Burkina Faso: Fences Come Alive - Book Report/Review Example

Ethnography This paper encompasses a discussion of Charles Piot's Kabre Village ethnography, Remotely Global (1999). More specifically this discussion entails an examination of what Piot contends in the ethnography regarding modern and global factors as well as colonial and postcolonial history. In his ethnography, Piot argues that contemporary Kabre Village life is an effect of the modern and the global. As such, he suggests that Kabre culture is shaped as much by colonial and postcolonial history as by anything "indigenous" or local. Kabre Village: In order to examine Piot's ethnography and the questions it raises an understanding of the Kabre (Kavre) people and villages is necessary. An understanding of the Kabre is necessary because it enlightens and opens up new and different perspectives that will aid in the determination of what shaped their culture. The villages of modern Kabre in West Africa appear to be very remote. They are based in northern Togo and possess all of the classic notions an individual has about a remote village of African culture. Remote in the sense they exist on subsistence farming have straw roofs on their houses and perform rituals to the spirits. They appear to be very simple people living very simple lives. Piot's argument is that this village life is in fact and effect of the modern and the global. Piot's tenets require further contemplation and support and that will be the basis for this discussion. In his ethnography, Piot proposes, "Kabre culture is shaped as much by colonial and postcolonial history as by anything "indigenous" or local." (1999) He supports his premise by analyzing the daily practices of the Kabre villagers. These daily practices encompassed both their social; and ceremonial activities. He used this analysis to compare modernity with traditional activities of the Kabre villagers. In his observations and analysis, Piot shows how the Kabre villagers have blended tradition with moderninity. He also illustrates how the tradition of the local interweaves with both the global and the national. Piot provides an example to support his premise about the interweaving of traditional and modern. The example he uses is a good example that clearly supports his tenets on the Kabre villagers and their lifestyle. To iterate his point Piot gives the example using the president of Togo's Kabre. The president regularly uses a helicopter to fly to this region to witness male initiation ceremonies. This is clearly an example of a traditional ceremony of male ritual and the president's use of a helicopter for transportation is clearly an indication of moderninity. Piot's example describes the appropriation of tradition at the state level and describes many other examples similar to this to add credence to his premise. Piot profoundly illustrates how Kabre is a culture shaped by both a modern world and one of tradition. His tenets at some points confuse anthropological theorizations and the State Department's stereotyped images of African village life, However by doing this he reiterates what he postulates about the Kabre because they are a perplexing combination of all of these. Piot's objective was to show how "Euroamerican theories that fail to come to terms with the fluidity of everyday relations in a society where persons and things are forever in motion." (The University of Chicago Press 2004) Tradition and Modernity: It could be argued that Piot's observations occur in every culture across the globe. An example of this would be the Roman Catholic Religion. The religion dates back for centuries and the ceremonies practiced by the Roman Catholics are very true to tradition. This same premise could include Orthodox Jews and a plethora of other religions and the ceremonies performed by the worshippers. However, although moderninity is very a part of a Roman Catholic's life they are not viewed as rural or indigenous people that simply adhere to tradition when they practice their religion. Whereas Piot's observation saw these people as a more complex culture than they are viewed as or presented by the state as. The Kabre live under the stereotype of an indigenous West African. This is what differs them from a Roman Catholic who adheres to their tradition while indulging in the benefits of modernity. The Western Culture has a lot to do with how these stereotypes of the African people endure through time and how perspectives about them do not falter through time. This is the significance of Piot's postulation because in essence, he is right and his observations are correct. The Kabre live a life that ha been changed by modernity and global aspects but they are still heavily influenced by tradition and colonial thought. An example of the traditional Kabre can be seen in the case of Kabre Oumarou a 27-year-old farmer. He lives with his wife and child in the village of Konki Ilpala, 37 kilometres west of the capital, Ouagadougou. Animal browsing is a major threat to dry season farmers in his area and most of West Africa. This is because livestock is allowed to roam freely during the dry season to find water. The dry season farmers use water to irrigate their crops and in this case Oumarou had two. His crops consist of an array of vegetables of which he sells 80% at the market and the remaining crop feeds his family. These are all traditional norms for the Kabre villagers and farmers that make up the town. Traditionally, Kabre protected his dry-season garden from browsing animals by constructing fences from dead woody material, barbed wire and crop residues. Such fences have big disadvantages: they must be reconstructed every year, the need for wood encourages the cutting of trees that this arid landscape can ill afford to lose, and the removal of crop residues from fields leaves soils exposed and vulnerable to erosion and nutrient mining, or loss of nutrients that the residues would normally return to the soil. Nor can subsistence farmers like Kabre afford to buy barbed wire. (Center for research in Agroforestry 2005) The way that the young farmer resolved the dilemma is an example of moderninity because he broke traditional He opted to attempt to break away from the "traditional practice of using a 'dead' fence to protect his market garden, and linked up with the Institut de Recherche en Biologie et Ecologie Tropicale (IRBET)-ICRAF Collaborative Agroforestry Project. According to Mamadou Djimde and Elias Ayuk," (Center for research Agroforestry 2005) ICRAF researchers have been developing and testing 'live' fences in the dry lands of West Africa for sometime. This is clearly another indication of moderninity and global practices becoming part of the culture and tradition. However, the original intention was to occupy farmers like Kabre in an exploratory on-farm trial to see how well the technology worked and to see whether live fences appealed to farmers. "In July 1993, Kabre spent 2.5 days digging the trench for a live fence that would encircle his garden, with its perimeter of 275 metres. In consultation with the researchers, he planted 4 species that scientists have been testing in the region: Acacia nilotica, Ziziphus mauritiana, Acacia senegal and Bauhinia rufescens." (Center for research Agroforestry 2005) The project provided seed for these species, but he produced the plants himself. Two years later, Kabre successfully broke tradition and the proud owner of an impenetrable live fence. Kabre has been able to add an additional cropping period in his off-season gardening and to increase the area of his market garden. He says he has been able to do this because he no longer needs to spend so much time, 7-10 days, looking for dead material for a fence. Asked if he likes the Agroforestry technology, Kabre replied, 'How else should I feel when it provides me 30 000 or 50 000 FCFA (USD 60 or 100) extra per season over when it was a dead fence' (Center for research Agroforestry) What is most interesting about this example is that news about the live fences got out and farmers around the countryside are interested. In addition it is an obvious example of how, although traditional, the farmers and other villagers are breaking away from the traditional and embracing technology and moderninity and global concepts and practices. Conclusion: In conclusion it can be said that Piot's observations were correct and he bought a new perspective to how people look at the Kabre Villagers. They are indigenous to the land and to the traditions but as Piot illustrated they are welcoming moderninity and global practices to their culture. It is possible that they have used moderninity and global concepts along and that is what has shaped the culture that exists there today.. Piot's ethnography successfully argues that moderninity and global have intertwine into his culture and shaped it to where it is today. As was seen in the example of the president that took the helicopter to witness traditional ceremonies. However the example of the live fence shows that the villagers make decisions and choose to embrace moderninity and global on their own with no intervention of the state. Piot presents observations and interviews from very angle and he does so successfully. His argument that moderninity and global have helped define this culture, in my opinion is correct and well supported by the observations... Works Cited Center for research in Agroforestry. "Burkina Faso: Fences 'come alive'" (2005) as viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://chemsrv0.pph.univie.ac.at/ska/zifence.htm Piot, Charles. Remotely Global. Village Modernity in West Africa. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999. The University of Chicago Press. "Remotely global" (2004) As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13800.ctl Read More