Gramsci in and beyond resistances: The search for an autonomous political initiative among a subaltern group in the Beninese savanna

Stemming from a Gramscian approach, this article engages with the anthropological debate about subaltern groups’ forms of resistance by using the case of marginalized Fulani groups of pastoral and nomadic origins in northwest Benin. Their experiences seemingly confirm contemporary theories on resist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Focaal 2018-12, Vol.2018 (82), p.49-63
Main Author: Ciavolella, Riccardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Capitalism
Ethics
Ethnography
Exploitation
Gramsci, Antonio (1891-1937)
Hegemony
Initiatives
Marginality
Minority groups
Moral economy
Nomads
Political philosophy
Politics
Resistance
Scott, James C
Smith, Gavin
Social activism
Social exclusion
Subaltern identities
Theory
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Summary:Stemming from a Gramscian approach, this article engages with the anthropological debate about subaltern groups’ forms of resistance by using the case of marginalized Fulani groups of pastoral and nomadic origins in northwest Benin. Their experiences seemingly confirm contemporary theories on resistance, which emphasize subaltern people’s capacities to tactically circumvent exploitation and exclusion and to handle contradictions between different “moral economies.” Nevertheless, one should question the impact of small-scale reactions that remain on the infrapolitical level and the emancipatory role that political theories give to tactical forms of resistance of dispersed subjectivities while refusing collective strategies. Grounding Gramscian theories in ethnography, this article wonders about the possibilities and limits of margins to turn into the scene of an “autonomous political initiative” of a subaltern group.
ISSN:0920-1297
1558-5263
DOI:10.3167/fcl.2018.820104