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NOURISHING A STATELESS SOCIETY DURING THE SLAVE TRADE: THE RISE OF BALANTA PADDY-RICE PRODUCTION IN GUINEA-BISSAU

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2001

WALTER HAWTHORNE
WALTER HAWTHORNE
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Abstract

This essay examines the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on stateless societies, focusing on Balanta populations of present-day Guinea-Bissau. It demonstrates that some decentralized groups located on the ‘slaving frontiers’ of states managed not only to survive but also to thrive. In so doing, it shows how Balanta changed their settlement patterns and crop production techniques in response to threats posed by the slave raiding armies of Kaabu. From the mid-seventeenth century, Balanta produced and traded large quantities of paddy rice by organizing workers into age grades.

Keywords

Guinea-Bissauslave tradeagriculturedecentralized societies
Type
Decentralized Societies and the Slave Trade
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , March 2001 , pp. 1 - 24
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

With great appreciation, I wish to acknowledge the Fulbright IIE Program for a fellowship that funded research for this project. Special thanks also to three anonymous readers for their comments.