2 - Ndorobo Notions of Relationship with Other
Corresponding Author(s) : Shelley Ashdown
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 19 No. 1 (2015): African Sociological Review
Abstract
Among the Maa-speaking Ndorobo people on the southern Mau escarpment in Kenya, basic
assumptions concerning Other are foundational for how an individual interacts with all that
is outside of Self.1 In the course of field research in the Ndorobo homeland, three categories
of significant Other were distinguished in Ndorobo world view.2 In this article these three
Ndorobo categories of Other will be discussed with particular attention given to how these
categories govern notions of relationship between Ndorobo and their classifications of Other.
Classificatory distinctions are made between relationships of an individual Ndorobo with:
(1) community Other (community in-group), (2) earthly Other (ethnic out-groups), and (3)
supernatural Other (spirit beings).
Keywords
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- Barth, F., 1969, Introduction, in F. Barth, ed., Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference, London: Allen & Unwin, pp. 9-38.
- Brubaker, R., M. Loveman, and P. Stamatov, 2004, Ethnicity as Cognition, Theory and Society, Vol.33, pp. 31-64.
- Burnett, D., 1979, Religion, Personality, and Clinical Assessment, Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 308-312.
- Coelho, N. and L. Figueiredo, 2003, Patterns of Intersubjectivity in the Constitution of Subjectivity: Dimensions of Otherness, Culture Psychology, Vol. 9, pp. 193-208.
- Edwards, D., 1991, Categories Are for Talking: On the Cognitive and Discursive Bases of Categorization, Theory and Psychology, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 515-542.
- Hogg, M. and D. Abrams, 1988, Social Identifications: A Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations and Group Processes, London: Routledge.
- Jenkins, R., 2001, Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and Exploration, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Levine, H., 1999, Reconstructing Ethnicity, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 5, pp. 165-180.
- Longman, T., 2001, Identity Cards, Ethnic Self-Perception, and Genocide in Rwanda, in J. Caplan and J. Torpey, eds., Documenting Individual Identity: The Development of State Practices in the Modern World,(Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 345-357.
- Levine, N., 1987, Caste, State, and Ethnic Boundaries in Nepal, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 71-88.
- Messick, D. and D. Mackie, 1989, Intergroup Relations, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 40, pp. 45-81.
- Pascasio, E., 1981, How Value Orientations Affect Social Relationships Through Language Use, in A.Gonzalez and D.Thomas, eds., Linguistics Across Continents, Manila, Philippines: SIL, pp. 80-95.
- Tajfel, H. and J. Turner, 1986, The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior, in S. Worchel and W. Austin, eds., Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers, pp. 7-24.
- Young, S., 2012, Hospitality in a Postapartheid Archive: Reflections on There Was This Goat and the Challenge of Alterity, Research in African Literatures, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 115-137.
- Zerubavel, E., 1997, Social Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology, Cambridge:University Press.
References
Barth, F., 1969, Introduction, in F. Barth, ed., Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference, London: Allen & Unwin, pp. 9-38.
Brubaker, R., M. Loveman, and P. Stamatov, 2004, Ethnicity as Cognition, Theory and Society, Vol.33, pp. 31-64.
Burnett, D., 1979, Religion, Personality, and Clinical Assessment, Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 308-312.
Coelho, N. and L. Figueiredo, 2003, Patterns of Intersubjectivity in the Constitution of Subjectivity: Dimensions of Otherness, Culture Psychology, Vol. 9, pp. 193-208.
Edwards, D., 1991, Categories Are for Talking: On the Cognitive and Discursive Bases of Categorization, Theory and Psychology, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 515-542.
Hogg, M. and D. Abrams, 1988, Social Identifications: A Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations and Group Processes, London: Routledge.
Jenkins, R., 2001, Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and Exploration, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Levine, H., 1999, Reconstructing Ethnicity, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 5, pp. 165-180.
Longman, T., 2001, Identity Cards, Ethnic Self-Perception, and Genocide in Rwanda, in J. Caplan and J. Torpey, eds., Documenting Individual Identity: The Development of State Practices in the Modern World,(Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 345-357.
Levine, N., 1987, Caste, State, and Ethnic Boundaries in Nepal, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 71-88.
Messick, D. and D. Mackie, 1989, Intergroup Relations, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 40, pp. 45-81.
Pascasio, E., 1981, How Value Orientations Affect Social Relationships Through Language Use, in A.Gonzalez and D.Thomas, eds., Linguistics Across Continents, Manila, Philippines: SIL, pp. 80-95.
Tajfel, H. and J. Turner, 1986, The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior, in S. Worchel and W. Austin, eds., Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers, pp. 7-24.
Young, S., 2012, Hospitality in a Postapartheid Archive: Reflections on There Was This Goat and the Challenge of Alterity, Research in African Literatures, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 115-137.
Zerubavel, E., 1997, Social Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology, Cambridge:University Press.