Further considerations of caste in West Africa: The Senufo

Africa ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Richter
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
Majority Group ◽  
The Social ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThe term ‘caste’ has often been applied to Senufo artisan groups. However, an analysis of the social, political and economic relationships of these groups and the farmers amongst whom they live indicates that the characteristics commonly associated with caste systems are often manipulated by the allegedly lower status castes to their benefit, rather than by the majority group of farmers.

The Social Organization of Credit in a West African Cattle Market

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abner Cohen
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
African Cattle ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Cattle Market

Opening ParagraphCredit is a vital economic institution without which trade becomes very limited. In the industrial Western societies, where it is highly developed, it operates through formal, standardized arrangements and procedures by which the solvency of the debtor is closely assessed, securities against possible default are provided, and the conditions of the agreement are documented and endorsed by the parties concerned. Ultimately, these arrangements and procedures are upheld by legislated rules and sanctions administered by central, bureaucratized, fairly impartial, efficient, and effective courts and police. In West Africa, on the other hand, where long-distance trade has been fostered by varying ecological circumstances, such organization has not yet evolved, particularly for long-distance trade. Nevertheless extensive systems of credit have been developed.

Niumi: A Nineteenth-Century Mandingo Kingdom

Africa ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-455
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Small River ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphBy the middle of the nineteenth century Niumi, a small Mandingo kingdom at the mouth of the Gambia river in West Africa, was on the verge of profound social changes. Until almost the end of the century it was swept by secular and religious warfare, important segments of its population were displaced, many members of its ruling clans were killed or driven into exile, and the state itself was divided to be later reconstituted under European colonial rule. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the social-political organization of Niumi in the 1850s before the traditional political system which had existed for over two centuries was destroyed. Niumi was one of fourteen small river kingdoms, ruled by Mandingo, some more clearly defined and centralized than others, together comprising one of the major areas of Mandingo settlement in West Africa. Although Niumi enjoyed a favoured economic position among these Mandingo states of the Senegambia its institutions were typical of Mandingo organization in the area and its history has proceeded along lines similar to the rest.

Destiny and the Unconscious in West Africa

Africa ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Horton
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Way

Opening ParagraphMany present-day social anthropologists may find Professor Fortes's most recent study the most significant of all his works on the Tallensi. Its main theme is the way in which these people use religious concepts to order and explain certain key aspects of the individual's passage through the social structure, and operate religious cults to facilitate this passage.

Brokers in the tea trade between China and West Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 092137402110218
Author(s):  
Ute Röschenthaler
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
West Africa ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Green Tea ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
The Social ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities ◽  
The 19Th Century

Brokers have played important roles in the trade of green tea between China and Mali, from the 19th century when tea first came to Mali up to the present. They mediate between tea buyers and sellers, work on their own account, use soft skills, knowledge and networks and make a living from the commission they gain. This article examines the work of brokers in the tea trade, the social constellations in which they are active and the scope of their activity. Based on extensive field research in Mali and China, this article shows how brokers create their own jobs in a dynamic business landscape, which is often delimited by governmental policies, competing entrepreneurial activities and social movements.

1787–1887–1987: reflections on a Sierra Leone bicentenary

Africa ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Forest Belt ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Language Pattern ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphSeen in the widest perspective, 1787 is only one date among the uncounted tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of years during which the present Sierra Leone has been inhabited. Archaeologists have done disappointingly little work there. But it is clear from their findings (and by implication from findings in the rest of forest-belt West Africa) that people have lived there a very long time. Though traditional historiography always tends to present the peoples of Sierra Leone as immigrants from somewhere else, the language pattern suggests continuous occupation over a very long period. As Paul Hair (1967) has shown, there has been a striking linguistic continuity in coastal West Africa since the fifteenth century. Nor is there evidence to suggest that before that period stability and continuity were not the norm.

Gender and Children's Social World: Esteemed and Marginalised Masculinities in the Primary School Playground

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Lower Status ◽  
Relative Status ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the role played by the social worlds of primary school children in producing and reproducing a range of masculine identities. It describes the relatively gender-segregated nature of the culture of middle-childhood, arguing that the specific institutional context reinforces this segregation. The article outlines the range of masculinities documented in the primary school playground and examines the ways in which both the school institution and the peer-group define and police the boundaries of masculinity. The school negatively labels dominant, assertive males through certain institutional practices and attitudes. Certain boys with more androgynous styles are of higher status with peers in this context. The impact of other identities on the relative status of boys is examined. It is shown how those boys who are differently abled are of lower status. Peers perceive them as less socially mature. Their relative invisibility and stigmatisation is partly a consequence of institutional practices.

