Topic · African Studies and Ethnography
Most cited papers in African Studies and Ethnography
What are the most cited papers in African Studies and Ethnography?
The most cited paper in African Studies and Ethnography is "How Native Is a “Native” Anthropologist?" (Kirin Narayan, 1993), with 1,173 citations. Next come "Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa" (982) and "Participant Objectivation*" (633).
Showing 50 of 100 papers. Every paper with more than 84 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How Native Is a “Native” Anthropologist? Kirin Narayan · American Anthropologist | Sep 1993 | 1,173 |
| 2 | Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa Christian Have Lund · Development and Change | Jul 2006 | 982 |
| 3 | Participant Objectivation* Pierre Bourdıeu · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | 22 May 2003 | 633 |
| 4 | The biopolitics of otherness: Undocumented foreigners and racial discrimination in French public debate Didier Fassin · Anthropology Today | Feb 2001 | 443 |
| 5 | Arbitrary locations: in defence of the bounded field‐site Matei Candea · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | 8 Feb 2007 | 343 |
| 6 | Reading the Rains: Local Knowledge and Rainfall Forecasting in Burkina Faso Carla Roncoli, Keith T. Ingram, Paul Kirshen · Society & Natural Resources | May 2002 | 336 |
| 7 | The Political Ecology of Peasant-Herder Conflicts in the Northern Ivory Coast Thomas J. Bassett · Annals of the Association of American Geographers | Sep 1988 | 305 |
| 8 | The Charm of Medicines: Metaphors and Metonyms Sjaak van der Geest, Susan Reynolds Whyte · Medical Anthropology Quarterly | Dec 1989 | 276 |
| 9 | Medicinal plants in Baskoure, Kourittenga Province, Burkina Faso: An ethnobotanical study Pascal Nadembega, Joseph Issaka Boussim, Jean Baptiste Nikiéma et al. · Journal of Ethnopharmacology | 14 Oct 2010 | 235 |
| 10 | Why do pastoralists in Mali join jihadist groups? A political ecological explanation Tor A. Benjaminsen, Boubacar Ba · The Journal of Peasant Studies | 2 Jun 2018 | 224 |
| 11 | Gino’s lesson on humanity: genetics, mutual entanglements and the sociologist’s role Michel Callon, Vololona Rabeharisoa · Economy and Society | Feb 2004 | 221 |
| 12 | Le scandale comme épreuve Damien de Blic, Cyril Lemieux · Cairn.info | 2005 | 218 |
| 13 | The Hyperreal Indian Alcida Rita Ramos · Critique of Anthropology | Jun 1994 | 211 |
| 14 | The Wet and the Dry: Traditional Irrigation in Bali and Morocco Clifford Geertz · Human Ecology | Mar 1972 | 210 |
| 15 | Nutrient composition and nutritional importance of green leaves and wild food resources in an agricultural district, Koutiala, in Southern Mali M. Beseth Nordeide, Anne Hatløy, M. Følling et al. · International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition | 1996 | 207 |
| 16 | A dialogue on the meaning and use of analogy in ethnoarchaeological reasoning Richard A. Gould, Patty Jo Watson · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology | Dec 1982 | 192 |
| 17 | TEATIME: BOREDOM AND THE TEMPORALITIES OF YOUNG MEN IN NIGER Adeline Masquelier · Africa | Aug 2013 | 191 |
| 18 | WINNING COALITIONS AND ETHNO-REGIONAL POLITICS: THE FAILURE OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE 1990 AND 1995 ELECTIONS IN COTE D'IVOIRE Richard Charles Crook · African Affairs | Apr 1997 | 187 |
| 19 | The involvement of patients' associations in research Vololona Rabeharisoa, Michel Callon · International Social Science Journal | Mar 2002 | 178 |
| 20 | Question foncière et construction nationale en Côte d'Ivoire Jean‐Pierre Chauveau · Cairn.info | 2000 | 175 |
| 21 | Territory's Continuing Allure Alexander B. Murphy · Annals of the Association of American Geographers | 19 Jul 2012 | 171 |
| 22 | Self-care and the informal sale of drugs in South Cameroon Sjaak van der Geest · Social Science & Medicine | 1987 | 171 |
| 23 | Use of medicinal plants for the treatment of oral diseases in Burkina Faso Hadissa Tapsoba, Jean‐Pierre Deschamps · Journal of Ethnopharmacology | 7 Nov 2005 | 169 |
| 24 | Migrations entre les deux rives du Sahara Sylvie Brédeloup, Olivier Pliez · Autrepart | Nov 2005 | 167 |
| 25 | One hippopotamus and eight blind analysts: a multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali Baz Lecocq, Gregory Mann, Bruce Whitehouse et al. · Review of African Political Economy | 10 Jun 2013 | 167 |
