Peers-reviews papers by Samuel Lempereur
Slavery & Abolition, 2022
This article analyses the recent evolution of marriage relations between descendants of free and ... more This article analyses the recent evolution of marriage relations between descendants of free and enslaved persons in Benin. It shows that slave ancestry is connected to tenure insecurity. This insecurity arises because land occupied by the descendants of slaves can be claimed by the descendants of the people who owned their ancestors. At the same time, such claims are blunted by intermarriage between these groups, which weakens the position of the descendants of slave-owners. As the memory of the exact arrangements that characterized past marriages between enslaved and freeborn fades away, marriage and kinship ties with descendants of former dependants put pressure on elite landowners to accept a degree of land redistribution in favour of relatives whom they perceive as ranking below themselves. In order to understand land conflicts in the present, it is essential to analyse the mixed-status marriages of the past.
African Economic History, 2020
What can family biographies, life stories and memories of individuals tell us about the sociohist... more What can family biographies, life stories and memories of individuals tell us about the sociohistorical transformations of domestic slavery in Benin? By focusing on the generational dynamics among the Ologoudou, a family of former slaves, this article attempts to shed some light on how economic, social and school trajectories have influenced the situation of descendants of slaves in Benin over the generations. The case of the Ologoudou family, descended from a Yoruba slave who arrived in Ouidah in the mid-nineteenth century, shows that domestic slaves, placed under particular conditions, may have had the capacity to take their fate into their own hands and not only to be passive beings as they are often described.
Civilisation, 2019
Les Agudàs forment une communauté aux origines afro-brésiliennes née dans le sillage de l'esclava... more Les Agudàs forment une communauté aux origines afro-brésiliennes née dans le sillage de l'esclavage atlantique mais aussi domestique. Cet article montre comment l'identité de cette communauté est multiple et parfois paradoxale, et comment elle évolue en fonction du statut des personnes, de leurs histoires familiales et des conceptions de l'époque (mondialisation, revendications identitaires post-coloniales,etc.). Il met principalement en avant deux assises de cette construction identitaire : le lien avec la bourian, mascarade d'origine brésilienne, et le rapport à l'esclavage
Book Chapters by Samuel Lempereur
Whose Future Is Here? Searching For Hospitality In Brussels Northern Quarter, 2019
Book Reviews by Samuel Lempereur
Social Anthropology, 2014
Cahiers d’études africaines, 2018
Lectures , Les comptes rendus, 2015
Lectures [En ligne], Les comptes rendus, 2012
Social Anthropology , 2015
Past Talks by Samuel Lempereur
During the centuries of the slave trade era and afterwards, men and women of the former Dahomey (... more During the centuries of the slave trade era and afterwards, men and women of the former Dahomey (southern Benin), slaves or masters, married each other. Unlike other parts of West Africa, marrying a slave woman was not automatically devaluing. On the contrary, it was even a very widespread royal practice, some queen mothers who were of servile origin remained famous in local history. Today, most of the families of Abomey or Ouidah have in their genealogies a Yoruba or Mahi grandmother, the two main ethnics groups who were victims of the slave raids carried out by the kingdom of Dahomey during the 18th and 19th centuries.
In this region where kinship is patrilineal, marrying a slave man for a free woman was more rare. This type of union poses greater problems, especially in terms of inheritance and control over children. But it wasn't impossible, there are family branches that come from a former male slave of the family. Quite often, this slave had married a daughter of his master.
I would like to show in this paper, based on case studies, how the current situation of some descendants of slaves is directly influenced by marriage a few generations ago. The proliferation of slaves in local genealogies at all levels of society influences the perception of slavery. For example, in some circles, only those who were deported by Westerners can claim to be slaves. And because everyone can claim to be both a descendant of slaves and a descendant of masters, this situation also has an impact on political discourses and official commemorations.
Passés perpétuels, passés en sursis.
Sites et récits commémoratifs des traites esclavagistes
12, ... more Passés perpétuels, passés en sursis.
