Conceptual History in Precolonial Contexts

A View from East Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID22126272
AuthorsRhiannon Stephens (0000-0002-9816-952X, Columbia University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume9
Issue1
Pages129-141
Publication date2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Humanities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2379-3163 • E-ISSN: 2379-3171
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/729079
OpenAlexW4399280765
LanguageEN
References cited22

Conceptual history offers a method for writing the intellectual history of African societies that did not leave a documentary record accessible in archives. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, in this case drawing on the methods of comparative historical linguistics, it is possible to rethink the limitations of the traditional archive and privilege the intellectual work of people even when their names and the details of their individual lives have been lost to us. Through the case study of the concept of wealth in eastern Uganda over the past 2,000 years, the complexity and dynamism of people’s economic ideas becomes apparent. Also apparent is the longevity of their engagement with these concepts over at least the past two millennia. Scholars working in other contexts, including modern ones, can draw on these comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to move beyond the limitations of the archive

Ancient history · Geography · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History