| 26 | Sending Sickness: Sorcery, Politics, and Changing Concepts of AIDS in Rural Haiti Paul Farmer · Medical Anthropology Quarterly | Mar 1990 | 163 |
| 27 | Religious Movements in Central Africa: A Theoretical Study Willy De Craemer, Jan Vansina, Renée C. Fox · Comparative Studies in Society and History | Oct 1976 | 160 |
| 28 | Épistémologies du Sud Boaventura de Sousa Santos · Études rurales | 2011 | 155 |
| 29 | Knowledge of Africa, Knowledge by Africans: Two Perspectives on African Studies Paulin J. Hountondji · RCCS Annual Review | 2009 | 151 |
| 30 | West African Insurgencies in Agrarian Perspective: Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone Compared Jean‐Pierre Chauveau, Paul Richards · Journal of Agrarian Change | 3 Sep 2008 | 150 |
| 31 | Malaria in rural Burkina Faso: local illness concepts, patterns of traditional treatment and influence on health-seeking behaviour Claudia Beiersmann, Aboubakary Sanou, Evelyn Wladarsch et al. · Malaria Journal | 8 Aug 2007 | 149 |
| 32 | Branchement Jean‐Loup Amselle · Anthropen | 19 Dec 2020 | 148 |
| 33 | Colonisation, the New World Order, and the eradication of traditional food habits in East Africa: historical perspective on the nutrition transition Verena Raschke, Birinder S. Cheema · Public Health Nutrition | 24 Oct 2007 | 148 |
| 34 | La corruption quotidienne en Afrique de l'Ouest Giorgio Blundo, Jean‐Pierre Olivier de Sardan · Politique africaine | Oct 2001 | 142 |
| 35 | Horizontal Inequalities and Violent Group Mobilization in Côte d'Ivoire Arnim Langer · Oxford Development Studies | Mar 2005 | 139 |
| 36 | Social Distance and the Veil1 Robert F. Murphy · American Anthropologist | Dec 1964 | 138 |
| 37 | Role of traditional healers in the management of severe malaria among children below five years of age: the case of Kilosa and Handeni Districts, Tanzania Emmanuel A. Makundi, Hamisi M. Malebo, Paulo Mhame et al. · Malaria Journal | 18 Jul 2006 | 136 |
| 38 | Symbolic Consensus in a Fang Reformative Cult1 James W. Fernández · American Anthropologist | Aug 1965 | 134 |
| 39 | Poor nutritional status of schoolchildren in urban and peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) Charles Daboné, Hélène F. Delisle, Olivier Receveur · Nutrition Journal | 19 Apr 2011 | 131 |
| 40 | The volatility of a half-cooked bouillabaisse: Rebel-military integration and conflict dynamics in the eastern DRC Maria Eriksson Baaz, Judith Verweijen · African Affairs | 26 Sep 2013 | 131 |
| 41 | Dhar Néma: from early agriculture to metallurgy in southeastern Mauritania Kevin C. MacDonald, Robert Vernet, Marcos Martinón‐Torres et al. · Azania Archaeological Research in Africa | Apr 2009 | 131 |
| 42 | BIOETHICS: AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE Godfrey B. Tangwa · Bioethics | Jul 1996 | 125 |
| 43 | L'empowerment, un nouveau vocabulaire pourparler de participation ? Marie‐Hélène Bacqué, Carole Biewener · Idées économiques et sociales | 5 Sep 2013 | 124 |
| 44 | The origin and use of cannabis in eastern asia linguistic-cultural implications Huilin Li · Economic Botany | Jul 1974 | 122 |
| 45 | Experience of initiating collaboration of traditional healers in managing HIV and AIDS in Tanzania Edmund J Kayombo, Febronia C. Uiso, Zakaria H. Mbwambo et al. · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 26 Jan 2007 | 122 |
| 46 | Trees, agroforestry and multifunctional agriculture in Cameroon Asaah Ebenezar, Z. Tchoundjeu, Roger R.B. Leakey et al. · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability | Feb 2011 | 121 |
| 47 | Traditional plant use in Burkina Faso (West Africa): a national-scale analysis with focus on traditional medicine Alexander Zizka, Adjima Thiombiano, Stefan Dreßler et al. · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 19 Feb 2015 | 121 |
| 48 | Jihad in West Africa: early phases and inter-relations in Mauritania and Senegal Philip D. Curtin · The Journal of African History | 1971 | 120 |
| 49 | Fees-for-services, cost recovery, and equity in a district of Burkina Faso operating the Bamako Initiative. Valéry Ridde · PubMed | 2003 | 119 |
| 50 | Cameroonian bushfalling: Negotiation of identity and belonging in fiction and ethnography Francis B. Nyamnjoh · American Ethnologist | Nov 2011 | 119 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.