‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali. / Pelckmans, Lotte.

In: The Journal of African History, Vol. 53, No. 2, 01.07.2012, p. 235-255.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Pelckmans, L 2012, '‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali', The Journal of African History, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 235-255. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853712000400

APA

Pelckmans, L. (2012). ‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali. The Journal of African History, 53(2), 235-255. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853712000400

Vancouver

Pelckmans L. ‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali. The Journal of African History. 2012 Jul 1;53(2):235-255. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853712000400

Author

Pelckmans, Lotte. / ‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali. In: The Journal of African History. 2012 ; Vol. 53, No. 2. pp. 235-255.

Bibtex

@article{6068db59b7604b6da21927db3a2ceeaa,
title = "{\textquoteleft}Having a Road{\textquoteright}: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali",
abstract = "This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and {\textquoteleft}mixed descent{\textquoteright} (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal slavery. Rather than social status per se, it is internal hierarchies within social status groups which defined a person's options for movement. Second, the mobile trajectories of people with royal slave status tended to be intertwined with and depend on the movements of their patrons. Although these dependent forms of migration hardly ever changed their social status, they improved their economic condition considerably.",
keywords = "West Africa, Mali, Slavery, Abolition, Generations, life history, Emancipation, Migration",
author = "Lotte Pelckmans",
year = "2012",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1017/S0021853712000400",
language = "English",
volume = "53",
pages = "235--255",
journal = "Journal of African History",
issn = "0021-8537",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘Having a Road’: Social and Spatial Mobility of Persons of Slave and Mixed descent in Post-independance Central Mali

AU - Pelckmans, Lotte

PY - 2012/7/1

Y1 - 2012/7/1

N2 - This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and ‘mixed descent’ (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal slavery. Rather than social status per se, it is internal hierarchies within social status groups which defined a person's options for movement. Second, the mobile trajectories of people with royal slave status tended to be intertwined with and depend on the movements of their patrons. Although these dependent forms of migration hardly ever changed their social status, they improved their economic condition considerably.

AB - This article examines the migration trajectories of individuals of slave descent and ‘mixed descent’ (children of slave concubines) in a royal family network from the Haayre region of central Mali. Focusing on the twentieth century, it considers the extent to which social status has defined options for mobility within this network. Its argument is twofold. First, it shows that attention should be paid not only to the slave/free divide but also to subtler hierarchical nuances such as mixed descent and royal slavery. Rather than social status per se, it is internal hierarchies within social status groups which defined a person's options for movement. Second, the mobile trajectories of people with royal slave status tended to be intertwined with and depend on the movements of their patrons. Although these dependent forms of migration hardly ever changed their social status, they improved their economic condition considerably.

KW - West Africa

KW - Mali

KW - Slavery

KW - Abolition

KW - Generations

KW - life history

KW - Emancipation

KW - Migration

U2 - 10.1017/S0021853712000400

DO - 10.1017/S0021853712000400

M3 - Journal article

VL - 53

SP - 235

EP - 255

JO - Journal of African History

JF - Journal of African History

SN - 0021-8537

IS - 2

ER -

ID: 201433319