Meyer Fortes was a South African-born British social anthropologist and a central figure in the development of British structural-functionalist kinship theory. Co-editor with E. E. Evans-Pritchard of African Political Systems (1940), he helped establish the comparative study of African political organization as a major field within social anthropology, and his own extensive fieldwork among the Tallensi of northern Ghana, published in works including The Dynamics of Clanship among the Tallensi (1945), produced some of the most detailed structural analyses of lineage systems and ancestor worship in the discipline. Fortes developed influential concepts in kinship theory, including the distinction between complementary filiation and descent, that shaped how anthropologists analyzed the structure of unilineal descent groups for decades after his fieldwork.
Facts
Nationality / CultureSouth African-born British 1 Defining ContributionApplied structural-functionalist analysis to kinship, the family and ancestor worship among the Tallensi, introducing the concept of complementary filiation in the study of unilineal descent groups. 1 Notable WorkAfrican Political Systems (1940, co-edited with E. E. Evans-Pritchard) 1 Meyer Fortes
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Associated With
Co-edited African Political Systems (1940).
Source Meyer Fortes (Wikipedia)
Informed By
Fortes structural-functionalist studies of African kinship developed in close intellectual dialogue with Radcliffe-Brown comparative method.
Source Meyer Fortes (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Meyer Fortes (Wikipedia)
Wikipediaopening paragraph, infobox line (birth date)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
opening paragraph, infobox line (birth year)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
opening paragraph, infobox line (birthplace)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
opening paragraph, infobox line (death date)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
opening paragraph, infobox line (death year)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
opening paragraph, infobox line (nationality)
(25 April 1906-27 January 1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana
Life section, African Political Systems paragraph
His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition
opening paragraph, second sentence
Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization
Associated With: E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Life section, African Political Systems paragraph (co-editorship)
His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition
Informed By: Raymond Firth, Life section, training paragraph
Fortes also trained with Bronisław Malinowski and Raymond Firth
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