuss elsewhere (Charsley 1974a), whereby members of a rural community co-operate to perform collectively tasks which belong to them individually. The use of such a label has often, as will be seen, some justification in that these arrangements typically form parts of institutional complexes embedded in the diffuse and multiplex social relationships of small-scale communities. They usually imply a lack of specialization both of task and of skill.
The outsider and the insider in Tigania Meru
Authors: Mahner Jurg
Published: April 2006

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The point of departure for this paper is Rodney Needham's article, ‘The left Hand of the Mugwe: an analytical Note on the Structure of Meru-symbolism’ (Needham, 1960: 20–33). I will not try here to give further evidence for the system of dual classification which he presents in that article in order to prove or disprove it, but will dwell on his suggestion that it might be possible to draw conclusions about the origin of the Meru of Kenya by examining their symbolic structure (ibid: 27). My argument will lead not so much to conclusions about the origin of the Meru, but to conclusions concerning the ‘making’ of a society, particularly that of Tigania, a subtribe of the Meru people. My conclusions are based on a discussion of the theoretical and historical implications of the allocation of distinctive rights and duties to different divisions within Tigania.
Population, economy and domestic groups – the Kitui case
Authors: O'Leary Michael
Published: April 2006

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Major factors which influence the pace of change in rural districts of Kenya relate to the nature of the local environment and traditional economy, population density and the degree of integration with the national economy and polity. In general change takes place more rapidly in the better watered high potential areas than in the semi-arid or arid areas. Kitui is a district in the semi-arid zone of the Eastern Province, Kenya. Traditionally its residents – the Kitui Akamba – were agro-pastoralists. With the establishment of British rule they expanded cultivation into former rangelands, and grazed their animals‘cattle and small stock – in areas once the preserve of wild life. This generated a resurgence in the local economy mirrored in the fact that the young men adamantly resisted administrative pressure to induce them to become labour migrants.
Interactions between plant and insect diversity in the restoration of lowland calcareous grasslands in southern Britain
Authors: Mortimer Simon R. , Hollier John A. , Brown Valerie K.
Published: April 2006

Abstract. The lowland calcareous grasslands of northwestern Europe are highly prized by ecologists and conservationists as a result of the diversity of their plant and invertebrate communities. Large areas of such grasslands have been lost this century as a result of changes in agricultural land use. Recent changes in agricultural policies, in particular the introduction of agri‐environmental incentive schemes, have resulted in an increasing area being managed for the restoration of these communities.

This paper reviews the management techniques employed in the restoration of lowland calcareous grasslands and the factors that govern their success. Constraints on the enhancement of the plant diversity of restoration sites include high soil fertility and the presence of undesirable species in the soil seed bank. However, it is thought that the primary constraint is the availability of propagules from which new populations can be established. Similarly, the dispersal mode and ability of insect species is likely to be the major factor limiting the enhancement of insect diversity.

Evaluation of the success of restoration management usually involves monitoring changes in the plant community. However, as a result of their short life‐cycles and sensitivity to small‐scale environmental conditions, insects may respond more rapidly to changes resulting from restoration management and therefore provide better indicators of success. With the exception of a few high‐profile butterfly species, the use of insects as indicator taxa has largely been neglected in terrestrial systems. This paper illustrates their potential use with reference to lowland calcareous grasslands in southern Britain.
Orchestrating Environmental Research and Assessment
Authors: Levin S. A.
Published: April 2006

When pressing national environmental problems must be solved, and serve as the justification for large infusions of public funds, mechanisms must be found to assure that the requisite research and assessment are performed. Large, managed programs seem to offer a way to direct energies in the needed directions, but individual creativity and intellectual curiosity must also be fostered through investigator—initiated studies. Research results cannot be achieved to meet imposed deadlines, and assessment in the face of uncertainty must be given due attention. This paper introduces five subsequent papers, four of which present perspectives on the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, as a model for coordinated research and assessment programs, and one that presents plans for a national and international research effort on biodiversity.
Grasses and Grazers, Science and Management
Authors: McNaughton S. J.
Published: April 2006

