The Tiv are presented as a people whose collective organization developed partly in response to sub-imperial domination by the Hausa and other surrounding powers in central Nigeria. Their case illustrates how ethnic identities could be shaped through resistance, political competition, and the colonial order.
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The Story
The Tiv are cited as an example of a people whose organization was influenced by opposition to what the passage calls sub-imperialism. In central Nigeria, the relevant comparison is made with the Hausa and other peoples against whom Tiv collective interests were formed.
This example places Tiv identity within a wider history of political reaction. Groups did not always organize solely from an inherited cultural core; they could also consolidate in response to domination, unequal political relations, and the need to defend collective interests.
The Tiv case therefore belongs to the passage’s account of ethnic formation as historically contingent. It contrasts with older centralized identities and with identities strengthened through Christian standard languages, while showing how conflict and political hierarchy could make group boundaries more salient.
The Tiv are presented as a people whose collective organization developed partly in response to sub-imperial domination by the Hausa and other surrounding powers in central Nigeria. Their case illustrates how ethnic identities could be shaped through resistance, political competition, and the colonial order.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Tiv are cited as an example of a people whose organization was influenced by opposition to what the passage calls sub-imperialism. In central Nigeria, the relevant comparison is made with the Hausa and other peoples against whom Tiv collective interests were formed.
This example places Tiv identity within a wider history of political reaction. Groups did not always organize solely from an inherited cultural core; they could also consolidate in response to domination, unequal political relations, and the need to defend collective interests.
The Tiv case therefore belongs to the passage’s account of ethnic formation as historically contingent. It contrasts with older centralized identities and with identities strengthened through Christian standard languages, while showing how conflict and political hierarchy could make group boundaries more salient.