‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali
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‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali. / Pelckmans, Lotte.
In: The Journal of African History, Vol. 53, No. 2, 01.07.2012, p. 235-255.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali
AU - Pelckmans, Lotte
PY - 2012/7/1
Y1 - 2012/7/1
N2 - This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and ‘mixed descent’ (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal slavery. Rather than social status per se, it is internal hierarchies within social status groups which defined a person's options for movement. Second, the mobile trajectories of people with royal slave status tended to be intertwined with and depend on the movements of their patrons. Although these dependent forms of migration hardly ever changed their social status, they improved their economic condition considerably.
AB - This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and ‘mixed descent’ (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal slavery. Rather than social status per se, it is internal hierarchies within social status groups which defined a person's options for movement. Second, the mobile trajectories of people with royal slave status tended to be intertwined with and depend on the movements of their patrons. Although these dependent forms of migration hardly ever changed their social status, they improved their economic condition considerably.
KW - West Africa
KW - Mali
KW - Slavery
KW - Abolition
KW - Generations
KW - life history
KW - Emancipation
KW - Migration
U2 - 10.1017/S0021853712000400
DO - 10.1017/S0021853712000400
M3 - Journal article
VL - 53
SP - 235
EP - 255
JO - Journal of African History
JF - Journal of African History
SN - 0021-8537
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 201433319