article

Some aspects of institutionalized exchange: a Kanuri example

Cahiers d'etudes Africaines • 5 • Published In 1965 • Pages: 353-369

By: Cohen, Ronald.

Abstract

This is an historical account of the Kanuri economy. The nineteenth- century Kanuri economy was a peripheral market economy in which there was no universal form of currency and only some goods and services entered into the marketplace, for example agricultural surpluses and craft work. Other types of exchanges were embedded in the sociopolitical structure of society. Higher status persons received gifts, services and tributes from subordinates and redistributed them in a show of generosity during rites of passage ceremonies. The legitimate route for social mobility was for any individual to enter into a patron-client relationship with the head of a more powerful and wealthier household. An important ingredient of this relationship was BERZUM, discipline and trust. Cohen suggests that BERZUM could be considered the currency of the Kanuri political economy.

HRAF PubDate

1998

Region

Africa

Sub Region

Western Africa

Document Type

article

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ; 1996

Field Date

1955-57

Coverage Date

1800s

Coverage Place

Borno State, Nigeria

Notes

Ronald Cohen

Includes bibliographical references (p. 369)

LCCN

sn86012778

LCSH

Kanuri (African people)