bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Les petits ordinateurs jouent au mankala.
Authors: Deshayes Patrick , Gautheron Véronique
Published: October 2008

P. Deshayes & V. Gautheron—Small Computers Play Mankala. In this study of awele no optimal strategy could be defined—which keeps the game interesting. However a number of 'advantageous attitudes' were defined as statistically preferable to a random playing of the game.
Optimalisation de la communication et agencement de l'espace. Le modèle senufo.
Authors: Kientz Albert
Published: October 2008

A. Kientz—Optimization of Communication and Spatial Organisation: The Senufo Model. The organisation of space and habitat in a Senufo village is closely linked to the social structure. The distribution of open and built up space allows for a dominantly centripetal communication network respecting family identification (but not isolation). The new 'modern', government-sponsored, geo-metrical plan results in a partial break of the communication network which becomes centrifugal and tends to promote anomy.
L'émigration dans un village du Niger.
Authors: Barou Jacques
Published: October 2008

J. Barotj — Emigration in a Village of the Niger Republic. The economy of the formerly agricultural Hausa village of Affala is now based on wages remitted by young male migrants. Three types of migration can be distinguished : short range, to urban centers in the Niger Republic itself ; middle range, to big West African cities (Dakar, Abidjan) ; and long range, to France. The migrants re-group and orga-nize according to village affiliations and tend to keep aloof from the foreign milieu.
L'histoire vivante
Authors: Coquery-Vidrovitch Catherine
Published: October 2008

C. Coquery-Vidrovitch— Living History. Modem historical method—the so-called New History school—concerns itself with establishing trends and periods, based upon a study of the interaction of economie and social forces rather than with bare events or facts taken out of context. The historian no longer aims or pretends to aim at a neutral 'objectivity', which, in any case, was never more than an intellectual illusion, ignoring, deliberately or not, the influence of the prevailing ideologies. The historian has to make choices, be it only in his angle of approach—e. g., in Africa, to guard from European ethnocentrism. Touching any particular event the question to ask should be ' How was it made possible?' rather than ' What did happen?' Which does not mean dispensing with erudition, but only not taking it as an end in itself.
Recherches sur l'évolution du travail salarié en AOF pendant la crise économique, 1930-1936.
Authors: Almeida-Topor Hélène d'
Published: October 2008

H. D'Almeida-Topor—On the Evolution of Wage-Earning Labour in French West Africa during the World Recession, 1930-1936. But for a small regression in 1932, the proportion of wage-earning labourers grew steadily even during the World Recession, from 0.44 % of the total population in 1929 to 1.12% in 1936. The acrual percentage is actually higher due to the huge turnover among the unskilled workers who made up to 80 % of the gross labour force. The highest numbers were founded in the Ivory Coast—around 50 % of the gross total—due to the importance of European plantations and lumber camps in that colony. Labour welfare regulations concerning wages and rations were only loosely applied during the Recession, which resulted in the emergence of a group of unemployed skilled workers and the slowing down of vocational training. Recruitment problems re-appeared after the 1936 economie recovery, ail the more so because of the deterioration in working conditions endured after the end of the recession.
De la richesse au pouvoir : les origines d'une chefferie du Ndenye (Côte d'Ivoire). Analyse critique de documents oraux
Authors: Perrot Claude-Hélène
Published: October 2008

C.-H. Perrot—From Wealth to Power : The Origins of a Ndenye Chiefdom {Ivory Coast). The comparison of genealogies and historical traditions collected both within Yakasse chiefdom and outside it shows important and highly relevant differences. The ' official ' Yakasse version — enunciated with some reluctance — reveals inconsistencies in the regular line of matrilineal succession to the Stool. These are ex-plained by the 'external' version which unveils a breach in this line when chief Adu Kpãhi used his wealth for gaining access to power instead of inheriting, or fighting for it. The case goes to support Vansina's theories about the frequent use of historical manipulations of oral tradition with political motives.
Archives et tradition orale. À propos d'une enquête sur la politique du royaume de Danhomé à la fin du 19e siècle.
Authors: Messanvi Garcia Luc
Published: October 2008

L. M. Garcia—Archives and Oral Tradition : Danhome's Policy at the End of the 19th Century. There are some places and periods in Africa where historians are afforded a possi-bility to compare African/oral data with European/written documents. Such is the case for the events which led to the French conquest of Danhome and the appointment of king Agoli-Agbo (the former prince Gucili) to replace Gbehanzin. Dahomeyan informants bring in a description of atmosphere and feelings on the African side rather than brand new facts. They are chiefly useful in throwing light on the intrigues and disputes within Gbehanzin's court, which facilitated the French conquest.
L'affranchissement des esclaves de Mayotte, décembre 1846-juillet 1847.
Authors: Martin Jean
Published: October 2008

J. Martin—The Emancipation of Slaves in Mayotte (Dec. 1846-July 1847). The only French colony where slavery was abrogated before 1848 was Mayotte (annexed in 1841). The decision was taken partly to avoid trouble with the R. N. anti-slavery squadron, partly to provide labour for the French settlers' plantations. Most of native landlords chose to leave the island with their slaves rather than to accept compensation for freeing them. Less than a third of the slaves were actually emancipated and those were unwilling to work either for the settlers or for the 'gouvernement1. The attempted colonisation was a complete failure resulting in a social situation which led to the 1856 uprising.
Histoire et histoires. Conception du passé chez les Hausa et les Twareg Kel Gress de l'Ader (République du Niger).
Authors: Bonte Pierre , Echard Nicole
Published: October 2008

