Annual Review of Anthropology· 2013Q1· Review
Power and Agency in Precolonial African States
- 95citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2013year
Short summary
Archaeological research reveals that precolonial African states arose from indigenous political entrepreneurs and diverse power dynamics, challenging earlier theories of outside influence.
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Key points
- Precolonial African states are increasingly studied archaeologically for insights into social complexity.
- Recent research refutes colonial-era views that African states originated from outside influences.
- Indigenous political entrepreneurs played a key role in driving state formation.
- Alternative modes of power significantly influenced the political structures of these states.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Precolonial African polities have emerged in recent years as fertile ground for the comparative archaeological study of social complexity and the state. For much of the twentieth century, precolonial African states were misinterpreted as the product of outside stimuli. Recent archaeological research on such polities, however, has revealed the autochthonous origins of social complexity and the state in Africa, providing valuable new insights for the comparative study of state formation in the past. This review outlines how archaeologists have tackled the precolonial state in Africa, beginning with an outline of colonial-era discourse on the nature of the state and civilization in Africa, followed by a discussion of how archaeological perspectives on power provide insights into political processes across the continent. Key examples are examined within four broadly defined subregions. Throughout this review, I highlight (a) the agency of indigenous political entrepreneurs in driving state formation across the continent, and (b) how alternative modes of power shaped the political contours of these precolonial African states.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Annual Review of Anthropology, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Archeology (Social Sciences)
ArcheologySocial Sciences