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Gold Trading Networks and the Creation of Trust: A Case Study from Northern Benin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Tilo Grätz
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Abstract

The paper provides insights into an illicit trading system and explores the logics that contribute to its proliferation. It joins the literature on informal trading networks and revises conventional wisdom about what is necessary to sustain them. Gold traders have established intricate webs of relations based on personal dyadic affiliations. These extended networks are very heterogeneous, involving a multitude of actors, spanning regional, ethnic and social categories. Unlike many other examples in the anthropological literature, the gold trade is not a business carried out by members of a single ethnic group. Yet, explanation is required as to why, despite this heterogeneity, confidence between all actors is created, particularly in this case where there is no legal recourse when informal contracts are broken. I argue that a patron–client system of risk-sharing at various economic levels is the basis both for economic rationales and cohesion among all actors.

Résumé

Cet article apporte un éclairage sur un système de commerce illicite et étudie la logique qui contribue à sa prolifération. Il participe à la littérature sur les réseaux commerciaux informels et révise l'opinion conventionnelle sur ce qui est nécessaire à leur maintien. Les marchands d'or ont mis en place des écheveaux complexes de relations basés sur des liens dyadiques personnels. Ces réseaux étendus sont très hétérogènes, faisant intervenir une multitude d'acteurs de toutes catégories régionales, ethniques et sociales. Contrairement à de nombreux autres exemples cités dans la littérature anthropologique, le commerce de l'or n'est pas une activité menée par les membres d'un seul groupe ethnique. Il reste à expliquer pourquoi, malgré cette hétérogénéité, il se crée une confiance entre l'ensemble des acteurs, notamment dans le cas présent où il n'existe aucun recours juridique en cas de rupture de contrat informel. L'article soutient qu'un système fournisseur-client de partage de risques à divers niveaux économiques constitue la base de la logique économique et de la cohésion entre l'ensemble des acteurs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , May 2004 , pp. 146 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2004

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