Sites et récits commémoratifs des traites esclavagistes
12, 13 octobre 2017, Aix-en-Provence
« Des mémoires contrastées : dire l’esclavage à Ouidah et Abomey »
European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), June 2017
Panel : Urban elites and the legacies of... more European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), June 2017
Panel : Urban elites and the legacies of slavery
This presentation seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social relations that occurs between descendants of family slaves and descendants of masters in current Benin and specifically in Ouidah. There, the situation is quite different from the Sahelian region where a lot of recent works (Rossi, Bellagamba, …) were written. In coastal West Africa, slaves tend to be more incorporated in the lineage. This assimilation of former slaves in the main lineage, the idea of "making families" is now deeply rooted in southern Benin.
Ouidah is famous for being one of the largest slave ports in the history of the Atlantic trade. Yet, it is well known that the Atlantic trade also fed domestic slavery in the coastal area. The social structure in Benin is also divided in class or groups, but in contrast with Sahelian countries, this division tend to stuck people less in their social group: a person with noble ancestor can marry another person with slave ancestry, there are no social caste(s) like the blacksmiths among the Mande, etc
This results in a social structure that is more fluid in this respect. In Ouidah, the emancipation of former slaves has gone through different processes such as migration, colonial school or simply the ending of regular relations. Despite their own internal social stratification, some of the most powerful lineages of the 18th and 19th centuries have sometimes reconverted their capital in order to still be prominent today. De Souza family here provides an exemplary case.
Présentation en table ronde lors du séminaire doctoral "Séminaire doctoral du 5 et 7 décembre 201... more Présentation en table ronde lors du séminaire doctoral "Séminaire doctoral du 5 et 7 décembre 2016 autour du travail de Florence Weber", en présence de Florence Weber.
European Doctoral Seminar on the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics.
Copenhague - 1... more European Doctoral Seminar on the Anthropology of Development and Social Dynamics.
Copenhague - 1,2,3 juin 2015
Abstract : The purpose of this seminar presentation for doctoral students is to show with ethnographic examples how domestic slavery, abolished in theory with the colonization of Dahomey, continues to structure many social exchanges among relatives in the city of Abomey.
Conference Presentations by Samuel Lempereur
Hébergement (de l') imprévu, 2019
Poster présenté lors de ARCH (Action-Research Collective for Hospitality) à l'initiative du Metro... more Poster présenté lors de ARCH (Action-Research Collective for Hospitality) à l'initiative du Metrolab (Bruxelles), dans le cadre d'une recherche menée au sein de l'administration à Bruxelles Environnement.
Ce poster esquisse le rôle des gardien-animateurs de parc, comme "street level bureaucrats" envers les migrants, en particulier trans-migrants africains, qui sont présent à Bruxelles depuis quelques années.
Il montre notamment, dans les grandes lignes, le contexte des politiques urbaines qui ont permis l'émergence des gardien-animateurs comme agent de médiation urbaine. Il montre enfin le rôle "imprévu" des gardien-animateurs dans une forme "imprévue" d'hébergement, mettant en valeur l'agentivité de ces derniers et la manière dont ils se projettent dans leurs fonctions et leur métier.
Books by Samuel Lempereur
ARCH (Eds), Whose Future Is Here? Searching For Hospitality In Brussels Northern Quarter, Brussels, Metrolab Series., 2019
ARCH (Action Research Collective for Hospitality) was created in January 2019, in the continuity ... more ARCH (Action Research Collective for Hospitality) was created in January 2019, in the continuity of the work carried out at Metrolab Brussels on the theme of “urban inclusion” with the intention of pursuing observations, analyses and practical considerations on the qualities of hospitality in Brussels’ urban spaces, mainly where this issue seemed most pressing: the Maximilian Park, the North Station, the Northern Quarter (on whose periphery is located the Metrolab studio).
ARCH has gradually been built up through the voluntary involvement of many researchers (academics or not) and practitioners with diverse backgrounds (sociologists, architects, urban planners, artists, activists, anthropologists) in a collective action research project aiming to promote urban hospitality in Brussels, which is a metropolis either crossed and impacted by migration movements. Urban hospitality is understood as the ability of an urban environment to open up and welcome newcomers who come forward ; here more precisely, people in migratory situations occupying different places in the Northern Quarter. Witnessing the deplorable conditions of their extreme reception, vulnerability and distress, ARCH members have come together to highlight their situation and call on the people of Brussels (particularly public authorities, administrations and urban affairs professionals) about our common duty of hospitality and humanity.
