Technology, Tradition, and the State in Africa

Divided into five chapters, the short book is devoted to Goody's argument that former scholars studying sub-Saharan Africa had made mistakes by comparing its historical development to that in Europe, believing the two to be fundamentally different due to technological differences between the two continents. In particular he criticises the idea that African political systems were ever feudal, believing that such a concept – while applicable to medieval Europe – was not applicable to pre-colonial Africa.

Synopsis

Chapter One: Feudalism in Africa?

In the first chapter, entitled "Feudalism in Africa?", Goody explores the various definitions of the word "feudalism", and the manner in which it has been used to describe historical societies across both Europe and Asia, and also the manner in which social anthropologists have used it to refer to contemporary societies in Africa. He proceeds to discuss the various definitions of feudalism, and the way in which it has been used by both noted sociologists such as Max Weber and Karl Marx and also by historians like Marc Bloch. Goody then goes into greater detail regarding how the term has been used to refer to various African states, such as S.F. Nadel's use of the term to refer to Nupe society in his book A Black Byzantium (1942), and Maquet's use of the term to refer to the states of the Ruanda in his work The Premise of Inequality in Ruanda (1961), believing that the use of the term "feudal" – which has its basis in historical investigation into medieval Europe – is simply unnecessary in both of these cases.

Moving on to look at the "economic approach to feudalism", Goody challenges the view championed by "orthodox Marxists" such as I.I. Potemkin that in Africa, feudal states emerged because land was controlled by powerful land owners to whom the peasants were indebted, having to pay rent or proving services in return for being allowed to farm the land. Instead, Goody argues, in much of Africa, land was plentiful and "of little economic importance", and that such a feudal system of land ownership was simply not applicable. Goody proceeds to argue that while Africanists should not adopt the term "feudalism" from historians of medieval Europe, there should be greater interdisciplinary work on Africa from historians, anthropologists and sociologists alike.

Chapter Two: Polity and the Means of Production

Goody devotes the second chapter to an examination of the economic and technological aspects of pre-colonial African society, which he argues distinguish it from medieval Europe specifically and Eurasia more generally. He begins with a brief discussion of the complex trade networks across Sub-Saharan Africa that existed prior to contact with Europeans, noting that it certain respects Africa had a monetary economy that was similar to that of Western Europe. However, according to Goody it was in its "means of production" rather than its "productive relations" that Africa's economy differed greatly from that of Eurasia; describing the continent as a "land of extensive agriculture", Goody noted that it had a relatively small population, plentiful land, and poor soils, and that notably the majority of Africa did not have access to the plough, an invention that only reached as far south as Ethiopia.

Goody goes on to look at the nature of land in Africa, arguing that it was both more plentiful and less productive than that in Europe, leading Africans to move their farms around more often. He argues that the nature of land in Africa meant that the concept of serfdom, a prominent part of medieval European society, never developed there. He rounds up the chapter with a discussion of the role that horses and cavalry played in the African military.

Chapter Three: Polity and the Means of Destruction

Chapter Five: Conclusions