Kwa matumizi tofauti ya jina hilo angalia Kabila (maana) Kabila ni jamii ya binadamu yenye umoja fulani upande wa lugha na utamaduni, si lazima upande wa eneo na utawala wa siasa. Kwa mfano, katika nchi ya Tanzania kuna makabila zaidi ya 120, kama vile kabila la Wachaga, la Waluguru n.k. Nchini Kenya kuna Wakikuyu, Waribe n.k. Wengine wanaeleza kwamba makabila yalitokea kabla ya madola na yanaendelea kujitegemea kwa kiasi fulani ndani ya dola.Lakini wengine wanatumia neno hilo kwa upana zaidi. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tribal-peoples-tomorrows-world-Stephen/dp/1447424131 Benveniste, Émile. Indo-European Language and Society, translated by Elizabeth Palmer. London: Faber and Faber 1973. ISBN 0-87024-250-4. Benveniste, Émile. Origines de la formation des noms en indo-européen, 1935. Fried, Morton H. The Notion of Tribe. Cummings Publishing Company, 1975. ISBN 0-8465-1548-2. Helm, June, ed., 1968. Essays on the Problem of Tribe, Proceedings, American Ethnological Society, 1967 (Seattle: University of Washington Press). James, Paul (2006). Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back In. London: Sage Publications.  James, Paul (2001).