How ‘Enduring Family Bonds’ Are Made : Insights from Fulɓe Kinship Enterprises in Northern Benin

Titelangaben

Martin, Jeannett:
How ‘Enduring Family Bonds’ Are Made : Insights from Fulɓe Kinship Enterprises in Northern Benin.
In: Köllner, Tobias (Hrsg.): Family Firms and Business Families in Cross-Cultural Perspective : Bringing Anthropology Back In. - Cham, Schweiz : Springer Nature Switzerland AG , 2023 . - S. 25-55
ISBN 978-3-031-20524-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20525-5_2

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Abstract

This chapter examines current processes of family formation in agro-pastoral Fulɓe ‘kinship enterprises’ in Northern Benin based on empirical data from six field research stays in Northern Benin between 2009 and 2021. Rather than starting from the assumption that descent and marriage form the base of Fulɓe families, I argue that people in in these socio-economic units initiate their family projects and uphold the idea of enduring bonds of relatedness in historically and context-specific ways, that is, through ritualized practices during ceremonial acts, by taking marriage decisions, through daily care work for humans and more-than-humans and through the transfer of rights over cattle. Such a processual and holistic approach to the study of kinship and family allows for understanding the ‘family’ projects in kinship enterprises as the result of particular historical-political contexts, of specific social practices, of ongoing processes of kinning and of their constant negotiations.