The research was developed over a short period of time, in close collaboration with the Citizen’s Platform – which welcomes hundreds of people every day among the 800 migrants and refugees present in this part of the city. The Platform co-defined the lines of the survey with ARCH members according to some of the needs and problems it faced on a daily basis, and contributed to the implementation and progress of research activities, as well as the production of results. We conducted this inquiry using a combination of methods based on collective exploration of the neighbourhood, ethnographic observation and mapping of places of occupation and reception, participation in the work and activities of the Platform, organisation of focus groups, conducting interviews, etc.
Today, we’re publishing the results of this collective research – already exhibited, presented and discussed for the first time at a symposium held in June 2019 – in order to share the knowledge produced with all those interested in this issue, and to challenge the politicians on the hospitality issues facing the Northern Quarter. The Brussels government has recently made available a significant amount of funding to enable the Humanitarian Hub and the Porte d’Ulysse shelter to continue their activities over the next two years, demonstrating in the same way its attention to the challenges of reception and its commitment to a more decent migration policy. However, the problems arising from the presence of migrants in the Northern Quarter and its public spaces remain poorly considered in the field of urban policies. By adopting a socio-spatial perspective on these issues, this book invites us to extend this commitment towards a policy of urban hospitality.
Papers by Samuel Lempereur
Civilisations vol.68, 2019
Les Agudàs forment une communauté aux origines afro-brésiliennes née dans le sillage de l'esclava... more Les Agudàs forment une communauté aux origines afro-brésiliennes née dans le sillage de l'esclavage atlantique mais aussi domestique. Cet article montre comment l'identité de cette communauté est multiple et parfois paradoxale, et comment elle évolue en fonction du statut des personnes, de leurs histoires familiales et des conceptions de l'époque (mondialisation, revendications identitaires post-coloniales,etc.). Il met principalement en avant deux assises de cette construction identitaire : le lien avec la bourian, mascarade d'origine brésilienne, et le rapport à l'esclavage.
The Agudàs are a community of Afro-Brazilian origin established in the wake of both Atlantic and domestic slavery. This article shows how the identity of this community is multiple and sometimes paradoxical, and how it evolves according to people's status, their family histories, and conceptions of the time (globalisation, post-colonial identity claims, etc.). It highlights two main foundations of this identity construction: the link with the Bourian, a masquerade of Brazilian origin; and the relationship with slavery
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Peers-reviews papers by Samuel Lempereur
Book Chapters by Samuel Lempereur
Book Reviews by Samuel Lempereur
Past Talks by Samuel Lempereur
In this region where kinship is patrilineal, marrying a slave man for a free woman was more rare. This type of union poses greater problems, especially in terms of inheritance and control over children. But it wasn't impossible, there are family branches that come from a former male slave of the family. Quite often, this slave had married a daughter of his master.
I would like to show in this paper, based on case studies, how the current situation of some descendants of slaves is directly influenced by marriage a few generations ago. The proliferation of slaves in local genealogies at all levels of society influences the perception of slavery. For example, in some circles, only those who were deported by Westerners can claim to be slaves. And because everyone can claim to be both a descendant of slaves and a descendant of masters, this situation also has an impact on political discourses and official commemorations.
Sites et récits commémoratifs des traites esclavagistes
12, 13 octobre 2017, Aix-en-Provence
« Des mémoires contrastées : dire l’esclavage à Ouidah et Abomey »
Panel : Urban elites and the legacies of slavery
This presentation seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social relations that occurs between descendants of family slaves and descendants of masters in current Benin and specifically in Ouidah. There, the situation is quite different from the Sahelian region where a lot of recent works (Rossi, Bellagamba, …) were written. In coastal West Africa, slaves tend to be more incorporated in the lineage. This assimilation of former slaves in the main lineage, the idea of "making families" is now deeply rooted in southern Benin.
Ouidah is famous for being one of the largest slave ports in the history of the Atlantic trade. Yet, it is well known that the Atlantic trade also fed domestic slavery in the coastal area. The social structure in Benin is also divided in class or groups, but in contrast with Sahelian countries, this division tend to stuck people less in their social group: a person with noble ancestor can marry another person with slave ancestry, there are no social caste(s) like the blacksmiths among the Mande, etc
This results in a social structure that is more fluid in this respect. In Ouidah, the emancipation of former slaves has gone through different processes such as migration, colonial school or simply the ending of regular relations. Despite their own internal social stratification, some of the most powerful lineages of the 18th and 19th centuries have sometimes reconverted their capital in order to still be prominent today. De Souza family here provides an exemplary case.
Copenhague - 1,2,3 juin 2015
Abstract : The purpose of this seminar presentation for doctoral students is to show with ethnographic examples how domestic slavery, abolished in theory with the colonization of Dahomey, continues to structure many social exchanges among relatives in the city of Abomey.
Conference Presentations by Samuel Lempereur
Ce poster esquisse le rôle des gardien-animateurs de parc, comme "street level bureaucrats" envers les migrants, en particulier trans-migrants africains, qui sont présent à Bruxelles depuis quelques années.
Il montre notamment, dans les grandes lignes, le contexte des politiques urbaines qui ont permis l'émergence des gardien-animateurs comme agent de médiation urbaine. Il montre enfin le rôle "imprévu" des gardien-animateurs dans une forme "imprévue" d'hébergement, mettant en valeur l'agentivité de ces derniers et la manière dont ils se projettent dans leurs fonctions et leur métier.
Books by Samuel Lempereur
ARCH has gradually been built up through the voluntary involvement of many researchers (academics or not) and practitioners with diverse backgrounds (sociologists, architects, urban planners, artists, activists, anthropologists) in a collective action research project aiming to promote urban hospitality in Brussels, which is a metropolis either crossed and impacted by migration movements. Urban hospitality is understood as the ability of an urban environment to open up and welcome newcomers who come forward ; here more precisely, people in migratory situations occupying different places in the Northern Quarter. Witnessing the deplorable conditions of their extreme reception, vulnerability and distress, ARCH members have come together to highlight their situation and call on the people of Brussels (particularly public authorities, administrations and urban affairs professionals) about our common duty of hospitality and humanity.
The research was developed over a short period of time, in close collaboration with the Citizen’s Platform – which welcomes hundreds of people every day among the 800 migrants and refugees present in this part of the city. The Platform co-defined the lines of the survey with ARCH members according to some of the needs and problems it faced on a daily basis, and contributed to the implementation and progress of research activities, as well as the production of results. We conducted this inquiry using a combination of methods based on collective exploration of the neighbourhood, ethnographic observation and mapping of places of occupation and reception, participation in the work and activities of the Platform, organisation of focus groups, conducting interviews, etc.
Today, we’re publishing the results of this collective research – already exhibited, presented and discussed for the first time at a symposium held in June 2019 – in order to share the knowledge produced with all those interested in this issue, and to challenge the politicians on the hospitality issues facing the Northern Quarter. The Brussels government has recently made available a significant amount of funding to enable the Humanitarian Hub and the Porte d’Ulysse shelter to continue their activities over the next two years, demonstrating in the same way its attention to the challenges of reception and its commitment to a more decent migration policy. However, the problems arising from the presence of migrants in the Northern Quarter and its public spaces remain poorly considered in the field of urban policies. By adopting a socio-spatial perspective on these issues, this book invites us to extend this commitment towards a policy of urban hospitality.
Papers by Samuel Lempereur
The Agudàs are a community of Afro-Brazilian origin established in the wake of both Atlantic and domestic slavery. This article shows how the identity of this community is multiple and sometimes paradoxical, and how it evolves according to people's status, their family histories, and conceptions of the time (globalisation, post-colonial identity claims, etc.). It highlights two main foundations of this identity construction: the link with the Bourian, a masquerade of Brazilian origin; and the relationship with slavery
In this region where kinship is patrilineal, marrying a slave man for a free woman was more rare. This type of union poses greater problems, especially in terms of inheritance and control over children. But it wasn't impossible, there are family branches that come from a former male slave of the family. Quite often, this slave had married a daughter of his master.
I would like to show in this paper, based on case studies, how the current situation of some descendants of slaves is directly influenced by marriage a few generations ago. The proliferation of slaves in local genealogies at all levels of society influences the perception of slavery. For example, in some circles, only those who were deported by Westerners can claim to be slaves. And because everyone can claim to be both a descendant of slaves and a descendant of masters, this situation also has an impact on political discourses and official commemorations.
