Beschreibung
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. 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.
Aidan Southall is Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison. He now lives in France with his wife Dr Christine
Obbo.
Professor David Parkin is Head of the Institute of Social and Cultural
Anthropology, University of Oxford.
