Abstract
The data used in this chapter were gathered during a series of interdisciplinary surveys performed in Guinea-Conakry between 2003 and 2005. The population of this region is multi-ethnic with a deep-rooted history that has modelled the relations existing between the groups, each of which is a distinct model: Peul, Nalu, Diakhanke. For instance, whereas for the other ethnic groups, the diversification of activities is conceived at individual level, this is done more at the household level for the Diakanke. This therefore obeys a family economic rationale and the individuals of the household are not independent of the head of the family who receives money from abroad and fulfils a religious role. Indeed, households do not have the same resources (access to land, migratory networks, relations with religious and modern knowledge), nor do they exploit the same types of economic activity, while social organisation is based on different values which form their ethnic ethos. Thus households develop a specific relationship with their environment and project themselves into the future in diverse ways, demonstrated by their investment strategies. A cycle of pauperisation affects the groups of rice growers, whereas the ethnic groups less involved in farming benefit from the wealth they generate, gradually leading to relations of domination between ethnic groups.
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Notes
- 1.
Joking kinship is a type of social relation codified by the custom which allows members of two potentially socially antagonistic groups (castes, ethnic groups, family groups) to mock each other without them being offended and without it resulting in open conflicts. This practice structures social relations in many Western African societies.
- 2.
The number of children per woman is calculated from the number of births declared by the women answering the questionnaires. These women were from 15 to 59 years old. It is the average offspring reached by the women at the time of the survey. Our denominator here only takes into account women having already had at least one child.
- 3.
Net rate of education calculated by Balde (2004).
- 4.
93 Peuhl men were questioned when administering the questionnaires.
- 5.
In West Africa the word “compound” is used to define the habitat of a household grouping several cabins surrounded by a palisade. Usually, visitors do not enter inside this area without announcing themselves loudly by offering salutations.
- 6.
Here, we speak of boys, since whatever the case, girls receive little education due to their specific status in the family.
- 7.
Karamoko is a Peuhl word meaning school master.
- 8.
To give an order of magnitude, at the time of the survey, a 50 kg sack of rice, i.e; the weekly food required for a household of twenty people, was sold for 25,000 Guinean francs.
- 9.
We call a unit a group composed of a man, his wife or wives, and his children.
- 10.
A tontine is a common fund to which the members of a community subscribe. Financial support using the money gathered is given to members in need.
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Petit, V., Godard-Marceau, A. (2018). Socioeconomic Strategies and Ethnic Dynamics in Maritime Guinea. In: Petit, V. (eds) Population Studies and Development from Theory to Fieldwork. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61774-9_4
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