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tiv_spheres_of_exchange [2014/07/16 21:30] – Ryan Schram (admin)tiv_spheres_of_exchange [2014/07/16 21:31] – Ryan Schram (admin)
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 # Tiv spheres of exchange # # Tiv spheres of exchange #
  
-The Tiv people of northern Nigeria organize their local system of exchanges into separate spheres. While Tiv people regularly exchange with each other, not every objects can be exchanged for any other object, and each exchange is conducted in a certain manner and only with certain people. The model of spheres of exchange is an attempt by Paul Bohannan (1955) to explain these rules. +The Tiv people of northern Nigeria organize their local system of exchanges into separate spheres. While Tiv people regularly exchange with each other, not every objects can be exchanged for any other object, and each exchange is conducted in a certain manner and only with certain people. The model of spheres of exchange is an attempt by Paul Bohannan (1955) to explain these rules. Basically the spheres are:  
 + 
 +^ Sphere ^ Items                                        ^ 
 +| I      | Women as wives                               | 
 +| II     | Brass rods, *tugudu* cloth, slaves           | 
 +| III    | Foodstuffs, utensils, chickens, goats, tools |
  
 The first sphere of exchange applies to objects of subsistence, foodstuffs, some livestock, some tools, and utensils. Tiv consider this to be the most open form of exchange, and use a word which can be translated as 'market.' Anyone can exchange products with anyone, and once the transaction is complete, the two parties need not have anything to do with one another. Notably, Tiv prefer not to 'market' with friends and kin, because it interferes with the social role they have to play in this situation. The second sphere of exchange concerns exchanges of prestigious items, such as white, woven //tugudu// cloth and brass rods. These cannot simply be exchanged in 'market' trade. They can only be exchanged for each other and for similarly prestigious items. In this category also once fell slaves. Slaves could not be bought and sold for food, but rights to the labor of a slave could be transferred in exchange for a certain amount of brass rods and cloth. The final sphere of exchange is not what one would normally consider part of the domain of economy or transaction. The third sphere is the sphere of marriage. Tiv frown upon marriage by purchase, or brideprice, or dowry for that matter. A good marriage is when a woman marries a man of another kin group, goes to live with that group, and then later her husband's sister or other female member of his group goes to marry one of the wife's brothers. In other words, marriage is ideally an exchange between groups and people are the gifts. But unlike the second sphere, in which people can be exchanged for objects, marriages can only result from a relationship of exchange in which one person is substituted for one person.  The first sphere of exchange applies to objects of subsistence, foodstuffs, some livestock, some tools, and utensils. Tiv consider this to be the most open form of exchange, and use a word which can be translated as 'market.' Anyone can exchange products with anyone, and once the transaction is complete, the two parties need not have anything to do with one another. Notably, Tiv prefer not to 'market' with friends and kin, because it interferes with the social role they have to play in this situation. The second sphere of exchange concerns exchanges of prestigious items, such as white, woven //tugudu// cloth and brass rods. These cannot simply be exchanged in 'market' trade. They can only be exchanged for each other and for similarly prestigious items. In this category also once fell slaves. Slaves could not be bought and sold for food, but rights to the labor of a slave could be transferred in exchange for a certain amount of brass rods and cloth. The final sphere of exchange is not what one would normally consider part of the domain of economy or transaction. The third sphere is the sphere of marriage. Tiv frown upon marriage by purchase, or brideprice, or dowry for that matter. A good marriage is when a woman marries a man of another kin group, goes to live with that group, and then later her husband's sister or other female member of his group goes to marry one of the wife's brothers. In other words, marriage is ideally an exchange between groups and people are the gifts. But unlike the second sphere, in which people can be exchanged for objects, marriages can only result from a relationship of exchange in which one person is substituted for one person. 
tiv_spheres_of_exchange.txt · Last modified: 2022/08/15 20:42 by Ryan Schram (admin)