On Ethnicity, Culture, and ”” Sten Hagberg Purpose

• Today’s lecture aims to discuss tricky concepts used in the study of African societies and cultures that still have tremendous impact on everyday life • Put forward the historical perspective on ”ethnicity”, ”culture”, and ”tribe”, as labels to portray traditional African political organization • Contextualise the texts by Evans-Pritchard, Southall, and Vail – as well as bring in how one could possibly study ethnicity today • Case-Study of Tiefo in Burkina Faso – ethnicity and politics in a home area association The term ”tribe” is no longer used by anthropologists, but it is used by many people in African countries

Definitions • ”a group of people bound by common language, territory, and custom” • “a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader” • “a notional form of human social organization based on a set of smaller groups (known as bands), having temporary or permanent political integration, and defined by traditions of common descent, language, culture, and ideology” Tourist Industry and the Exotic – ”African with Traditional African Cultures” Republic of Niger – administrative categories, or How to define nomadic peoples http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/ner146499.pdf Customary or traditional communities according Nigerien Law • Fraction • Quartier • Village • Tribu

• Groupement Woodabe men impressing women • Secteur • Canton • Sultanat or province Central Question: How do societies stay together? (Durkheim (1858-1917) and followers & successors)

The of Structural-Functionalists Functionalism • The study of how customs and social • Diminished the importance of organizations contributed to social solidarity individual behaviour – the social • The empirical focus – instead of speculating system was brought to the fore about history anthropologists wrote about • All societies had an understandable waht they actually observed rational – or logics • Focus on continuity and social reproduction • Explained historical continuity and rather than change social and political reproduction • ”…the social structure is the foundation of the whole social life of any continuing society” (Fortes 1953:22-3) The Nuer: Time and Space

• State society and stateless society Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902- • Kinship and politics – the Nuers conceived 1973) together with young Nuers political relationships in terms of descent and lineage • Long-term fieldwork, learning the language – professional anthropology • Fieldwork and colonial administration • The concept of ”tribe”, dividing the world into ”the West”/”the others” • Evans-Pritchard’s analysis moved from strict empiricism towards the study of more structural, theoretical, organizing principles • The obsession of structure and function system à la Evans-Pritchard

• Fission and the opposition of its e.g. The concept of cieng segments Cieng = homestead, hamlet, village, and • Fusion with other groups of its own tribal sections of various dimensions order in opposition to political segments larger than itself ”Thus a man is a member of his tribe in • its relation to other tribes, but he is not Political values are always, structurally a member of his tribe in the relation of speaking, in conflict his segment of it to other segments of the same kind. Likewise, a man is a member of his tribal segment in its relation to other segments, but he is not a member of it in relation of his village to other villages of the same segment.” (Evans-Pritchard in Grinker et al. 2010:81-82) Anthropology and Colonial Administration

”…administrators were interested in anthropological work on African political systems because the methods by which Africans governed themselves impinged directly on the ability of the colony to govern. […] British could invest chiefs with political responsibilities in those societies with a pre- existing system of chiefs, while for other societies without chiefs, such as the hunter-gatherers and farmers of central Africa, the Belgians had to create and chiefs” (Grinker et al. 2010:65) Aidan Southall – The Illusion of Tribe

Three sets of problems ”no unidimensional classification of 1) Problems of definition socio-cultural groups can provide an adequate basis for the comparative 2) Problems of illusion study of specific problems” 3) The problem of transition and […] transformation ”All attemps at establishing unequivocal, all-purpose, unidimensional classifications of socio- cultural groups involve grave danger of Why this obsession with function? And why misrepresenting the nature of societies defining stateless societies as ”tribes”? as anthropology knows them” The colonial invention of ”tribes”? • Southall in Grinker et al. 2010:91) Jean-Loup Amselle 1998. Mestizo Logics: Anthropology of Identity in Africa and Elsewhere. Leroy Vail – Ethnicity in Southern African History

Creation of ethnicity – ideological statement of popular appeal in the context of social, Ethnicity economic and political change in Southern Africa • African political leaders denounce it… • Leftist commentators label it ”false 1) A group of intellectuals consciousness”… 2) African intermediaries • Apologists for apartheid: encourage it… 3) Need for traditional values • Development theorists deplore it… • Journalists deploy it… The role of the Christian missionaries… • Political scientists probe it… ”intellectuals carefully crafted their ethnic ideologies in order to define the ”If one disapproves of the phenomenon, cultural chacracteristics of members of ’it’ is ’tribalism’; if one is less various cultural groups” (Vail in Grinker judgmental ’it’ is ’ethnicity’” (Vail in Grinker et al. 2010:95) et al. 2010:959 …Ethnicity in Southern African

