1. Introduction -- 2. Tribe, Ethnicity, and Colonial Rule -- 3. The Particularity of Tribal Allegiance in Sub-Saharan Africa -- 4. The Profusion of Tribes as Determinant Factor in Sub-Saharan Africa -- 5. Tribe is Not Ethnicity: The Untenability of Anti-tribe and Pro-ethnicity Arguments -- 6. Tribe is Not a Component of Ethnicity -- 7. Tribal Allegiance and the Overstated Role of the Colonial State -- 8. Precolonial History and the Saliency and Persistence of Tribal Allegiance -- 9. Conclusion: Why Does it Matter?

This book proposes new avenues for understanding tribal allegiance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Much research on ethnicity and cultural pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa falsely equates the term "tribe" with "ethnicity" and obscures the differences between Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. It also puts too much emphasis on the role of the colonial state in fostering tribal allegiance. This book challenges these claims and offers an alternate way of understanding tribal allegiance in Sub-Saharan Africa.