Benin studies

Of all the West African societies, the Kingdom of Benin is the one most mentioned in contemporary European literature. Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral record is at best rather fragmentary. Thus, there is a shortage of information on the early days of the migration and settling down of the Edo in their present-day home. At the same time, a re-investigation of sources dealing with the early history of Benin showed that some information has not been fully exploited yet, although there remain gaps in our knowledge which may never be filled.

Humanity is on the threshold of recognizing the fundamental error in its view of life and death. Both death as well as active life is necessary to the vital formation of a larger, more essential whole. In this paper, I apply the sociology of knowledge and change as it pertains to death and focus on ways in which we can step outside its traditional frameworks and limitations. I also discuss topics related to death such as birth, aging, sickness, and war, and examine cultural differences in attitudes toward death. I offer varying perspectives including the Buddhist view and from these draw implications and conclusions. I apply the lenses of contemporary social scientists such as Edgar Morin, Kenneth Gergen, Edward Stewart, Milton Bennett, Mary Catherine Bateson, E. Doyle McCarthy, Philip Slater, and Piotr Sztompka. To these I add other relevant passages from the writings and speeches of key thinkers on the topic of death, in particular, Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, and educator, Daisaku Ikeda. To construct a more humanistic and sustainable view of life, it is first of all crucial to establish a culture which perceives death in its larger living context as but one cycle in the expansive eternity of life.

Before the Portuguese arrived in the Niger Delta in the 1480s, Benin was a fledgling empire that had some influence in the Western Niger Delta. In the course of the four centuries in which the European trade with Africa blossomed, following the Portuguese arrival in the region, Benin expanded that influence into an important imperial foothold in the Western Niger Delta and the Niger basin. Benin therefore played a significant role in the development of the Niger Delta and Niger basin during the centuries of the European trade. The primary purpose of this paper is to sort out the larger role played by Benin kingdom and its empire in the beginning phases of the evolution of the Atlantic World. I also seek to indicate that during the formation of the Atlantic World, new trading relationships and the exchange of cultural artifacts reshaped the indigenous cultures of Benin and the Western Niger Delta, prompting the emergence of common dress and food subcultures as a consequence of the region's participation in the development of the Atlantic World. Finally, I will assess how Benin's complex reaction to the Atlantic slave trade complicates the history of the Niger Delta.

The article deals with the most shadowy (though very significant) episode of the Benin Kingdom’s history. Scanty and unreliable sources still seem to give some reasons to suppose that the interregnum between two originally Ife dynasties saw a finally unsuccessful attempt of the pre-Bini first-settlers of the land, the Efa, to get rid of the Bini's dominance by abolishing the institution of monarchy. This attempt was the outcome of an explosion of the populace's political traditionalism combined with the titled chiefs’ political reaction.

Until quite recently, cultural evolution has commonly been regarded as the permanent teleological move to a greater level of hierarchy, crowned by state formation. However, recent research, particularly those based upon the principle of heterarchy – “... the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways” (Crumley 1995: 3) changes the usual picture dramatically. The opposite of heterarchy, then, would be a condition in society in which relationships in most contexts are ordered mainly according to one principal hierarchical relationship. This organizational principle may be called “homoarchy”. Homoarchy and heterarchy represent the most universal “ideal” principles and basic trajectories of socio-cultural (including political) organization and its transformations. There are no universal evolutionary stages – band, tribe, chiefdom, state or otherwise – inasmuch as cultures so characterized could be heterarchical or homoarchical: they could be organized differently, while having an equal level of overall social complexity. However, alternativity exists not only between heterarchic and homoarchic cultures but also within each of the respective types. In particular, the present article attempts at demonstrating that the Benin Kingdom of the 13th – 19th centuries, being an explicitly homoarchic culture not inferior to early states in the level of complexity, nevertheless was not a state as it lacked administrative specialization and pronounced priority of the supra-kin ties. The Benin form of socio-political organization can be called “megacommunity,” and its structure can be depicted as four concentric circles forming an upset cone: the extended family, community, chiefdom, and megacommunity (kingdom). Thus, the homoarchic megacommunity turns out an alternative to the homoarchic by definition (Claessen and Skalnik 1978b: 640) early state.

