Isaac Schapera

The Ethnic Composition of Tswana Tribes

This book is a completely revised version of a study published in 1943. That study, entitled Tribal Legislation among the Tswana of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, dealt with the role of chiefs as agents of social change and, in particular, with the changes they brought about by making new laws. It described the various kinds of legislative process current among the Tswana, and reviewed systematically the content and scope of the many laws made, from the earliest known instances up to the time of writing (1942), in eight different chiefdoms or 'tribes'; it also stated, where possible, why those laws were enacted, and discussed how far they really succeeded in establishing new ways of life.

First published in 1953 and this edition in 1991, this book was created in association with the International African Institute. Since its first publication, anthropology and African Studies have changed a great deal, but the bedrock of both remains unchanged: solid, sensitive ethnographic and historical accounts of the peoples and cultures of the continent. Part One is by Isaac Schapera whose documentation of life and times in the Bechuanaland Protectorate stands as a starkly detailed chronical of an African population in a rapidly changing world. Schapera was one of the few anthropologists who spoke frankly of the rural predicament of rural Africans under colonialism. Far from describing the Tswana as a closed or timeless ‘society’, he locates the people in their political and economic context, and in so doing, has left behind an extraordinary record.This edition of The Tswana consists of the original text to which has been added a second part by John L. Comaroff, which covers the transformation of Tswana life in Botswana and South Africa 1953-85, plus a much enlarged bibliography. Together, the parts of the book make a valuable summary of an exceedingly rich and ethnographic and historical record that will continue to serve as an indispensable tool in research and teaching.

First published in 1953 and this edition in 1991, this book was created in association with the International African Institute. Since its first publication, anthropology and African Studies have changed a great deal, but the bedrock of both remains unchanged: solid, sensitive ethnographic and historical accounts of the peoples and cultures of the continent. Part One is by Isaac Schapera whose documentation of life and times in the Bechuanaland Protectorate stands as a starkly detailed chronical of an African population in a rapidly changing world. Schapera was one of the few anthropologists who spoke frankly of the rural predicament of rural Africans under colonialism. Far from describing the Tswana as a closed or timeless ‘society’, he locates the people in their political and economic context, and in so doing, has left behind an extraordinary record.This edition of The Tswana consists of the original text to which has been added a second part by John L. Comaroff, which covers the transformation of Tswana life in Botswana and South Africa 1953-85, plus a much enlarged bibliography. Together, the parts of the book make a valuable summary of an exceedingly rich and ethnographic and historical record that will continue to serve as an indispensable tool in research and teaching.

This book is a completely revised version of a study published in 1943. That study, entitled Tribal Legislation among the Tswana of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, dealt with the role of chiefs as agents of social change and, in particular, with the changes they brought about by making new laws. It described the various kinds of legislative process current among the Tswana, and reviewed systematically the content and scope of the many laws made, from the earliest known instances up to the time of writing (1942), in eight different chiefdoms or 'tribes'; it also stated, where possible, why those laws were enacted, and discussed how far they really succeeded in establishing new ways of life.

The Ethnic Composition of Tswana Tribes