”Men came to think of themselves as belonging to particular ethnic groups, then, not because they especially disliked their fellow workers, not because being a member of the group made them feel good, but rather because the ethnic apparatus of the rural area – the chiefs, ’traditional’ courts, the ethnic ideology – all worked to preserve the very substantial interests which these men had in their home areas. Without ethnicity – or tribalism – the migrants would have been less able to exercise the control that was necessary for them to assure the continuation of their positions in rural societies and their ultimate retirement in their home areas.” (Vail in Grinker et al. 2010:106) Case-Study: Tiefo people of Burkina Faso

Hagberg, S. 2004. Ethnic Idenfitification in Voluntary Associations in Burkina Faso • Defining ethnicities • Tiefo-Dyula peoples of western Burkina Faso • All of them are Ouattara • Different traditional chieftaincies: Masa and Golotigi • The ”Noumoudara massacre” led by Samoro in 1897 • The home area association (ADTA) and its revalorisation of golotigi • Lost language… • …lost identity? Long-term research in ”Tiefo country” since 1990s

• The rural municipality of Péni and the traditional village of Noumoudara – seven kms but a world of different powers! • Péni = Modernity, ethnic diversity and Muslim identity • Noumoudara = Tradition, Tiefo people and the cult to the ancestors and the Earth • Masa and Golotigi • Ritual and Politics Comparing Traditional Chieftaincies

The chieftaincy of Golotigi The chieftaincy of Masa • War lord – ”skin chief” • Former king, peaceful – women-kings • Military strength and bravery • Territorial belonging, the Earth • Male connotations • The power of ritual and speech • Few rituals taboos and restrictions • Many rituals restrictions and taboos • Female connotations • Represents the ”Tiefo country” • Representing the village territory • Emblematic figure of Tiefo-ness for ADTA and AFDTA home area assoc. • No Masa anymore but ”village chiefs” • Legendary chieftaincy but not publicly • The war is over – struggle for showed-off recognition in a changing world Golotigi Badiori Ouattara

Golotigi • Ritually enthroned in February 2006 • Public ceremony in April 2007 • ”Grand-son” of Tiefo Amoro • Lived in agriculture irrigation site • Past involvement in party politics • ”Uniting the Tiefo” with ADTA home ares association • Passed Away in 2019 Mayor/”Village chief” of Péni: Pascal Ouattara

Masa • Son of last enthroned masa • Inherited ”village chief” function from his father • Elected village delegate during the revolution • Former president of parents’ school association • Etc.: ”Il est dans toutes les sauces” • Elected Mayor 2006-2012 Muncipal elections 2006, 2012 och 2016 – similar tensions in Tiefo communities

• Ruling parties (CDP, MPP) • Opposition (ADF/RDA, NAFA) • ”Masaya” • ”Golotigiya” • Modernity, Islam & tradition • Tradition, animism & modernity • Development – ”many people”? • Customs – ”few people”? • ADTA? • ADTA? • Ethnicity? • Ethnicity? Association de Développement Tiefo Amoro (ADTA)

• Civil society & Home Area Association • Competing chieftaincies • Accumulation of power and positions • ”Civil society” and Party Politics • Development as ”projet”, ”twinning” and ”change” • Chiefs and democratic elections • Local opposition and local debate Concluding remarks

• The ”invention” of ethnicity and tribe? • From colonial conquest to colonial administration – how to govern the colonies, the importance of function • Traditional chieftaincy and colonial rule • The impact of Christian missionaries – schools, document language and cultural – not religious (read Pagan) traditions, promoting cultural backgrounds of students • “Double hermeneutic”-theory (Giddens) – everyday “lay” concepts and those from the social sciences have a two-way relationship: “tribe”, “ethnicity” and “culture” – people use scientific concepts and transform them and use them in daily life even when they are not used any longer in social sciences • The media labeling of ethnic conflict and of tribalism generalises and simplifies – it rarely depicts what are the key issues at stake Questions

• Discuss the use of concepts in African Studies with particular reference to ”ethnicity” and ”tribe”. • Identify three pros and three cons of using ”ethnicity” in defining phenomena prevailing in society. • How can one overcome the use of derogatory terms, such as ”tribe”, given that they are today also used in daily language and as administrative category in many African countries? • Discuss the concepts of ”tribe” and ”ethnicity” in relation to citizenship and democratic rights and the rule of law.