P. Bonte Et N. Echard— History and Stories : Concepts of the Past among the Hausa and Kel Gress Twareg of Ader (Niger Republic). The Hausa and Kel Gress share a common environment since the beginning of the 19th century. Despite this cohabitation over more than a century there are but few evidences of a common historical tradition — in spite of the existence of an economic system based on complementary and reciprocal exchanges. An examination of both the historical traditions and the respective social structures tends to demonstrate that this mutual ignorance is a product of social ideology and tends to preserve and protect the social identities of the two groups.
Devising an Ideology: The Demonstration Effect in East Africa.
Authors: Mittelman James H.
Published: October 2008

J. H. Mittelman — Créer une idéologie: l'effet de démonstration en Afrique orientale. Dans les pays sous-développés, une idéologie modernisatrice, introduisant de nouvelles normes conçues en forme d'objectifs communs à long terme, peut être un instrument efficace contre le maintien d'intérêts sectoriels et la prédominance de groupes fractionnels. Elle peut aussi servir de substitut à des valeurs et normes traditionnelles défaillantes ou périmées, dans une situation de transformations sociales rapides. Dans certains pays, l'idéologie modernisatrice, plutôt que d'invention locale, paraît inspirée par celle d'un autre pays : c'est l'effet de démonstration, qui peut comporter des dangers, dans la mesure où les contextes diffèrent, comme le montre ici une comparaison de l'Ujamaa tanzanienne avec la Common Man Charter ougandaise du Président Obote.
Lore and Doctrine: Some Observations on Storytellings in the Jamaa Movement in Shaba (Zaïre).
Authors: Fabian Johannes
Published: October 2008

J. Fabian — Folklore et doctrine : remarques sur les contes dans le mouvement Jamaa. Partant de l'analyse d'un conte à thème et personnages traditionnels et de son emploi dans le processus d'enseignement initiatique du mouvement charismatique Jamaa du Zaïre, l'auteur montre que le folklore ainsi utilisé est un processus de communication sociale impliquant une différence fondamentale d'avec sa fonction traditionnelle. Il ne s'agirait plus d'un simple enseignement moral, mais d'une information à contenu doctrinal et rituel consciemment codé dans la perspective d'une situation entièrement nouvelle. En dépit des similarités de surface, le message n'est plus le même. L'innovation religieuse « dévie » autant ou plus, ici, de la tradition culturelle que de la doctrine importée.
Femmes prolétaires du Sénégal, à la ville et aux champs.
Authors: Kane Francine
Published: October 2008

F. Kane—Female Prolétariat in Sénégal, Town and Country. A comparison between women employed respectively by the BUD plantations and the canned food industry in Dakar. Conditions of employment in town are more regular, with higher salaries, social benefits, and some protection through the action of acknowledged trade-unions. Although the rural workers conditions recall in many respects those of the Lumpenproletariat, the resemblances between urban and rural workers are more striking than the différences and the two groups are to be considered as forming a single category, with sex as the most important factor.
Pragmatists or Feminists ? The Professional 'Single' Women of Accra, Ghana.
Authors: Dinan Carmel
Published: October 2008

C. Dinan - Pragmatistes ou féministes ? Femmes célibataires cadres à Accra. L'effet de l'urbanisation sur le statut des femmes africaines divise les observateurs entre « optimistes » et « pessimistes », leurs conclusions paraissant souvent impressionnistes et entachées d'ethnocentrisme. L'auteur a donc préféré aborder le sujet dans la perspective de la stratégie des rôles et intentions. Elle étudie dix-sept cas de femmes akan, célibataires ou divorcées, occupant des emplois supérieurs ou exerçant des professions libérales. Dans un système de valeurs qui continue à privilégier le mariage et la maternité, le célibat reste un choix temporaire qui permet à ces femmes de renforcer leur position dans leur lignage, surtout du côté de la parentèle féminine. Tout compte fait, la modernisation paraît avoir, pour ce groupe restreint, un effet objectivement bénéfique.
Aspects of Chiefship in Dimam, South-West Ethiopia.
Authors: Todd Dave M.
Published: October 2008

D. M. Todd — Aspects de la chefferie dans le Dimam (Sud-Ouest éthiopien). Ethnographie des institutions politiques d'une population éthiopienne non amhara, traitant essentiellement de l'idéologie sous-jacente au système de chefferie. L'organisation coutumière n'était pas centralisée, chaque chefferie constituant une entité judiciaire et rituelle autonome. Le fondement de l'autorité du chef est une puissance spirituelle spéciale, balth'u, impliquant de sa part une constante pureté rituelle, symbolisée par des interdits nombreux et par des rites périodiques. Cette puissance est censée pouvoir s'altérer, en raison du comportement du chef, avec des conséquences néfastes pour la communauté, ce qui peut conduire à sa destitution.
L'enracinement ethnique de l'islam au sud du Sahara. Étude comparée
Authors: Nicolas Guy
Published: October 2008

G. Nicolas — Islam and Ethnicity South of the Sahara. The islamized societies of subsaharan Africa combine ethnicity, Islam and modem political and économie factors into a variety of local situations, as demonstrated hère by the case-studies of three Moslem groups of the Western Sudan, the Hausa, Soninke and Wolof. While it is impossible to dissociate Islam from ethnicity, it would be a mistake to overstress the latter so as to draw an artificial distinction between 'real' or 'pure' Islam and 'déviant' local varieties. Arabicization is but one factor among many others and does not suffice by itself to characterize the depth and extent of islamization.
À chacun son histoire.
Authors: Bayart Jean-François
Published: October 2008

