Regional and Village Economic Activities
Prosperity and Stagnation in Luapula, Zambia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2594569 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karla Poewe (corresponding author), Karla O Poewe |
| Year | 1979 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 77 |
| Publication date | 1979-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Studies Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-0206 • E-ISSN: 1555-2462 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/523814 |
| OpenAlex | W2112455252 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 3 |
In this paper three interrelated topics are examined: First, the conflicts and strains prevalent in a matrilineal society are described. It is argued that these conflicts are the result of a central structural contradiction inherent in matriliny, namely, that between relations of production, which are individualistic in nature, and distribution processes, which involve social relationships that are communalistic in character. The contradiction results primarily from matrilineal inheritance practices which ensure that all wealth accrues to the matrilineage. Since spouses belong to different lineages and since the fruit of their labor cannot be inherited by affines, nuclear and bilateral extended family members do not cooperate nor invest in family or larger cooperative enterprises. As a result, Luapulans have become individual producers. Second, the impact of the industrial-market system on the preexisting tensions is described. Specifically, it is argued that the contradiction in matriliny fosters a rural class structure and a capitalist route to rural development. The wealthy, who find the matrilineal distributive justice (Poewe, 1978) in conflict with their desire to accumulate capital for purposes of reinvestment, have disengaged from matriliny and adopted Protestant ideologies to justify and further their business interests. By contrast, the poor, who find that matrilineal inheritance holds out the hope of receiving initial endowments, continue to support matriliny because they see in it the means to propel them along the path of private enterprise
Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic stagnation · Economics · Geography · Political science · Politics · Prosperity · Socioeconomics · Law · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion
Mobile workers, modernist narratives
‘We are not just a union, we are a family’ class, kinship and tribe in Zambia’s mining unions
Mobile workers, modernist narratives. a critique of the historiography of transition on the Zambian Copperbelt [part two]
Understanding rural Zambia today
A subsistence society under pressure
Marriage, descent and kinship
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 1980 - 2020 (41) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |