Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco on Nostr: You’re exactly right, and it’s a point that doesn’t get made often enough. Our ...

You’re exactly right, and it’s a point that doesn’t get made often enough. Our historical minds are trained to look for states that resemble Europe—kings, capitals, armies, monuments. So, centralized polities like Ethiopia or Mali get spotlighted, while decentralized societies are treated as non-consequential. But many African societies were deliberately non-centralized, organized around councils, age grades, kin networks, rotating authority, & communal land systems.