J.-F. Bayart. To Everyone his own History. An answer to Leca's and Rey's comments, together with an explicitation and amplification of some of the points discussed.
Les échanges transsahariens, la Senusiya et les révoltes twareg de 1916-17.
Authors: Bourgeot André
Published: October 2008

A. Bourgeot. Transsaharan Trade, the Sanusiya, and the Twareg Revolts of 1916-17. The Sanusi influence has been a contributive factor of the Twareg revolts rather than their primary cause, which is to be sought in the traditional rivalries between Twareg groups for the control of the transsaharan trade and for political supremacy on the desert and its fringes. Since the inception of French colonial domination an opposition obtained between those leaders (Musa Ag Amastan, Lowai) who co-operated with the colonizers and those (Attisi Ag Amellal, Firhun. . .) who opposed them. The latter allied themselves with the Sanusiya against French imperialism in the wider context of the contemporary competition between imperialist strategies. Thus the Twareg rebellions cannot be considered as merely Sanusi-inspired or Sanusi-manipulated.
The Nigerian Gum Arabic Industry, 1897-1940. A Study in Rural Economic Development under Colonial Régime.
Authors: Egboh Edmund O.
Published: October 2008

E. O. Egboh. La gomme arabique au Nigeria, 1897-1940. Un exemple de développement économique rural en régime colonial. Dès le début de l'occupation coloniale, on constata l'existence, dans la région du Nord, de peuplement d'acacias à gomme de qualité identique à ceux du Sénégal et du Soudan. En dépit des efforts de l'administration coloniale, la gomme arabique ne parvint pas à jouer plus qu'un rôle d'appoint dans l'économie rurale nigériane, les principales raisons de cet échec relatif étant le manque de savoir-faire dans le traitement et le conditionnement du produit, et l'organisation oligopolistique des marchés.
Le bateleur incompris.
Authors: Leiris Michel
Published: October 2008

J. Jamin—The Monstrous Wraith: Senufo Hyena-Masks.

Rather than objets d'art Senufo masks are but a minor part of the routine production of Senufo craftsmen, not différent from plain tools up to the time when they are integrated into a liturgy or a magical process. In other words the carving of a mask is completely dissociated from its religious use. Which explains how the industrial production of masks for the souvenir and 'antique' trade could develop without hurting Senufo opinion. This attitude might well be a reaction to the idéologie fetters of the poro cuit, as evidenced by the wholesale destruction or dereliction of masks under the influence of récent messianistic cuits. More generally it can be related to a Senufo Weltanschauung based upon a quasi-manichean concept of duality, expressed in the stylistic variants of masks. [pp. 125-142]
Isolo, jeu royal des Sukuma.
Authors: Popova Assia
Published: October 2008

A. Popova—'Isolo', the Royal Game of the Sukuma.

A description of the simpler rules of the Sukuma variant of solo, with some considérations on its social meaning. [pp. 111-123]
Un mouvement de réforme religieuse dans le royaume abron précolonial : le culte de Sakrobundi
Authors: Terray Emmanuel
Published: October 2008

E. Terray—A Religions Reform Movement in Pre-Colonial Gyaman: The Sakrobundi Cuit.

Contrary to a widely held opinion, revitalisation cuits and religious and moral revivais are not restricted to the colonial period. A movement of this type occurred in the Brong kingdom of Gyaman during the last quarter of the igth century, before European settlement in the country. The cuit of genius Sakrobundi, spreading in the decade 1870-1880, appears as an attempt toward a global renovation of belief and mores. First introauced following a disruption of the traditional process of witcheraft control, it was openly supported by the king and chiefs. Its primary aim was to redress this process, but Sakrobundi very soon became a 'guardian' of public morals. This success is linked up with the social, economie and political upheaval which overtook Gyaman when Asante domination ended, from 1874 on. [pp. 143-176]
La production d'un récit historique.
Authors: Bazin Jean
Published: October 2008

J. Bazin—The Production of a Historical Narrative.

A number of historical African polities—such as the kingdom of Segu—-are known to us almost exclusively through oral traditions. Hence the absolute necessity of a critical study of the production of this type of narratives, including both the processes of their generation and memorization and the circumstances of their enun-ciation. This is illustrated by the study in depth of a relation of king Da's accession, which is shown to be more than a mere 'historical', nonfictional report on things past. Far from being a factual, objective report of actual facts, the narrative has political and ethical implications which remain operative to this day. [PP- 435-483]
The Politics of Sara Ethnicity : A Note on the Origins of the Civil War in Chad.
Authors: Lemarchand René
Published: October 2008

R. Lemarchand — La politique d'ethnicité sara : note sur les origines de la guerre civile au Tchad.

Analyse de l'apparition d'un sentiment d'appartenance commune chez les divers groupes collectivement désignés sous le nom de « Sara » (Ngambay, Mbay, Majingay, Kaba, Lari, etc.). Le phénomène, avec son corollaire d'opposition à base régionale, est assez courant en Afrique, son originalité propre étant, ici, d'être lié à une sorte de conscience de classe chez ces prétendus « descendants d'esclaves » prolétarisés, à partir de 1920, par le recrutement militaire et civil, la culture forcée du coton et l'insertion dans une économie de salariat. L'image subjective que les autorités coloniales se faisaient de la situation historico-sociale des diverses populations tchadiennes et de leurs relations a été, en quelque sorte, intériorisée pour servir de base idéologique à la pratique politique des Sara après la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Consensus, Consociation and Cooption in South African Politics.
Authors: Frankel Philip H.
Published: October 2008