The evidence that pure ecological science has influenced grazing management practices employed in livestock husbandry on the North American Great Plains is tenuous at best. Those practices arose from critical technological innovations in the 19th century that modified the essential properties of grazing ecosystems when applied to livestock husbandry. Ecological research has identified many significant differences as well as similarities between natural and human—defined grazing systems, and how husbandry can lead to overgrazing. There is considerable evidence that moderate grazing can increase primary productivity and unequivocal evidence that some plants benefit from the presence of grazing animals.
Copper Dynamics and the Mechanism of Ecosystem Level Recovery in a Standardized Aquatic Microcosm
Authors: Meador James P. , Taub Frieda B. , Sibley Thomas H.
Published: April 2006

The Standardized Aquatic Microcosm (SAM) was used to assess the effects and behavior of copper at the ecosystem level. The concentration of algal cells and Daphnia magna, pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and dissolved and ionic copper concentration were measured for 489 d and used to explain the recovery sequence of a community of organisms. The results indicate that a resistant algal species was crucial for initiating the recovery sequence in these microcosms and that the timing of D. magna blooms was variable but highly correlated with decreasing ionic copper. In order to explain copper toxicity and the success of the recovery phase, a stepwise analysis of the functional role of the resistant algal species Oocystis pusilla, and the tolerance of D. magna was undertaken. These process studies determined that O. pusilla was a suitable food for D. magna, and that this algal species could also act as a major ligand for copper, although sorption was probably important only for a limited time during the bloom. These studies also concluded that copper bioavailability controlled toxicity because it was shown that D. magna from the microcosms exhibited no resistance to copper toxicity, even though the dissolved copper concentration was 5 times the LC50 value (concentration lethal to 50% of the population). DOC and pH, which were controlled by algal metabolism, were probably important for decreasing ionic copper, which allowed the recovery sequence to begin. Additional studies showed that the microcosm—derived DOC was able to complex copper at low pH and that DOC was highly correlated with reduced concentrations of ionic copper.
Quantifying Dispersal of Southern Pine Beetles with Mark‐Recapture Experiments and a Diffusion Model
Authors: Turchin Peter , Thoeny William T.
Published: April 2006

Pest management decisions should take into consideration quantitative information on dispersal of insect pests, but such information is often lacking. The goal of this study was to measure intraforest dispersal in the southern pine beetle (SPB). We developed an analytical formula for interpreting data from mark—recapture studies of insect dispersal. The formula is obtained by postulating a simple model of diffusion with disappearance (e.g., as a result of death) for the spread of marked insects from the release point. Parameters of the model (assumed to be invariant in space) are estimated by fitting the curve to the cumulative number of recaptured insects as a function of the distance from release. We also derived an expression for the distribution of dispersal distances in terms of the fitted parameters. The proposed methodology was applied to a mark—recapture study of SPB dispersal Statistical analysis of recaptures—with—distance curves obtained in 11 replicate releases indicated that the proposed formula provided an accurate description of the data. There were no systematic departures from the functional relationship prescribed by the formula, and the model consistently outperformed another commonly used formula for fitting data on dispersal distances, the exponential curve. We explored the effect of spatial heterogeneity in the host distribution on SPB movement by regressing the deviation from the recapture rate predicted by the model in each trap on the pine basal area around the trap. This correlation was significantly greater than zero, indicating that beetles tended to aggregate in localities where pines were dense. This result suggests that a diffusion model with spatially varying parameters may provide a more accurate description of the redistribution process in the SPB. Quantitative results on SPB intraforest dispersal were summarized by calculatingradii of circles enclosing a given proportion of SPB dispersal distances. For example, we estimated that one half of released beetles dispersed >0.69 km. This result has important implications for evaluating the area—wide consequences of current or novel control tactics that rely on disrupting SPB movements, e.g., cut—and—leave and treatments with anti—congregation pheromone.
Long‐Term Response of an Arctic Sedge to Climate Change: A Simulation Study
Authors: Leadley Paul W. , Reynolds James F.
Published: April 2006

