First academic study of Yoruba elite

  • March 28, 2014

Gates Cambridge alumnus Wale Adebanwi is author of the first scholarly book on one of Africa’s most powerful and progressive elites, the Yoruba.

A Gates Cambridge alumnus is to publish the first scholarly book on one of Africa’s most powerful and progressive elites, the Yoruba.

Wale Adebanwi [2003], who did a PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge supported by a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, is author of Yoruba elites and ethnic politics in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo and corporate agency*, which will be published in April by Cambridge University Press.

The book, which is based on his PhD thesis, investigates the dynamics and challenges of ethnicity and elite politics in Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy. Wale Adebanwi, who is currently an associate professor in the African American and African Studies Programme of the University of California-Davis, USA, says the book demonstrates how the corporate agency of the elite transformed the modern history and politics of one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba.

The book is organised around the ideas and cultural representations of Obafemi Awolowo, who is seen as the central signifier of modern Yoruban culture. Through analysis of issues such as political party and ethnic group organisation, cultural politics, democratic struggle, personal ambitions, group solidarity, death, memory and commemoration, the book examines the foundations of  the legitimacy of the Yoruba political elite.

Using historical sociology and ethnographic research, Adebanwi traces the internal and external struggles for power of what is considered one of the most powerful and progressive elite groups in Africa. The book is described as the first authoritative scholarly book on the Yoruba.

His publisher states: “It combines both the perspectives and disciplinary methods of anthropology, historical sociology and political science in examining how Obafemi Awolowo and the groups and political parties he created and those that were created in his name after his death re-made Yorùbá history in modern times.”

*Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014, pp. 320. ISBN: 9781107054226

Latest News

Study shows need for repeated vaccines for immunocompromised people

Vaccinations alone may not be enough to protect people with compromised immune systems from infection, even if the vaccine has generated the production of antibodies, according to new research from the University of Cambridge led by a Gates Cambridge Scholar. The findings, published today in Science Advances, suggest that such individuals will need regular vaccine […]

Scholars win recognition for impact and engagement

Two Gates Cambridge Scholars have been recognised in the 2024 Cambridge Awards for Research Impact and Engagement. Stanley Onyemechalu [below right] was runner-up in the Early Career researcher category for his work on the Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project and Emma Houiellebecq was highly commended for her research on  strengthening the resilience of essential services […]

Exploring the origins of snake diversity in South America

“Snakes to me are the most beautiful creatures that exist. They look so simple, but they are so complex. They can glide, swim and burrow. They are so varied. I want people to see how amazing and beautiful snakes are,” says Andrés Alfonso-Rojas [2022]. His love of snakes has fuelled his PhD in Zoology.  Andrés […]

How do we learn languages?

Samuel Weiss-Cowie’s fascination with language learning began at the age of 15 when he started learning Korean. He is now in the third year of his PhD looking at how the brain learns a new language or new words in a native language. He says: “I wanted to see what was happening in the brain […]