P. H. Frankel — Consensus, alliance et cooptation dans la vie politique sud-africaine.

Analyse et discussion de la stratégie étudiée et partiellement adoptée par le gouvernement sud-africain pour aménager l'apartheid en lui donnant les apparences d'une démocratie pluraliste. Les deux communautés (anglophone et hollandophone) de la minorité au pouvoir se retrouveraient dans une sorte de consensus pour aménager des relations de clientèle avec les fractions relativement privilégiées de la population non blanche. Mais cette politique ne paraît guère avoir de chances de succès auprès de la grande majorité de cette population dont les exigences sont désormais tout autres.
L'essor de l'économie de pêche artisanale et ses conséquences sur le littoral sénégalais.
Authors: Bonnardel Régine
Published: October 2008

R. Nguyen Van Chi-Bonnardel—The Expansion of a non-Industrial Fishing Economy and its Consequences on Senegal's Seashore.

Fishing ofi the Senegalese coast is a seasonal activity with peaks at different dates and locations, as determined by halieutic and climatic factors. Coastal fishermen work part of the time off their own villages and, at other moments, seek out different fishing grounds elsewhere. The former practice is family-based, the monetary benefits being allocated within the kin group; the latter is more individually oriented, allowing the younger migrant fishermen to invest their gains to fulfil their own ends. As fishing has become a rewarding trade, most men no longer work their own fields and gardens, which are tilled by migrants from the interior. Modernisation is slow, limited up to now to the use of outboard engines mounted on traditional craft, and the competition of Dakar-based trawlers and foreign factory-ships is striking hard at non-industrial fishing which, nevertheless, remains an important economie activity.
Kola in the History of West Africa.
Authors: Lovejoy Paul E.
Published: October 2008

P. E. Lovejoy —La kola dans l'histoire de l'Afrique occidentale.

Le commerce de la kola, spécialement l'espèce Cola nitida, a joué un rôle considérable dans l'histoire économique de l'Afrique occidentale. La zone principale de production se situe dans la bande forestière, sur le territoire actuel du Ghana, de la Côte d'Ivoire, de la Sierra Leone, du Libéria et de la Guinée. La culture du kola-tier est probable dès le xive siècle, certaine au XIXe, associée à la collecte dans les peuplements spontanés. L'analyse linguistique (diffusion de la racine *guro) en situe l'origine dans la région frontalière actuelle Libéria/Guinée/Sierra Leone, où son commerce était déjà développé lors de l'immigration mande (xve-xvie siècles), probablement depuis le xuie siècle, sinon plus tôt. Les premiers cultivateurs étaient sans doute de langue ouest-atlantique ou mel, ultérieurement (xve siècle) supplantés par des Mande venus de la savane. La principale marchandise importée de la savane en retour paraît avoir été le fer ouvré. Plus à l'est, en pays Akan, le trafic de la kola aurait été associé à celui de l'or à partir des xive-xve siècles. C'est la seule zone où, pour des motifs liés à l'écologie, se développe un État centralisé lié à ce commerce. La révolution économique du xixe siècle entraîne une augmentation massive du trafic et de la production (i ooo % entre 1910 et i960) liée aux nouvelles facilités de transport maritime et terrestre.
Spécialisations écologiques, État et réalisation de la valeur par les échanges à longue distance.
Authors: Chauveau Jean-Pierre
Published: October 2008

J.-P. Chauveau — Ecological Specialization, State, and Value Realization through Long-Distance Exchanges.

A critical comment on Lovejoy's and Roberts' articles in this issue: the ecological constraints are not as clearcut as implied, on the one hand; on the other hand, the preeminence of centralized States needs some re-examination, in view especially of the wide range of local variations.
Le commerce à longue distance dans l'Ouest africain précolonial comme facteur de diversification sociale.
Authors: Person Yves
Published: October 2008

Y. Person — Long-Distance Trade in Precolonial Africa as a Factor of Social Diversification.

While Y. Person supports Roberts on his appreciation of Hopkins' Economie History, he critieizes him for his neglect of the importance of trading and mining in a number of stateless societies. In Lovejoy's paper on kola, he finds faults only with a few linguistic points which tend to overstress the role of Mandingo peoples in this trade.
The Wave is my Mother's Husband : A Piscatorial Thème in Pastoral Nilotic Ethnology.
Authors: Burton John W.
Published: October 2008

J. W. Burton — La vague est le mari de ma mère : un thème halieutique chez les éleveurs nilotiques.

A partir d'une étude ethnographique et linguistique des Atuot, proches voisins des Nuer et autres peuples nilotiques classiquement réputés comme des pasteurs typiques, l'auteur montre que l'importance de l'élevage a été généralement surestimée par les études antérieures au détriment de l'agriculture et, surtout, de la pêche, qui constituent des activités beaucoup plus importantes, socialement et économiquement, qu'on ne le pensait alors.
La femme dahoméenne vue par les missionnaires : arrogance culturelle, ou antiféminisme clérical ?
Authors: Salvaing Bernard
Published: October 2008

