ABSTRACT

Colin Turnbull provides scientific and usable data on the economic and social organization of African hunters in their own environment, contrasted to their behaviour when living in contact with farming communities. According to Turnbull, the Mbuti admit that scarcity is more frequently due to laziness than to difficulties involved in hunting and gathering. Turnbull stresses the fact that contact with the Bantu peoples does not alter the specific way of life of the Mbuti from the moment they retire into the forest for periods of six months or more. Turnbull describes the social system of the Mbuti as being the antithesis of that of the village farmers. The main differences between Bantu and Mbuti societies derive from their mode of exploitation of the land. This mode of exploitation results in a kind of roving within a loose area. The social organization of production does not provide the basis for the development of a centralized, lasting political power.