Sites et récits commémoratifs des traites esclavagistes
12, 13 octobre 2017, Aix-en-Provence
« Des mémoires contrastées : dire l’esclavage à Ouidah et Abomey »
Panel : Urban elites and the legacies of slavery
This presentation seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social relations that occurs between descendants of family slaves and descendants of masters in current Benin and specifically in Ouidah. There, the situation is quite different from the Sahelian region where a lot of recent works (Rossi, Bellagamba, …) were written. In coastal West Africa, slaves tend to be more incorporated in the lineage. This assimilation of former slaves in the main lineage, the idea of "making families" is now deeply rooted in southern Benin.
Ouidah is famous for being one of the largest slave ports in the history of the Atlantic trade. Yet, it is well known that the Atlantic trade also fed domestic slavery in the coastal area. The social structure in Benin is also divided in class or groups, but in contrast with Sahelian countries, this division tend to stuck people less in their social group: a person with noble ancestor can marry another person with slave ancestry, there are no social caste(s) like the blacksmiths among the Mande, etc
This results in a social structure that is more fluid in this respect. In Ouidah, the emancipation of former slaves has gone through different processes such as migration, colonial school or simply the ending of regular relations. Despite their own internal social stratification, some of the most powerful lineages of the 18th and 19th centuries have sometimes reconverted their capital in order to still be prominent today. De Souza family here provides an exemplary case.
Copenhague - 1,2,3 juin 2015
Abstract : The purpose of this seminar presentation for doctoral students is to show with ethnographic examples how domestic slavery, abolished in theory with the colonization of Dahomey, continues to structure many social exchanges among relatives in the city of Abomey.
Ce poster esquisse le rôle des gardien-animateurs de parc, comme "street level bureaucrats" envers les migrants, en particulier trans-migrants africains, qui sont présent à Bruxelles depuis quelques années.
Il montre notamment, dans les grandes lignes, le contexte des politiques urbaines qui ont permis l'émergence des gardien-animateurs comme agent de médiation urbaine. Il montre enfin le rôle "imprévu" des gardien-animateurs dans une forme "imprévue" d'hébergement, mettant en valeur l'agentivité de ces derniers et la manière dont ils se projettent dans leurs fonctions et leur métier.
ARCH has gradually been built up through the voluntary involvement of many researchers (academics or not) and practitioners with diverse backgrounds (sociologists, architects, urban planners, artists, activists, anthropologists) in a collective action research project aiming to promote urban hospitality in Brussels, which is a metropolis either crossed and impacted by migration movements. Urban hospitality is understood as the ability of an urban environment to open up and welcome newcomers who come forward ; here more precisely, people in migratory situations occupying different places in the Northern Quarter. Witnessing the deplorable conditions of their extreme reception, vulnerability and distress, ARCH members have come together to highlight their situation and call on the people of Brussels (particularly public authorities, administrations and urban affairs professionals) about our common duty of hospitality and humanity.
The research was developed over a short period of time, in close collaboration with the Citizen’s Platform – which welcomes hundreds of people every day among the 800 migrants and refugees present in this part of the city. The Platform co-defined the lines of the survey with ARCH members according to some of the needs and problems it faced on a daily basis, and contributed to the implementation and progress of research activities, as well as the production of results. We conducted this inquiry using a combination of methods based on collective exploration of the neighbourhood, ethnographic observation and mapping of places of occupation and reception, participation in the work and activities of the Platform, organisation of focus groups, conducting interviews, etc.
Today, we’re publishing the results of this collective research – already exhibited, presented and discussed for the first time at a symposium held in June 2019 – in order to share the knowledge produced with all those interested in this issue, and to challenge the politicians on the hospitality issues facing the Northern Quarter. The Brussels government has recently made available a significant amount of funding to enable the Humanitarian Hub and the Porte d’Ulysse shelter to continue their activities over the next two years, demonstrating in the same way its attention to the challenges of reception and its commitment to a more decent migration policy. However, the problems arising from the presence of migrants in the Northern Quarter and its public spaces remain poorly considered in the field of urban policies. By adopting a socio-spatial perspective on these issues, this book invites us to extend this commitment towards a policy of urban hospitality.
The Agudàs are a community of Afro-Brazilian origin established in the wake of both Atlantic and domestic slavery. This article shows how the identity of this community is multiple and sometimes paradoxical, and how it evolves according to people's status, their family histories, and conceptions of the time (globalisation, post-colonial identity claims, etc.). It highlights two main foundations of this identity construction: the link with the Bourian, a masquerade of Brazilian origin; and the relationship with slavery