article

Some aspects of institutionalized exchange: a Kanuri example

Cahiers d'etudes Africaines5 • 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.
Subjects
Gift giving
Medium of exchange
Social relationships and groups
Ethics
Household
culture
Kanuri
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)