The African Genius

The African Genius presents the ideas, social systems, religions, moral values, arts, and metaphysics of a range of African peoples. Basil Davidson points toward the Africa that may emerge from an ancient civilization that was overlaid and battered by colonialism, then torn by the upheaval of colonialism's dismantlement. Davidson disputes the notion that Africa gained under colonialism by entering the modern world. He sees, instead, an ancient order replaced by modern dysfunction. Davidson's depiction of the sophisticated "native genius" that has carried Africans through centuries of change is vital to an understanding of modern Africa as well.

Prologue : a scattered wisdom	p. 17
'Just plain nonsense ...' and after	p. 23
Formative origins	p. 28
The physical problem	p. 32
Unity and variation	p. 36
Founding ancestors	p. 45
The balance with nature	p. 54
A moral order	p. 67
Elaborations I : age sets	p. 80
Elaborations II : secret societies	p. 91
A science of social control	p. 109
Of witches and sorcerers	p. 121
Upside-down people	p. 130
Explanation and prediction	p. 137
The danger within	p. 143
Useful magic	p. 146
Answers to anxiety	p. 150
Art for life's sake	p. 160
The dynamics of reality	p. 168
From elders to kings	p. 183
The nature of kingship	p. 190
Conquest and clientage	p. 203
Trade and Islam	p. 211
Power, rank and privilege	p. 224
The crisis opens	p. 235
From a guerrilla diary	p. 247
The great transition	p. 250
The kings resist	p. 256
Twilight of the old gods	p. 264
New redeemers	p. 275
The modern context	p. 289
The masses react	p. 293
Epilogue : African destinies	p. 313
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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Table of Contents

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