Ritual, Power, and Outside Knowledge1

Bibliographic Data

ID3932228
AuthorsSandra T Barne, Sandra T Barnes (1University of Pennsylvania U.S.A., corresponding author)
Year1990
Volume20
Issue3
Pages248-268
Publication date1990-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religion in Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4200 • E-ISSN: 1570-0666
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/157006690x00169
OpenAlexW2042177130
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited5

This essay focuses on the relationship between ritual, power, and outside knowledge, with two goals in mind. The one is to demonstrate that outside knowledge was an important aspect of the religious-political systems of pre-colonial West Africa. The other is to suggest that the bearers of outside knowledge-the outsiders themselves-often used advantages gained from their introduction of new religious ideas and practices to secure central positions in the political affairs of their adopted communities. The outsider, then, is a potential agent of change. Like adding to a gene pool, the presence of outsiders in a community adds to the pool of knowledge-to the cultural mix-that exists among its inhabitants.2 Unless individuals make their presence felt, however, the particular knowledge they have by virtue of coming from a different place may go untapped. Therefore, one must raise the important question of how outsiders actually influence an alien community. The answer, of course, is linked to power. In pre-colonial African societies, the outsider-excluding conquering groups or large communities of exiles-was conventionally viewed as deprived of rights of citizenship and hence rights to perform roles in public bodies.3 Outsiders were seen as marginal people who occupied the bottom of an ascriptively-defined social hierarchy. Status, and therefore citizenship, derived from membership in kinship groups. Slaves entered a new community with no identity; they were incorporated into kin groups as the least equal members having the fewest rights but the most obligations. Alien wives entered their husbands' communities with no local kin group idenltity (or its support) and hence they were dependent on their husbands' kinspeople, through whom their rights and duties were defined. Similarly, refugees and other types of clients entered a new community without the support of kinsmen; they, too, were depen

Aesthetics · Alien · Citizenship · Colonialism · Environmental ethics · Hierarchy · Identity (music) · Kinship · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Virtue · African history and culture analysis · Anthropology · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub