Nahu-kparilim (cattle caretakership): understanding the persistence of unfree Fulani labour and the (non)violent renegotiation of power relations in agrarian economies in northern Ghana

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on how Fulani outsider status, often maintained through several generations, constitutes the basis for unequal labour, land and associated relations. It discusses how static forms of ‘fixed’ citizenship and socioeconomic immobility both maintain and intensify labour precarity, rendering the Fulani more vulnerable to the whims, caprices and avarice of their native ‘overlords’, as evidenced by the practice of nahu-kparilim in Ghana. The article’s main interest is thus land and labour injustice rather than pastoral production and related livelihood activities. Integrating the theories of unfreedom, social reproduction and subalternity, the article contributes to unfree labour studies by demonstrating that despite being constrained in complex ways, unfree labourers have the agency to renegotiate power relations. This advances the idea of unfree labourers’ agency which, in comparison to their immiseration, receives less attention in scholarship on unfreedom.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article s'intéresse à la manière dont le statut marginal des Fulanis, souvent maintenu pendant plusieurs générations, constitue le fondement des inégalités en matière de travail, de terres et des relations qui y sont associées. Il examine comment les formes statiques de citoyenneté « fixe » ainsi que l'immobilité socio-économique maintiennent et intensifient la précarité du travail, rendant les Fulanis plus vulnérables aux lubies, caprices et à l'avarice de leurs « suzerains » autochtones, comme le montre la pratique du Nahu-kparilim au Ghana. L'article s'intéresse donc principalement aux injustices liées à la terre et au travail plutôt qu'à la production pastorale et aux activités de subsistance qui y sont liées. En intégrant les théories de la non-liberté, de la reproduction sociale et de la subalternité, l'article contribue aux études sur le travail non-libre en démontrant qu'en dépit de contraintes complexes, les travailleurs non-libres ont la capacité de renégocier les relations de pouvoir. Cela permet de faire progresser l'idée du pouvoir d'action des travailleurs non libres qui, en comparaison avec leur paupérisation, reçoit moins d'attention dans les études sur la non-liberté.

KEYWORDS:

• Unfree labour
• social reproduction
• Fulani herders
• pastoralism
• peasants’ revolt
• subaltern resistance
• resource conflicts

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Travail non-libre
• reproduction sociale
• éleveurs peuls
• pastoralisme
• révolte des paysans
• résistance subalterne
• conflits des ressources

Acknowledgements

My gratitude goes to my research assistant, Mr Majeed Musa, and the research participants in Gushiegu for their willingness to narrate their lived experiences to me. I am also grateful for the invaluable feedback from two anonymous reviewers and the journal handling editor, Dr Reginald Cline-Cole.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Natives, in this context, refers to those Ghanaians whose citizenship is uncontested because they trace their ancestral origin to their village of residence in Ghana and have been or are eligible for a Ghana card, which confirms citizenship.

2 For a detailed examination of literature on this topic, see Benjaminsen and Ba (2009); Olaniyan, Francis, and Okeke-Uzodike (2015); Eke (2020).

3 I am not disclosing his identity since prior approval was not obtained. The meeting was not to seek access approval per se, but I was advised that it is customary for a stranger to inform him of the reason why they are visiting the communities.

4 To maintain confidentiality, the names of the communities where these actions have taken place are not included here.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Surulola Eke

Surulola Eke is Adjunct Assistant Professor and Peacock Fellow in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University, Canada where he teaches African politics, political economy and global climate governance. He has independently and collaboratively authored more than 20 scholarly papers. Dr Eke was a recipient of Canada’s prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020 and is currently a Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar.