Dit artikel onderzoekt de grenzen van de bruikbaarheid van het door Mary Douglas ontwikkelde 'grid-group' model aan de hand van het voorbeeld van de ontwikkeling van puriteinse (antihekserij)... Show moreDit artikel onderzoekt de grenzen van de bruikbaarheid van het door Mary Douglas ontwikkelde 'grid-group' model aan de hand van het voorbeeld van de ontwikkeling van puriteinse (antihekserij) bewegingen in Malawi. De auteur stelt, dat de rehabilitatie van het individu als actief, handelend en manipulatief subject, waarmee Douglas in de jaren tachtig haar model verfijnde, onvoldoende is om veranderingsprocessen te kunnen verklaren. Wat ontbreekt is een notie van macht zoals Michel Foucault die heeft ontwikkeld. De centrale vraag van het artikel is op welke wijze er, gegeven het bestaan van bepaalde sociale controle-mechanismen in de samenleving, veranderende percepties van bewegingsvrijheid c.q. disciplinering op gang kunnen komen, gericht op het individuele lid van de samenleving. De winst van de benaderingen van Douglas en Foucault wordt vergeleken voor een analyse van bewegingen zoals de Abadwa Mwatsopano (Wedergeborenen) in Malawi. Hoewel men vanwege de preoccupatie in dergelijke bewegingen met reiniging de bruikbaarheid van Douglas' theorie‰n zou verwachten, blijkt Foucault's concept van een 'technology of the self' meer verklaring te kunnen bieden. Bibliogr., noten Show less
As labour migration to South Africa is a pronounced feature of Swazi society, its impact on Swazi society is substantial. This paper examines what labour migration means to the social security... Show moreAs labour migration to South Africa is a pronounced feature of Swazi society, its impact on Swazi society is substantial. This paper examines what labour migration means to the social security role of the Swazi rural homestead. By discussing the relationship between labour migration and the conditions which determine whether or not a social group can act as a solidarity group (viz. the size of a social group, its composition, its durability, its capacity to raise means, and the existence of a 'normative insurance'), the author estimates the impact of labour migration on the rural homestead in its capacity as a solidarity group. For this purpose he compares a group of homesteads with migrants in South Africa and a group of homesteads without. Data are derived from a 1990 survey among 115 rural homesteads situated on Swazi Nation Land. The author shows that the impact of labour migration differs according to the type of homestead. As a solidarity group, homesteads in the establishment and expansion stage are far more affected by labour migration than homesteads in other stages of the developmental cycle (viz. consolidation, fission, decline). Show less
This paper examines how poor members of Fulbe society, a group of agropastoralists in the Sahel, central Mali, are surviving after two decades of environmental disaster. The focus is on the... Show moreThis paper examines how poor members of Fulbe society, a group of agropastoralists in the Sahel, central Mali, are surviving after two decades of environmental disaster. The focus is on the Jalloube of the Hayre in central Mali. Social security relations and institutions based on Islam seem to be becoming more important for these people, who are not sufficiently supported anymore by 'traditional' social security mechanisms. Islam has a long history in the Hayre, as have its institutions such as 'zakat' (the basis of the Islamic principle of charity), Koranic schools and networks of Moodibaabe (Islamic scholars). The harsh circumstances in which the Jalloube live have given new values and importance to these institutions and to social relations based on Islam: new networks based on Islam are being explored; 'zakat' has become much more an institution directed at alleviating poverty and is replacing other obligatory kinship-based gift relations; Islamic knowledge and the status related to it open up new possibilities of survival. Fieldwork for this study was carried out in 1990-1992 in the 'cercle' Douentza. Show less
