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Biomedical subjects

T O Pearce

Publications and source records attributed to T O Pearce.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Population policies and the "creation" of Africa.

"This paper will look at the ways in which population policies have played an important role in the ongoing debate about African identities and culture.... In dealing with the construction of Africa, this paper will be limited to the impact of the population discourse on Africans. Three groups will be considered. These are: the target population of (largely rural) women; males (representing the patriarchal dimension); and African intellectuals. Even though membership in each group is not mutually exclusive, each will be dealt with separately for ease of analysis." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Africa↗
PubMed1989

The assessment of diviners and their knowledge by civil servants in southwestern Nigeria.

Belief systems are continuously being modified through the interpretations individuals give to the cultural order. The present study investigates the evaluations which educated Nigerians have of diviners and their knowledge claims. Two hundred civil servants in Abeokuta, a state capital in the Southwestern region, were asked to assess diviners. It was discovered that diviners are believed to have access to supernatural knowledge and that this knowledge is seen as medically useful. Further development of the diviner's knowledge was endorsed by 70% of the sample. The respondents were however ambivalent towards diviners as persons or the bearers of the knowledge. They (diviners) are believed to have become unduly materialistic and prone to dubious activities. The implications of these findings for social change were then considered.

Adult↗