Born into Bondage? Iklan Lives along the Rural-Urban continuum (Tuareg, Sahel)

Oxby, Clare (2020). Born into Bondage? Iklan Lives along the Rural-Urban continuum (Tuareg, Sahel). Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 10(1-2), pp. 128-160. Routledge. Taylor and Francis Group 10.1080/21619441.2020.1833522

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This article considers the predicament of a low-status Tuareg woman living close by her former master’s family in rural central Niger in 2010; for the family, she maintained the status of taklit ("slave descendant", feminine singular of "iklan"), somewhere along the spectrum between paid family servant and domestic slave. Analysis focuses on why she and so many like her have not managed to improve their life chances by moving to town, despite the Nigérien ban on slavery. Relevant factors include her lack of a family support network, the continued impact of prejudice against former slaves, a fear of possibly worsening her economic standing via such a move, and the strong moral compulsion of ordained gender roles in Sahelian cities. Former mistresses/masters also resisted the departure of women like her from wealthy herding households because of their housework contribution and their crucial role in producing the next generation of workers.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Social Anthropology

UniBE Contributor:

Oxby, Clare

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

ISSN:

2161-9468

Publisher:

Routledge. Taylor and Francis Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Clare Oxby

Date Deposited:

25 Jan 2021 15:22

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:41

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/21619441.2020.1833522

Additional Information:

Published online

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Niger; Sahel; Tuareg; Iklan; social status; post-slavery; gender; children's rights

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/147753

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/147753

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