Forms of ethnic linkage between town and country

Bibliographic Data

ID20051364
AuthorsAidan Southall (corresponding author)
Year2018
Pages265-275
Publication date2018-08-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueTown and Country in Central and Eastern Africa (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9780429490453-14
OpenAlexW2492285077
ISBN9780429490453
LanguageEN
Citations received5

Ethnicity, though frequently given a false emphasis, remains the paramount problem of Africa. Since the African population of both cities is so predominantly Xhosa, ethnic differences are objectively slight and are not in fact manipulated for mobilizing support or expressing cleavages. The utility of the concept of ethnicity is, as Raymond Firth once remarked of such terms, to cover a rather wide and varied range of phenomena, with a great deal in common but a rather indistinct boundary. The inhabitants of the barrack compounds in Cape Town do behave rather like 'Reds' in keeping to themselves and not attending cinemas and dance halls like the more settled townsfolk of Cape Town, who in this resemble the 'School' people of East London. 'Reds' coming to East London from pagan villages and 'School' Xhosa coming from Christian villages simply carry over into the urban situation a dichotomy which is already present in the countryside

Biology · Ethnic group · Gene · Genealogy · Geography · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · History · Genetics

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