The question of caste in West Africa with special reference to Tukulor craftsmen

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Abstract

This paper has two analytical purposes in discussing the question of caste in West Africa. First, a general case is made for a "culturological" rather than a "sociological" view of caste; i.e., the consideration of indigenous conceptions of why "caste" groups are considered different from one another. Second an in-depth ethnographic investigation of local conceptions of caste among Tukulor or Pulaar speakers is presented, and it argues that caste today is better conceived as an indigenous discourse of difference than as a particular type of social organisation. Moreover, this discourse of alterity or difference is symbolically elaborated in terms of bodies of knowledge and competing systems of power, as well as with reference to racial distinction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)149-165
Number of pages17
JournalAnthropos
Volume95
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2000

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