In 1971–2 I undertook research in part of the very densely populated farming zone around Kano city (often called the Kano close-settled zone) in order to compare it with a Hausa village, Batagarawa, some 100 miles further north in Katsina Emirate, where I had lived and worked in 1967. At Batagarawa farmland is not scarce and members of the community are free to establish farms on uncultivated (bush) land, some of which is no further than a mile or so from the village. For some 30 to 40 miles or more around Kano city, on the other hand, there is little or no uncultivated bush and farmers with insufficient land are obliged to buy or to ‘borrow’ (aro) farmland from others. My purpose was to compare and contrast the socio-economic organization and economic conditions of farmers in the two localities, with special reference, in so far as this variable could be isolated, to population density.

In the course of tracing the social aspects of witchcraft and sorcery in East Africa, Middleton and Winter (1963: 11–13) distinguished two types of neighbourhood. In type I neighbours tend to be co-members of a unilineal descent group; type II in terms of descent is heterogeneous.

The authors implied that, while tensions existed in both these neighbourhoods, type I was likely to give rise to more acute forms of interpersonal conflict. It is an involuntary association in which relationships are ascribed at birth, being therefore ‘inborn and innate’, i.e. compulsory. By contrast, neighbours of the second type ‘…live together because in the ultimate sense they choose to do so’. This freedom of choice conduces to an easier contact between them as proved by the absence of accusations of withcraft and the prevalence of accusations of sorcery. Accusations of sorcery are viewed by Middeton and Winter as symptoms of milder conflicts.

Aen croire les documents anciens, l'histoire des Wolof jusqu'à la conquête coloniale aurait surtout consisté en une succession de pillages, de razzias, de révoltes, d'usurpations sur un territoire divisé en plusieurs royaumes et en état de guerre quasi-permanent. Pour échapper aux razzias des mercenaires ceddo, nombre de paysans badolo se sont convertis à l'Islam et regroupés derrière des marabouts par l'acte de ‘Jibulu’, serment d'allégeance. Pourtant à l'heure actuelle, les Wolof offrent l'image d'une société relativement paisible. Ce que l'opinion publique occidentale considère généralement comme des indices d'agressivité sociale—la criminalité, la délinquance—semble peu développé. Les suicides comme les meurtres sont relativement rares. Des combats d'antan, on ne trouve plus que les compétitions sportives et parmi elles, seule la lutte sénégalaise (lamba) semble susciter quelque intérêt. Il faut encore préciser ce qu'est la lutte sénégalaise. Ses séances se déroulent de la manière suivante: après des heures d'attente pendant lesquelles on parle, les lutteurs (mbör) arrivent, équipés d'un arsenal magique spécifique, avec leurs assistants (suhö) sur un rythme de tambour qui leur est propre. Ils exécutent alors une chorégraphie étrange qui consiste en des simulacres de gestes de saisir, d'attraper qui sont à mi-chemin entre la danse et le simulacre d'empoignade. Les assistants du mbör font les mêmes gestes que lui. Au bout d'un certain temps, se produit la lutte proprement dite, très courte, au terme de laquelle, sans que le spectateur européen comprenne pourquoi, l'un des protagonistes est proclamé vainqueur.

The main purpose of this paper is to show how recent research into the process of urbanization in Africa and into the structure of African cities and nations compels us to rethink our theories of urbanization in general.

The relationship between theory and research is a reciprocal one. New research compels the creation of new models, and new models suggest new subjects and methods of research. But both theory and research are affected by politics in the broadest sense of the term. Many African scholars consider the study of modern Africa by Westerners an extension of economic and political colonialism, especially when African cities are studied in terms of Western models. And many African governments, aware of the social problems involved in urbanization, seriously study the work of both African and non-African social scientists. The period since 1960 has been one of rapid development in the study of urbanization in Africa and the rest of the world, and the African material should throw new light on general theories of urbanization.

The town of Winneba is situated on the coast of Ghana some forty miles west of Accra and fifty miles east of Cape Coast. It is the seat of the paramount chief (Omanhene) of the Effutu people and was formerly an important seaport providing storage and loading facilities for cocoa produce. Since the construction of modern harbours at Takoradi and Tema, however, Winneba's maritime importance has declined. With a population of over 25,000, its major sources of income are fishing and farming and it also serves as a market centre for the people of the local area.