Custom and Politics in Urban Africa

Custom & Politics in Urban Africa: A Study of Hausa Migrants in Yoruba Towns offers a detailed examination of the intersection of custom, politics, and long-distance trade within the urban settings of West Africa. This scholarly work focuses on the Hausa communities in Yoruba towns, exploring how these migrant groups maintain cultural distinctiveness while adapting to new political and economic realities. Through an intensive study of the Hausa diaspora, the book highlights how traditional norms, values, and ceremonial practices are used to establish informal political organizations. These structures not only safeguard economic monopolies but also navigate the complexities of ethnic interaction and political power in rapidly evolving urban environments.

Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Nigeria from 1962 to 1963, the monograph provides a micro-historical perspective, tracing the sociopolitical and economic dynamics of Hausa communities within the broader context of post-colonial change. By analyzing processes such as ethnic reorganization, religious transformations, and the intricate workings of long-distance trade in cattle and kola, the book illuminates how ethnic groups use custom as a political strategy in diverse settings. Drawing on comparative analyses, the work contributes to understanding political ethnicity as a global phenomenon and positions social anthropology as integral to the study of power, identity, and societal transformation in modern contexts.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1969.