This article aims to contribute to the definition of some analytical coordinates in the study of African hereditary groups of occupational specialists. The argument develops from historical and ethnographic research on the Gaboye groups settled in the northwestern Somali territories. After decades of widespread usage by both colonial officers and scholars of the concept of caste for African low-status occupational specialists, some authors have criticized as inappropriate the migration of this concept from the Indian subcontinent. In this article, I argue that, if not used as a classificatory tool, the concept of caste stimulates a fruitful dialogue between different analytical traditions. I focus on two platforms of analytical exchange: the distinction between status hierarchy and power distribution within systems of social stratification, and the intertwined trajectories of transformation and persistence of symbolic and material forms of marginalization.

Vitturini, E. (2020). Caste, Hierarchy, and Social Change: Tools for the Study of the Gaboye of Somaliland and African Hereditary Groups of Occupational Specialists. AFRICA TODAY, 67(1), 3-23 [10.2979/africatoday.67.1.02].

Caste, Hierarchy, and Social Change: Tools for the Study of the Gaboye of Somaliland and African Hereditary Groups of Occupational Specialists

Vitturini, E
2020

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the definition of some analytical coordinates in the study of African hereditary groups of occupational specialists. The argument develops from historical and ethnographic research on the Gaboye groups settled in the northwestern Somali territories. After decades of widespread usage by both colonial officers and scholars of the concept of caste for African low-status occupational specialists, some authors have criticized as inappropriate the migration of this concept from the Indian subcontinent. In this article, I argue that, if not used as a classificatory tool, the concept of caste stimulates a fruitful dialogue between different analytical traditions. I focus on two platforms of analytical exchange: the distinction between status hierarchy and power distribution within systems of social stratification, and the intertwined trajectories of transformation and persistence of symbolic and material forms of marginalization.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Caste; hierarchy; occupational groups; Africa; Somali territories; Somaliland; Gaboye
English
2020
67
1
3
23
none
Vitturini, E. (2020). Caste, Hierarchy, and Social Change: Tools for the Study of the Gaboye of Somaliland and African Hereditary Groups of Occupational Specialists. AFRICA TODAY, 67(1), 3-23 [10.2979/africatoday.67.1.02].
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/297422
Citazioni
  • Scopus 1
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
Social impact