B. Salvaing — Dahomean Women as Seen by the Missionaries: Cultural Arrogance or Clerical Antifeminism ?

The writings of the 19th-century R.C. missionaries insist on the moral degradation, moral depravity and innate corruption of Dahomean women to such an extent that they may well be suspected of colour prejudice and racialism. Yet, a compar-ison with the sermons of St. J.-B. Vianney, the 'holy vicar of Ars', reveals a very similar view of contemporary French peasant women. It is therefore likely that the missionaries' views were influenced less by racial prejudice than by clerical hostility to women prevalent in the Roman Church since the I4th century and, even more, the Counter-Reformation.
Nobles, bourgeois, Inquisition : les prémisses de l'expansion coloniale portugaise au XVIe siècle.
Authors: Geffray Christian
Published: October 2008

C. Geffray — Noblemen, Bourgeois and the Inquisition: The Premises of Portuguese Colonial Expansion in the ioth Century.

The Portuguese aristocracy, as institutionally incarnated in the Crown to allow for its intervention in the accumulation of merchant capital, is both a motor and a parasitic element in the capitalistic process of primary accumulation in i6th-cen-tury Europe. A motor element since it assumes the routing of exotic wealth, a parasitic one since it is unable to go beyond a mere diversion of this capital in order to reproduce its own economically fruitless domination of Portugal's feudal society. As such, the aristocracy is led into a head-on contradiction with the rising national bourgeoisie. Thus are generated the political, ideological, legal and repressive mechanisms which make its position a precarious one. This explains the particular forms of Portuguese colonial expansion, by defining the complemen-tary or conflictual functions of the administration and the independent traders on the East African coast.
Les vélos de Kaolack.
Authors: Morice Alain
Published: October 2008

A. Morice—Kaolack's Bikes.

In Kaolack mopeds are used as cabs. This peculiar trade is more organized than it looks at first sight. Its history, since the time when hawkers began to repair and rent old bicycles, has been characterized by tense relations with the local author-ities, together with never-ending internai conflicts: hence the self-imposition of a compelling hierarchy. The drivers pay a daily fee to the owners in exchange for the right of using the vehicles for money-earning purposes. They, in turn, fre-quently employ 'apprentices' to ensure a maximal use of the bikes. Young 'taxi-men' station themselves around various strategie locations in the city 'garages' where they corne under the authority of elders who are tacitly recognized as spokesmen by the ofncialdom. Enquiries among these tradesmen have evidenced several traits common to a number of so-called 'informai' activities: exploitation of apprentices, functional turnover of juvenile labour force, persisting paternalistic social relationships, structuration effect of the dubious legal status of the trade. Following repeated requests from the motor-cabs, moped taxis have been prohib-ited. One may well wonder whether this prohibition is not more or less con-sciously aiming at reinforcing the precariousness of the apprentices' status as well as the power of elders.
Accommodation to Poverty : The Case of the Malagasy Peasant Communities.
Authors: Gintzburger Alphonse
Published: October 2008

A. Ginïzburger — Accommodation à la pauvreté : le cas des communautés paysannes malgaches.

Essai d'explication psychanalytique de l'attitude des paysans malgaches face au sous-développement : ils manifesteraient une sorte de fatalisme, résultant d'une inhibition ou d'un transfert de l'agressivité découlant normalement de la frustration économique. L'hypothèse est illustrée par l'analyse de la croyance aux mpakafo, « voleurs de cœurs », ogres représentant symboliquement les détenteurs européens du pouvoir économique et politique et leurs associés, bourgeois et fonctionnaires malgaches. Cette croyance serait symptomatique d'une fixation sadique orale directement liée à l'état de pauvreté.
Un politologue chez les marabouts.
Authors: Schmitz Jean
Published: October 2008

J. Schmitz — The Marabouts Viewed by a Political Scientist.

In his book Le marabout et le Prince (Islam et pouvoir au Senegal), the political scientist C. Coulon tried to point out that the same study can focus on and analyse the Mouride brotherhood, Al Hajj Umar's jihad, or the foundation of Medina Gonasse ; he also brought new data about little-known maraboutic movements.

Re-examining some of the case studies in Coulon's book, we intend to show that limiting oneself to analysing the marabouts' politics in terms of resistance to colonisation, or as an Islamic culture expressing popular aspirations, cannot suffice. What is needed is to emphasize the relative autonomy of what should be considered a clerical class, which appeared well before the colonial period. This class is structured by propaedeutic-pedagogical relations which take shape with the acquisition of Koranic knowledge, and are reproduced by marriage exchange within the clerical hierarchy.
La condition servile en pays makhuwa.
Authors: Geffray Christian
Published: October 2008

C. Geffray — Servile Condition in Makhuwaland.

This study is based upon the life-story of a Makhuwa epotha (person of servile status) whose grandmother was kidnapped into slavery at the beginning of the present century. Women's abduction was common enough in Makhuwaland, the victims being either sold away or kept by the abductor for his own use. In both cases, they were forcefully eut off from their matrilineage and originated a new affine group, at first completely dependent on the captor's or buyer's authority. Among freemen kinship was matrilineal and marriage uxorilocal, the husband being bound by a complex network of duties and obligations which did not obtain vis-a-vis the epotha group. This resulted, four or five generations after the initial capture of the first epotha, into the formation of a new discrete group with a social and political identity of its own.
The Social Construction of Colonial Reality: Yauri Emirate.
Authors: Salamone Franck A.
Published: October 2008