It appears that polar regions of the Earth will bear the brunt of global temperature increases. Because of the ecological importance of the sedge Eriophorum vaginatum in the arctic and the large amount of data available on its growth and physiology, we chose this species as a test case to model the potential long—term response of arctic plants to global climate change. Our simulation model utilizes a mechanistic framework and includes the effects of light, temperature, season length, nitrogen availability, and CO2 concentration on E. vaginatum growth dynamics. The model was parameterized based on a series of published studies of the growth responses of E. vaginatum to nutrients and validated using (1) field studies on the growth responses of E. vaginatum to temperature and shading, and (2) the effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on E. vaginatum photosynthesis. The effect of a 50—yr period of climate change on peak biomass (overwintering biomass plus seasonal production) in E. vaginatum was explored. We use climate change here to refer to linear increases over a 50—yr period in temperature (from 8° to 13°C), season length (from 100 to 120 d), and atmospheric CO2 (from 340 to 680 @mL/L). Similarly, a wide range of nitrogen availabilities (from 9 to 18 g°m —2°yr—1) was also examined because of its importance in productivity. The model predicts that a simultaneous increase in the direct effects of temperature, season length, and CO2, with no change in nitrogen availability, will result in a slight decrease in peak biomass. A simulated long—term doubling of nitrogen availability results in an °70% increase in peak biomass, whereas with concurrent changes in climate and nitrogen availability, the model predicts a slight decline in peak biomass compared to increases in nitrogen alone. In essence, the model predicts that climate change will have substantial effects on E. vaginatum only indirectly through changes in nitrogen availability. Simulated peak biomass responds linearly up to a doubling of current nitrogen availabilities. Therefore, at low—to—moderate increases in nitrogen availability, the predicted response of E. vaginatum to climate change is linearly (and almost exclusively) dependent on our ability to predict the effects of climate change on nitrogen cycling. At nitrogen availabilities >2x current availabilities, the relationship flattens out very rapidly because the plant becomes limited by carbon uptake. Thus, if nitrogen availabilities more than double in the future, E. vaginatum may shift from being a nutrient—limited to a carbon—limited system and, consequently, increased season length and elevated CO2 concentrations may play an important role in controlling E. vaginatum productivity.
Soil Organic Matter Recovery in Semiarid Grasslands: Implications for the Conservation Reserve Program
Authors: Burke Ingrid C. , Lauenroth William K. , Coffin Debra P.
Published: April 2006

Although the effects of cultivation on soil organic matter and nutrient supply capacity are well understood, relatively little work has been done on the long‐term recovery of soils from cultivation. We sampled soils from 12 locations within the Pawnee National Grasslands of northeastern Colorado, each having native fields and fields that were historically cultivated but abandoned 50 yr ago. We also sampled fields that had been cultivated for at least 50 yr at 5 of these locations. Our results demonstrated that soil organic matter, silt content, microbial biomass, potentially mineralizable N, and potentially respirable C were significantly lower on cultivated fields than on native fields. Both cultivated and abandoned fields also had significantly lower soil organic matter and silt contents than native fields. Abandoned fields, however, were not significantly different from native fields with respect to microbial biomass, potentially mineralizable N, or respirable C. In addition, we found that the characteristic small‐scale heterogeneity of the shortgrass steppe associated with individuals of the dominant plant, Bouteloua gracilis, had recovered on abandoned fields. Soil beneath plant canopies had an average of 200 g/m2 more C than between‐plant locations. We suggest that 50 yr is an adequate time for recovery of active soil organic matter and nutrient availability, but recovery of total soil organic matter pools is a much slower process. Plant population dynamics may play an important role in the recovery of shortgrass steppe ecosystems from disturbance, such that establishment of perennial grasses determines the rate of organic matter recovery.