J.R. Coleman Professor Emeritus in Social Anthropology, Haverford College, PA, USA. Seminal historical-anthropological studies on the Lower Congo area. Interpretation of oral traditions of this area in the light of trade relations; including:

Wmacgaff@haverford.edu

J.R. Coleman Professor Emeritus Haverford College

Selected Bibliography:

–   "Concepts of race in the historiography of Northeast Africa", Journal of African History, 7, 1966: pp. 1-17.

–   Custom and Government in the Lower Congo. Los Angeles 1970;

–   (with J.M. Janzen) Anthology of Kongo Religion. Lawrance, Kansas 1974;

–   "Economic and social dimensions of Kongo slavery". In: S. Miers and I. Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa. Madison 1977: pp. 242-243.

–   "Fetishism Revisited: Kongo nkisi in Sociological Perspective", Africa 47 (2), 1977: 172–184.

–   "Lineage structure, marriage and the family amongst the Central Bantu", Journal of African History, 24, 1983: pp. pp.184-185.

–   Modern Kongo Prophets. Bloomington 1983;

–   Lower Congo Ethnography, 1885-1921, Africa 56 (3), 1986: pp. 263-279.

–   Religion and Society in Central Africa. Chicago 1986;

–   Art and Healing of the BaKongo Commented by Themselves, Stockholm 1991;

–   (with M.D. Harris) Astonishment and Power, Washington 1993;

–   "Complexity, astonishment and power: the visual vocabulary of Kongo minkisi", Journal of southern African Studies (London) 14(2), 1988: pp. 188-203.

–   The Real Economy of Zaire. The contribution of smuggling and other unoffical acitivities to national wealth. London et al. 1991.

–   Kongo Political Culture. The Conceptual Challenge of the Particular, Bloomington and Indianapolis 2000