F. A. Salamone — Construction sociale de la réalité coloniale : l'émirat de Yauri.

L'analyse du diaire du district de Yauri (Nigeria), correspondant à l'émirat hausa du même nom, met en valeur le processus d'interaction entre autorité « coutumière » et autorité administrative coloniale qui caractérisait le système britannique de l'indirect rule. Les personnages sont ici, successivement, un émir illégitime et un administrateur borné, puis un « bon » émir et un administrateur éclairé. Avec les deux derniers le « double mandat » rapporte, économiquement au colonisateur, dont le commerce se développe, politiquement au chef africain, dont le pouvoir s'étend en se renforçant — leur intérêt commun étant de parvenir à un contrôle étroit et centralisé de la paysannerie. Jeu de dupes en partie, mais où l'une et l'autre dupes sont aussi des gagnants.
Les Yarse du royaume de Ouagadougou : l'écrit et l'oral.
Authors: Duperray Anne-Marie
Published: October 2008

A.-M. Duperray — The Yarse of Wagadugu Kingdom : Written and Oral Sources.

The Yarse form a special distinct group or stratum among the Wagadugu Mosi, distinguished by their religion—Islam—, their occupation—the caravan trade— and their privileged position within the political System. According to oral traditions (as well as to the observations of most foreign anthropologists) the Yarse lineages originally came from the Mande area; they changed their language to Moore after settling down in the kingdom and intermarrying with nakombse (noble) Mosi lineages. However a closer analysis of lineage histories suggests that a number of them are in fact ' Yarseized' Mosi. Integration into the Yarse group, ostensibly manifested by conversion to Islam, can be more readily explained in economie and occupational terms. Further research should bear on special Yarse festivals, marriage prohibitions and preferential alliances between Yarse lineages, and socially significant rites, in order to achieve a better knowledge of the group as such.
Un siècle de croissance démographique au Burundi (1850-1950)
Authors: Thibon Christian
Published: October 2008

C. Thibon — A Century of Demographie Growth in Burundi (1850-1950).

From 1850 to 1950, Burundi population developed in three very clear-cut stages. Not affected by disturbances due to exogenous factors, epidemie diseases and the slave trade, the country experienced a noticeable growth during the igth century, as evidenced by the population pressure and expansion indexes. The ending of isolation and colonization coincided at the turn of our century with a demographie crisis, the imbalances brought about by colonization delayed the reconstitution of the population, and the first stage of the transition period, which started rather late, is marked by such after-effects. The article analyses the respective impact of natural and biological conditions as well as of precolonial and colonial policies; it demonstrates that such factors developed independently and present conflicting characteristics.
La sensibilité des sociétés akan du sud-est de la Côte d'Ivoire aux fluctuations démographiques
Authors: Perrot Claude-Hélène
Published: October 2008

C.-H. Perrot — The Influence of Demographie Fluctuations on the Akan Societies of South-Eastern Ivory Coast.

Should oral sources be abandonned in the seareh for information on population history, despite the lack of numerical data before the 20th century? The way in which African societies are nowadays affected by demographie fluctuations encourages to look for the traces left by those of the past. In the case of the Anyi-Ndenye (Ivory Coast), ritual practice and the 'reign names' given to the 'men's gatherers' and to the authors of a settlement policy refer to periods of demographie growth. The traces left by demographie crises are however the most significant. Confronted to such crises, the society turned to anti-witcheraft practices (and this long before contemporary movements of a similar nature) or even adopted foreign cuits—as local customs proved unable to fulfill their role in protecting society and consoli-dating the lineage human strength. On the other hand, it is essential to carefully integrate into the historical corpus and interpret magieo-religious events referring to corrupted spirits entering into an alliance with the witches and killing villagers during the night without being seen. Indications of this type make it possible to draw the demographie pieture of Ndenye during the i8th and igth centuries and to trace the main Unes of its transformation.
Cens et puissance, ou Pourquoi les pasteurs nomades ne peuvent pas compter leur bétail
Authors: Pouillon François
Published: October 2008

F. Pouillon — Census and Power, or Why Nomadic Pastors Cannot Count their Cattle.

Why is it so hard to get information from nomadic pastors on the size of their herds? The explanation usually given seeming entirely inadequate, fieldwork data from different African pastoral societies—the Bedouins of Arabia and the Maghreb, and the Fulbe of the West African Sahel—are used to examine this problem. This behavior is in fact related to the mode of appropriation in these societies, an appropriation which is always relative and shared, without a one man-one head of cattle correspondence. Furthermore, it is the governments which try to force cattle numbering on the pastoralists in order to gain a foothold in their economies. Thus, no wander that they are reluctant to submit to such an imposition.
Imperial Legitimacy and the Creation of Neo-Solomonic Ideology in 19th-Century Ethiopia
Authors: Crummey Donald
Published: October 2008

D. Crummey — Légitimité impériale et création d'une idéologie néo-salomonienne en Ethiopie au XIXe siècle.

Cet article analyse l'idéologie et la légitimation de l'autorité impériale dans l'Ethiopie de la fin du xixe siècle à travers l'étude de trois souverains importants et d'un souverain mineur de l'époque : Téwodros (r. 1855-1868), Tàklà Giyorgis (r. 1868-1871), Yohànnes (r. 1871-1889) et Menilek II (r. 1889-1913). Pour ce faire, l'auteur étudie les rares écrits où les souverains revendiquent explicitement leur légitimité, et il examine les symboles et les images primordiaux auxquels renvoie le choix de leur nom de règne, de titres et de devises royales. L'auteur soutient d'une part que de tels symboles idéologiquement établis étaient des moyens vitaux de communication dans cette société féodale ; d'autre part que les dirigeants de cette époque innovaient dans leur usage de l'idéologie reçue. Sa thèse se fonde sur les informations trouvées dans la correspondance amharique, les chroniques et autres documents éthiopiens, ainsi que dans des récits de voyageurs européens.
Les Africains, la mer et les historiens.
Authors: Devisse Jean
Published: October 2008

