Pulaaku in Action: Words at Work in Wodaabe Clan Politics

Abstract

Using microscopic analysis, this article explores how notions of morality, identity, and social conduct were used in the negotiation of group relations among the pastoral Wodaabe of southeastern Niger. Two of their clans met in 2004 to discuss whether certain breaches of norms should lead to their fission or whether they should stay united under a pact of disregard for state law and authority. The latter option would preserve a domain of inter-clan affairs beneath notice and, hence, interference of state authorities. Analysis of a transcript of actual conversation between the participants of the clan meeting shows how the use of verbalized norms and values was constitutive of the social situation, the negotiation process, and its outcome. This episode of clan politics was related to the general political situation in Niger and the challenges it provided for Wodaabe pastoral life. (Wodaabe, Fulani, segmentary lineage, dispute and negotiation, verbal interaction, Niger)