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Igbo

About: Igbo is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2187 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15168 citations.


Papers
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Book
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: In this paper, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide and pointed out that roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized.
Abstract: Challenging the received orthodoxies of social anthropology, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide. Examining the structures that enabled women to achieve power, she shows that roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized. Economic changes in colonial times undermined women's status and reduced their political role and Dr Amadiume maintains, patriarchal tendencies introduced by colonialism persist today, to the detriment of women. Critical of the chauvinist stereotypes established by colonial anthropology, the author stresses the importance of recognizing women's economic activities as as essential basis of their power. She is also critical of those western feminists who, when relating to African women, tend to accept the same outmoded projections.

481 citations

MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the comparative history of the poor in Africa is discussed and the transformation of poverty in southern Africa is described. But the authors do not consider the role of women in this process.
Abstract: Preface 1. The comparative history of the poor 2. Christian Ethiopia 3. The Islamic tradition 4. Poverty and pastoralism 6. Yoruba and Igbo 7. Early European initiatives 8. Poverty in South Africa, 1886-1948 9. Rural poverty in colonial Africa 10. Urban poverty in tropical Africa 11. The care of the poor in colonial Africa 12. Leprosy 13. The growth of poverty in independent Africa 14. The transformation of poverty in southern Africa Notes Bibliography Index.

476 citations

Book
01 Jan 1965

293 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reviewed some current approaches to the study of linguistic politeness as well as some recent work on non-western politeness, arguing that many activities that would be regarded as threats to face, and therefore as impositions, in Western societies, are regarded differently in Igbo society.

267 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The women responded by holding a town meeting and deciding to "make war" on the repressive warrant chiefs as discussed by the authors, which was referred to as sitting on a man or "making war on the man" and were viewed as legitimate by men in the community.
Abstract: Colonialism resulted in the loss of political position and power for Igbo women in Nigeria; the Victorian assumption on the part of the British colonial administrators that women were incapable of political leadership resulted in the failure of the administrators to preceive the traditional role played by women in Ibgo political life and eventually led to the British imposition of political institutions on the Igbo which provided political roles for men only. In the traditional culture there was a balance of power between men and women. Issues relevant to men were decided by concensus of all the men in the village. Women ran their affairs through the womens town meeting where they also arrived at decisions through consensus on such matters as trade farming and family relationships. If the womens decisions were not accepted by the men the women took group action such as publicly berating a man or beating on his house until he repented or by conducting a village-wide cooking strike if the men refused to clear the paths to the market. These forms of collective action were referred to as sitting on a man or "making war on the man" and were viewed as legitimate by the men in the community. When the British extended their control over Igbo they viewed the diffuse authority patterns of the Igbo as a sign of anarchy and proceeded to divide up the region into districts and arbitrarily appoint natives usually someone predisposed to the British position as the warrent chief for the district. These chiefs were given complete authority and the traditional decision making power for both sexes was ignored. The women responded by holding a town meeting and deciding to "make war" on the repressive warrant chiefs. In towns throughout the region the women congregated at the administrative centers burned the buildings and berated the new chiefs. The British responded in typically ethnocentric fashion; they failed to perceive the traditional system at work and quelled what they considered to simply be unruly mob behavior. Later reforms lead to the restoration of political pwer for Lgbo men but not for the women. Missionaries also contributed to the decline in political power for women. They viewed the womens town meeting as a pagan ritual and reserved job related education for Igbo men only.

236 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202399
2022233
202173
2020136
2019126
201887