J. Devisse—Africans, the Sea and Historians.

Most historians have written that Africans turned away from the sea out of fear. Very few sources can help us draw up a serious long-term history of Africans and the sea. For several millennia, coastal activities involved actively gathering shell-fish and then fishing itself; but we cannot conclude that maritime activities were highly developed, since the inhabitants continued finding their resources on the continent. We can clearly observe maritime activities during the past two millennia, first in eastern and then in western Africa. In the western part of the Indian Ocean, Africans were much involved in exchanges and navigation between Madagascar and Aden; and in West Africa, recent research has shown that they had begun venturing out on the high sea before the arrivai of the Portuguese. A new methodology has to be drawn up if research on this topic is to advance.
The Enigma of Beta Esra'el Ethnogenesis. An Anthro-Historical Study.
Authors: Abbink Jon
Published: October 2008

J. Abbink — L'énigme de l'ethnogenèse des Beta Esra'el : une étude ethno-historique.

Cette étude offre une interprétation nouvelle du processus d'ethnogenèse des Beta Esra'el (ou Falasha) d'Ethiopie. Une ethnie énigmatique dont la question de l'origine et de l'histoire n'a rien perdu de sa fascination.

À partir des traditions orales « mytho-légendaires » concernant leur descendance et leur tradition religieuse, une analyse anthropo-historique au sein de la société abyssine est présentée. Il convient de souligner l'étroite liaison qui existe entre le discours mythique des Amhara-Tigray chrétiens (au temps de l'empire « salomonide ») et celui des Beta Esra'el, qui s'opposaient aux précédents en tant que groupe d'orientation judaïque, surtout depuis le début du XVe siècle. La tradition mytho-légendaire du groupe semble montrer une influence de certains personnages chrétiens (ou jadis chrétiens, provenant des sectes religieuses qui se distinguaient de l'Église éthiopienne orthodoxe) sur l'ethnie des Beta Esra'el.

On peut distinguer deux phases dans la tradition mytho-légendaire des Beta Esra'el. Une analyse de ces deux phases semble indiquer que l'ethno-genèse du groupe ne peut pas être située avant la fin du xive siècle et qu'elle s'est déroulée surtout dans le contexte de la société abyssine plutôt qu'hors d'Ethiopie (par exemple au Moyen-Orient), comme l'approche orientaliste conventionnelle l'a affirmée pendant les deux derniers siècles. Ainsi, une évaluation de ces traditions orales soutient les résultats de recherches historiques et ethno-musicologiques récentes.
Un barde, des scribes, et la geste du Songhay...
Authors: Olivier de Sardan Jean-Pierre
Published: October 2008

J.-P. Olivier de Sardan—A Bard, Scribes and the Songhai Epie.

Can an ideology of ethnie authenticity, which takes local beliefs in magie to be a form of 'resistance' against Islam, serve to set the 'Islamic culture' of scribes and Arabie chronicles at odds with the 'traditional Songhai culture' conveyed by bards and griots"} Thomas Hale's attempt to set up this opposition is critieized. Empiri-cal data fit better a distinction between scholarly Islam and a syncretic popular culture (itself a mixture of Islamic references and more or less transformed 'traditional' beliefs).
Post-scriptum à Rivages. L'Afrique tourne-t-elle le dos à la mer ?
Authors: Pélissier Paul
Published: October 2008

P. Pelissier — A Postcript to Rivages : Did Africa Turn Its Bach to the Sea?

This generai geographical commentary on the special issues of Cahiers d'Etudes africaines (Nos. 114 & 115-116) devoted to Africa and the sea raises a genuine scientific issue: how to observe African societies' capacity for initiative and adaptation? Many examples of this capacity are cited in agricultural and maritime activities. The vitality of contemporary coastal societies in West Africa has corne out of a relatively recent and still not uniformly finished process, as they success-fully shift to working a different and variable environment.
L' « ethnicisation » de la société peule du Borgou (Bénin)
Authors: Guichard Martine
Published: October 2008

M. Guichard — Developing an Ethnie Identity : The Fulani of Benin.

The Borgou-Fulani Society in Benin differs from that in Cameroon and Nigeria in two important ways. The Fulani of Benin are an ethnie minority, and further-more, they have not played a politically dominant role either in colonial or postcolonial times. The Fulani civil servants recently served as intermediaries between the state and the Fulani ethnie group are attempting to force the integration of bush Fulani into the larger nation-state. Paradoxically, the development of a Fulani ethnie consciousness is also being promoted through the exploitation of certain Fulani-specific character traits (pulaaku) and a reassessment of the oppo-sitional relationships between Fulбe-Haaбe, Fulбe-Gando, and Fulбe siire-Fulбe ladde. Although intellectuals of the Ful6e ladde have succeeded in establishing new patronage /leadership structures and in endowing certain character traits with social importance, their ability to absorb the rural Fulani appears to have been limited by passive resistance.
Manières et matières du cinéma anthropologique.
Authors: Colleyn Jean-Paul
Published: October 2008

J.-P. Colleyn — The Manner and Matter of Anthropological Cinema.