Ancient African civilizations span the course of several millennia, in time, and a large expanse of lands stretching from the Nile Valley a c ross the cursed Sahara to the forest states of West Africa, in space. Many states and kingdoms lived and thrived centuries ago in these re g i o n s . Most of them have now been packaged into intellectual memory banks that historians and their ever- p robing kindred colleagues in learned literary studies love to mine. Egypt, Kush, Nubia, Ghana, Songhai, and dozens m o re ancient civilizations that are claimed for Africa have been re s p e c t f u l l y t reated by African historians and literati. Many of these past states and civilizations died away before Euro p e a n incursions into Africa introduced new dynamics in the continent’s public a ffairs. Their histories live in blessed memory and are generally safe fro m attacks by either European managers of the images of Africa or by modern African historians and literary men and women. Who wants to besmirc h E g y p t ’s reputation for its atrocities in Kushland? Many African intellectuals would prefer that we allow the holy pharaohs, who have brought so much pride to us in Africa, to rest in peace. Ancient Ghana’s glory and veritable h i s t o ry of conquests of ethnic neighbors have been appropriated by nationalist Kwame Nkrumah for his country whose profane colonial designation of Gold Coast he changed to the famed and exalted name of Ghana in 1 9 5 7 — p e rhaps the greatest gift this anti-imperialist campaigner made to his native land. Walter Rodney, the formidable Caribbean scholar of African affairs, was bemused by the practices of African intellectuals who rush to invoke the heritage of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai in their search for the validation of claims that Africa too was well developed before the tro ublesome Europeans arrived in our lands. 1 In this wonderful show of good grace and good manners to kingdoms that are no more, such acts as King Mansa Musa of Mali’s reckless endangerment of his country in his cart i n g away so much wealth to Arab lands in his year long pilgrimage to Mecca in the fourteenth century are forgiven or even glorified. 2 Such robust respect for dead ancient African civilizations contrasts sharply with the searching attitudes and attention by African historians and the literati towards those of Africa’s indigenous states and civilizations that s u rvived into the European era of dominance and into our own times.

The paper provides an anthropological analysis of the socio-political system of the Kingdom of Benin during the longest and most important period of her history: from coming to power of the ruling up to now Second (Oba) dynasty presumably in the 13th century till the British colonial conquest in 1897. The course of this system formation and its basic characteristic features are outlined. It is argued that the Benin Kingdom of the 13th – 19th centuries was a supercomplex society which yet was not a state, as it was lack of the latter’s fundamental parameters. Particularly, the Benin society was not based on suprakin (territorial) social ties and there was no professional (bureaucratic) administration in it. The kin-based extended family community always remained this society’s focus, and the supracommunal institutions were built up by its matrix, what is impossible in a state. So, notwithstanding its overall socio-cultural supercomplexity, Benin was not a state but rather a specific alternative to it, labeled “megacommunity”. Its structure can be depicted as four concentric circles forming an upset cone: the extended family, the community, the chiefdom, and finally the kingdom. A number of other African and non-African examples of this underconceptualized and understudied by now type of socio-political organization are offered.

The article provides an anthropological analysis of the socio-political system of the Benin Kingdom from coming to power of the Oba dynasty presumably in the 13th century till the British conquest in 1897. The course of this system formation and its basic characteristic features are outlined. It is argued that the Benin Kingdom of the 13th – 19th centuries was a supercomplex society which yet was not a state, as it was lack of the latter’s fundamental parameters. Particularly, the Benin society was not based on suprakin (territorial) social ties and there was no professional (bureaucratic) administration in it. The kin-based extended family community always remained this society’s focus, and the supracommunal institu-tions were built up by its matrix, what is impossible in a state. So, notwithstanding its over-all socio-cultural supercomplexity, Benin was not a state but rather a specific alternative to it, labeled “megacommunity”. Its structure can be depicted as four concentric circles form-ing an upset cone: the extended family, the community, the chiefdom, and finally the king-dom. A number of other African and non-African examples of this underconceptualized and understudied by now type of socio-political organization are offered.

A detailed analysis of Bini and Yoruba versions of the oral tradition, as well as of other sources has let to infer that the legendary founder of Benin Second (Oba) Dynasty, the Yoruba Prince Oranmiyan could be a historical figure and his advent to Benin could happen about 1250. The hidden motives of his arrival and the course of events are reconstructed. It is shown that as a compatriot of the First (Ogiso) Dynasty rulers, Oranmiyan was to symbolize restoration of the pre-interregnum order. It is also revealed that traditional versions of his arrival (as a conqueror and by Benin titled chiefs’ invitation) do not contradict each other as far as Oranmiyan was invited by chiefs of the Bini origin but had to struggle against the chiefs representing autochthonous, pre-Bini population (Efa).