The Social Structure of Modern Bamako

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Meillassoux
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social ◽  
North Bank ◽  
Niger River ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
The Town

Opening ParagraphAccording to a partial census taken in 1960, Bamako city has about 130,000 inhabitants. Small by Western standards, it is still by far the largest city in Mali. At the time of the French conquest Bamako had only between 800 and 1,000 inhabitants; it was the capital of a Bambara chiefdom, grouping about thirty villages on the north bank of the Niger river, with a total of about 5,000 people. The ruling dynasty was that of the Niaré, who, according to their traditions, came from the Kingi eleven generations ago (between 1640 and 1700). For defence against the neighbours and armed slave-raiders fortifications were built around the town and a permanent army of so-fa (horsemen) was raised. Soon after its foundation Bamako attracted Moslem Moors from Twat who settled as marabouts and merchants under the protection of the Niaré's warriors. Among them, the Twati (later to be called Touré) and the Dravé became, alongside and sometimes in competition with the Niaré, the leading families.

scholarly journals Libya – Road to Dysfunctionality

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (56) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Wiesław Lizak
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Current Regime ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Arab Spring

The developments of the Arab Spring of 2011 extended, among others, to Libya. As a consequence of the armed anti-government uprising supported militarily by the air forces of the Western powers (under the auspices of NATO), the regime of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who has controlled the state since the 1969 military coup, was overthrown. The collapse of the current regime has initiated the path to the social, political and economic transformation of the Libyan state. However, the rivalry of local political forces which is a reflection of tribal, regional and ideological divisions, prevented the emergence of an effective political system. As a result, Libya has evolved into a dysfunctional state and the processes of internal destabilization and lack of state borders control generate threats also for the international environment of the country (West Africa, East Africa, Europe).

scholarly journals When psychological contract is violated: Revisiting the Rejection-Disidentification Model of immigrant integration

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti ◽  
Göksu Celikkol ◽  
Tuuli Anna Renvik ◽  
Viivi Eskelinen ◽  
Raivo Vetik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Ethnic Discrimination ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Majority Group ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Survey ◽  
Majority Groups ◽  
Perceived Ethnic Discrimination

In this study, we investigated how perceived ethnic discrimination is related to attitudes towards the national majority group and willingness to confront injustice to promote the social standing of a minority group. We examined this relationship via two mediating factors; national (dis)identification from and out-group (dis)trust of the national majority group. The Rejection-Disidentification Model (RDIM) was refined, first, to account for willingness to confront injustice as a consequence of perceived rejection, and second, intergroup (dis)trust was examined as an additional mediating mechanism that can explain attitudinal and behavioural reactions to perceived rejection simultaneously with national disidentification. The model was tested in a comparative survey data of Russian-speaking minority in Estonia (N = 482), Finland (N = 254), and Norway (N = 219). In all three countries, the more Russian-speakers identified as Russians and the more they perceived ethnic discrimination, the more negative were their attitudes toward the national majority groups and the more willing they were to engage in action to confront group-based injustice. Whereas disidentification from and distrust of national majority group accounted for the discrimination-attitude link to a large extent, both factors had demobilizing effects on willingness to confront injustice, making Russian-speaking immigrants more passive but hostile. The findings are discussed in relation to the risks involved in politicization of immigrants struggling with perceived inequalities.

Big and thin; two Diola-Fogny meta-linguistic terms

1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Sapir
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Linguistic Terms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Speech Variation

ABSTRACTThe Diola-Fogny of Sénégal, West Africa, socially intuit with the meta-linguistic terms ‘big’ and ‘thin’ the tense/lax vowel contrast that is basic to their phonology. The two terms are primarily used to identify speech variation among individuals and groups. Examination revealed that speakers who made relatively greater use of vowel harmony were characterized as ‘big’ in contrast to others who were thought of as ‘thin’ speakers. The ‘big’/‘thin’ distinction provides the Fogny with one means by which they place the speech of an individual. In addition, this meta-linguistic device either is used to express indirectly the social place of an alter vis-à-vis an ego in terms of simple sameness or difference, or, when more than two people are involved, in terms of some form of segmentary opposition. (Sénégal, meta-linguistics, social interaction, phonology.)

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