After briefly reviewing the presuppositions and centers of interest of the descriptive tradition of "anthropological films" a plea is made for visual anthropology not as an autonomous subdiscipline but as a way to diversify methods of enquiry, broaden centers of interests and "publish" results. This approach holds for "complex" societies as well as the societies traditionally studied by anthropologists. When using the recording techniques of cinematographic language, we must be wary lest they be loaded with ethnocentric stereotypes, which precisely accounts for their success.
Les hommes d'affaires guinéens
Authors: Lambert Agnès
Published: October 2008

A. Lambert — Guinean Businessmen.

Having emerged during Seku Ture's government, Guinean businessmen have been able to react to the liberalization carried out since 1984. By using criteria such as trade networks, traders' financial capacities and control over the Guinean market, an October 1990 study of rice importers has discerned three groups: "out-side" Guinean businessmen, foreign businessmen and "inside" Guinean traders who have never left the country. These operators, who have kept the liberalization policy from bearing expected results (in particular, opening the country up to competition), have shared out zones of influence among themselves. Foreign businessmen have been eliminated from distribution within the country; and "outside" Guinean businessmen are involved therein only insofar as they are partners with "inside" traders, who control not only distribution but also re-exportation toward neighboring lands.
Explaining Social Consciousness : The Case of Mrs Molefe
Authors: Bozzoli Belinda
Published: October 2008

B. Bozzoli — Expliquer la prise de conscience : le cas de Mrs Molefe.

Cet article traite de la prise de conscience d'une femme noire sud-africaine, Sets-wammung Molefe, et vise, en même temps, à critiquer les analyses des mentalités qui prévalent dans la théorie sociologique. Se fondant sur l'histoire orale pour expliquer la prise de conscience de cette femme, cet article tente de définir les notions de bien et de mal, d'honneur et de honte, de devoir et de responsabilité, de soi et de l'autre, de féminité et de masculinité. L'auteur montre également que si la conscience politique de Setswammung Molefe a pris forme pendant son enfance et son adolescence, elle a connu une mutation décisive au moment de l'instauration de l'apartheid.
Le rôle des Antillais dans l'apparition du nationalisme culturel en Afrique noire francophone
Authors: Manchuelle François
Published: October 2008

F. Manchuelle — The Role of West Indians in the Emergence of Cultural Nationalism in French-Speaking Africa.

The twentieth-century movement of French-speaking Black writers known as negritude has had a powerful influence on people of African descent throughout the world. Existing studies do not reach far prior to the inception of the movement in the 1930s, yet the basic ideas of negritude were already present in the writings of black expatriates in Paris in the nineteenth century. Contrary to what is gener-ally believed, Francophone Blacks did not seek to become "black Frenchmen", indistinguishable from other Frenchmen except by the color of their skin. While they were in favor of giving full political rights to colonized peoples, many rejected their outright cultural assimilation.
Crisis of Faith and Colonial Conquest. The Impact of Famine and Disease in Late Nineteenth-Century Madagascar
Authors: Campbell Gwyn
Published: October 2008

G. Campbell — Crise de la foi et conquête coloniale : les conséquences de la famine et de la maladie à Madagascar à la fin du XIXe siècle.

Dans la pensée malgache traditionnelle, les calamités majeures étaient attribuées à l'influence maligne d'êtres surnaturels. Après 1820, deux conceptions du monde entrèrent en conflit : la conception du monde traditionnelle qui, jusqu'en 1869, jouit d'un statut officiel, et je christianisme qui fut adopté par la cour merina, celle-ci faisant de l'Église d'État son principal instrument de pouvoir. L'accroissement du nombre de famines et d'épidémies qui se produisirent par la suite — calamités dues à la politique coloniale du travail forcé — fut attribué à des forces surnaturelles, furieuses d'avoir été supplantées.

L'infériorité du christianisme fut rendue manifeste par l'incapacité d'endiguer l'épidémie, et lorsque les Merina ne profitèrent pas de l'occasion offerte par la mort de Ranavalona II en 1883 pour restaurer l'ordre religieux traditionnel, il se produisit une violente réaction de protestation. Lorsque, en 1895, les Français établirent leur protectorat et qu'ils décidèrent de conserver la structure administrative merina, une révolte, connue sous le nom de Menalamba éclata et les biens et les personnels de l'Église d'État furent les principales cibles des rebelles.
" My Arse for Akou ". A Wartime Ritual of Women on the Nineteenth-Century Gold Coast.
Authors: Jones Adam
Published: October 2008

A. Jones — Un rituel de guerre féminin sur la Côte de l'Or au XIXe siècle.

Cet article traite d'un rituel qui était pratiqué en temps de guerre par les femmes de la région correspondant au sud du Ghana et à l'est de la Côte-dTvoire actuels. Ce rituel revêt de nombreux aspects tels que la dance, les discours de louange et d'exécration, les prières, différentes sortes de symbolisme, des conduites obscènes (nudité), l'inversion des rôles et les injures lancées aux hommes lâches. La plupart de ces traits peuvent être actuellement observés au sein d'un rituel dénommé mmobomme en langue twi, mais la fonction et le sens de ces phénomènes ont probablement changé par rapport à la situation qui prévalait autrefois. Cet article tente de montrer combien il est difficile d'interpréter ce qui est écrit de ce rituel dans les documents du XIXe siècle.