"The advent to power of the Second (Oba) dynasty in the early 13th century signified considerable increase of centripetal tendencies in the Benin society. However, the centuries of its rule did not result in the socio-political homogenization: communities (and chiefdoms) with political institutions of their own continued to exist within the country. The preservation of this situation for the whole space of the Oba Benin history proves that “multilayer-ness” was an essential feature of her socio-political structure and not an expression of a cer-tain “transitional character” of the society. The same should be said about the familial-territorial community as the groundwork of the society: it existed in this capacity till the occupation of Benin by the British in 1897. The community was its socio-cultural focus. The Benin society was the center of the whole Uni-verse for the Bini, so the community turned out the Universal “core of the core” for them.
Communities preserved all the initial specific features of their internal organization. Though the central authority’s potential of influencing the communities increased, it did not intervene in their internal affairs and reminded of itself only when the interests of the whole country (associated with those of the political center) were infringed. Communalists paid tribute, were enlisted to corvée labor and military service. There are no grounds for arguing the communalist’s personal attaching to the land.
The supreme power over communities was exercised by all-Benin titled chiefs through local chiefs which did not transform into officials but remained chiefs with all the mecha-nisms of obtaining and exercising power, rights, privileges, obligations attributed to their status. The inseparability of the authority from the people is also testified by the fact that the idea of reciprocal service exchanges as the basis of social relations dominated in the com-munity. Such an orientation of political culture corresponded completely to the general men-tal and behavioral paradigm, Weltanschauung of the Bini. As the basic socio-political institution the community fastened together all the levels of the hierarchical socio-political structure. Ties and relations characteristic of the familial-territorial community, found forms and contents similar to themselves on qualitatively other, supracommunal levels of the society’s being, including the highest, all-Benin one."

This article explores the socialisation of the experience of grief in Southern Benin. Drawing on field research conducted in Southern Benin since the beginning of the 2000s and mobilising interviews and participant observations with bereaved people, I argue that grief is profoundly shaped by interiorised dispositions to think, act and feel, as well as social experiences (from family relationships to religious practices and economic conditions, among other things). The article mainly exemplifies this contention with two ethnographic vignettes, which respectively emphasise the significant place that funerals take locally in the grieving experience, and approach the issue of the socialisation of infant deaths.

Over the past twenty years in Benin, Christian Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, while still in minority, have grown stronger and more visible. This article takes the angle of religious pluralization to view and understand the dynamics of their expansion. The concept of religious pluralization captures a dual process that affects clergymen and the faithful, one that fragments and shatters denominations while renewing conversations and interactions. The author's reading emphasizes how these Christian movements cause religious fragmentation by separating promise from practice. The article also shows that these movements create new interactions between the clergy and other, competing religious leaders, leading to newly shared territories and heretofore unseen forms of religious comingling.
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Depuis plus d'une vingtaine d'années, le champ religieux béninois est travaillé par l'expansion de courants chrétiens évangéliques et pentecôtistes qui, bien que minoritaires, ont acquis une forte visibilité. Cet article propose d'appréhender ces dynamiques contemporaines sous l'angle de la pluralisation religieuse. Cette notion renvoie à un double processus de fragmentation et d'éclatement, mais aussi d'échanges et d'interactions renouvelés entre acteurs religieux. La grille de lecture mobilisée permet de souligner que ces mouvements chrétiens contribuent à la fragmentation religieuse, en favorisant un éclatement de l'offre et de la pratique, et aussi qu'ils nouent de nouvelles interactions avec les autres acteurs religieux avec qui ils sont en compétition. Ces relations se traduisent par un partage nouveau des territoires et des formes inédites de porosité religieuse.

"Until recently, cultural evolution has commonly been regarded as a permanent teleological move to a greater level of hierarchy, crowned with state formation. However, recent research based upon the principle of heterarchy – ‘... the relation of elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the potential for being ranked in a number of different ways’ (Crumley 1995: 3) changes the usual picture dramatically. The opposite of heterarchy, then, would be a condition in a society in which relationships in most contexts are ordered mainly according to one principal hierarchical relationship. This organizational principle may be called ‘homoarchy’. Homoarchy and heterarchy represent the most universal ‘ideal’ principles and basic trajectories of socio-cultural (including political) organization and its transformations. There are no universal evolutionary stages – band, tribe, chiefdom, state or otherwise – inasmuch as cultures so characterized could be heterarchical or homoarchical: they could be organized differently, while having an equal level of overall social complexity.
However, alternativity exists not only between heterarchic and homoarchic
cultures but also within each of the respective types. In particular, the present article attempts at demonstrating that the Benin Kingdom of the 13th – 19th centuries, being an explicitly homoarchic culture not inferior to early states in the level of complexity, nevertheless was not a state as it lacked administrative specialization and pronounced priority of the supra-kin ties. The Benin form of socio-political organization can be called ‘megacommunity’, and its structure can be depicted as four concentric circles forming an upset cone: the extended family, community, chiefdom, and megacommunity (kingdom). Thus, the homoarchic megacommunity turns out an alternative to the homoarchic by definition (Claessen and Skalník 1978: 640) early state."

