National integration and local integrity: the Miri of the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan

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Book

Title:	National integration and local integrity: the Miri of the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan
Author:	Baumann, Gerd
Year:	1987
Pages:	225
Language:	English
City of publisher:	Oxford
Publisher:	Clarendon Press
ISBN:	0198234015
Geographic term:	Sudan
Subjects:	Nuba rural society nation building
Abstract:	The book examines what is involved in local processes aimed at national integration in one society, the Miri of Sudan, and it then proposes that a second, converse process is involved: one of 'local redintegration', which consists of processes aimed at restoring or renewing a local community's sense of wholeness as its members perceive it. Chapter 1 sets out the local evidence of national integration. Chapter 2 enquires into villagers' own concepts of their identity and distinctiveness as Miri among other Sudanese groups. Chapter 3 identifies local factors of adjustment, absorption and containment that throw light on Miri villagers' notions of distinctiveness. Chapter 4 examines the historical conditions and choices that have allowed for local adjustments. Chapter 5 offers a short excursus on the value of historical evidence for approaching villagers' views of local identity, and circumscribes some experiences that villagers among themselves recognize as descriptive of, and normative for, communal life. The conclusions show in these experiences the focal points of local redintegration.