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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Social Stratification on the Swahili Coast: From Race to Class
Author:Constantin, FrançoisISNI
Year:1989
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:59
Issue:2
Pages:145-160
Language:English
Geographic terms:East Africa
Indian Ocean islands
Subjects:social structure
Swahili
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
History and Exploration
Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1160484
Abstract:This paper considers the social stratification of the Swahili, i.e. of the people living along the African Indian Ocean coast from Lamu to Sofala, including the coastal islands. The analysis starts from the hypotheses formulated by M. Tumin (1966), who isolated four factors constituting social stratification, viz. power, property, social consideration, and self-esteem. From the early Middle-Ages to the postcolonial years the East African coast has always been open to foreign demographic and cultural influence. Besides several waves of seaborne immigration, groups of migrants also arrived from the African interior. A rough relationship existed between immigration and social stratification: the most recent seaborne group of settlers constituted a new stratum superimposed on earlier ones and became the new dominant group. Migrants from the interior occupied the lowest strata of the social structure. This pattern lasted until independence, at which point it became evident that the lowest social group (the 'natives') could in fact destabilize the hierarchy. The old social order, legalized along racial lines, was transformed into a new social order with the appearance of a class system. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in French.
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