Of all the West African societies, the Kingdom of Benin is the one most mentioned in contemporary European literature. Since the end of the 15th century, a great deal of material about Benin has been supplied by sailors, traders, etc., returning to Europe. However, information on the Edo people before this date is very difficult to obtain, as there was no written record and the oral record is at best rather fragmentary. But the data the scholar still obtains (plus evidence of ethnography) give reasons to argue that the pre-dynastic and the 1st (Ogiso) dynasty periods were those of different stages of the formation of the Benin society in the consequent processes of the rise of independent agricultural extended families communities, the amalgamation of a part of them in chiefdoms and their growth. At last, the reign of the Ogisos represents the first, eventually unsuccessful attempt to establish effective simultaneously supra-communal and supra-chiefdomous authority. Only the next attempt, made by the Obas was a success and that is why their dynasty exists up till now. This paper deals with the earliest stage of that process: the rise of independent communities.

В монографии на максимально широкой и многообразной источниковой базе, с привлечением большого массива отечественной и зарубежной (в том числе африканской) научной литературы реконструирован ход политической истории Бенина и прослежен процесс сложения и эволюции социально-политического строя бенинского общества на протяжении нескольких тысячелетий – с III–II тыс. до н.э. до конца XV в. н.э., с периода этногенеза и социогенеза бини и до момента сложения империи. Осуществлена переоценка устоявшегося в науке взгляда на Бенин как на раннее государство: показано, что бенинское общество не являлось государственным, а воплощало в себе особый тип социально-политической организации, тем не менее, сопоставимый с ранним государством по уровню сложности.

Dossier Pour une identité sud-atlantique : le patrimoine culturel dans la coopération bénino-brésilienne Curating a South Atlantic identity: cultural heritage in Brazil-Benin cooperation La preservación de una identidad del Atlántico sur: el patrimonio cultural en la cooperación entre Brasil y Benín Résumés Français English Español La littérature de plus en plus abondante sur la coopération Sud-Sud pour le développement se concentre sur les aspects économiques, politiques et militaires. Cependant, les échanges culturels peuvent également jouer un rôle dans l'approfondissement des relations entre les pays en voie de développement. S'inspirant de la sociologie relationnelle, l'article analyse la façon dont la préservation du patrimoine culturel s'est intégrée à la coopération Sud-Sud. Le cas de la coopération technique entre le Brésil et le Bénin est examiné dans le contexte des liens culturels préexistants entre les deux sociétés. L'article débouche sur deux constats. Premièrement, les initiatives menées par les États s'appuient sur des actions décentralisées d'acteurs non étatiques, notamment des artistes, des chercheurs et des entités de la société

В монографии выявляется и описывается социоантропологическая модель функционирования древнебенинского общества, раскрывается механизм соотнесения, взаиморегуляции и взаимопроникновения миров социальной и мифологической реальности. Анализируются основные подсистемы бенинского социума: ментальная, социально-экономическая и управленческая. Исследуются природа, динамика и особенности становления надобщинных социальных и управленческих институтов и структур. Показывается место древнего Бенина как самобытной части цивилизации Тропической Африки в мировом историческом процессе. Монография написана в достаточно новом жанре исторической антропологии: в работе предпринята попытка синтезирования теоретических основ и методов истории, этнологии и культурологии.

The general outlines of Benin City have not changed during past centuries until the beginning of the 1970s. The town is divided into two parts, i.e. to the north Orenokhua and to the south Ogbe. Orenokhua once housed the quarters of the ordinary citizens, craftsmen, various specialist groups and many chiefs. The palace quarter Ogbe, once separated from Orenokhua by a broad avenue, contained (and still contains) the royal palace, the harem, mausoleums for deceased rulers and the quarters of the once numerous court retainers with different functions who worked for the royal household. The town is completely surrounded by a wall- and ditch system made of earth. Joining this innermost system to the north-west is another similar rampart enclosing, however, a much larger area. It contains the residences of important chiefs and their retainers. Those residences could even be quite large villages. The reflections of both traditional and sosial system and philosophy of life of the Bini in their capital city's planning and layout are also traced in the present article.

Les  objets  du  royaume  du  Benin  en  ivoire,  corail,  laiton,  bois  et  autres  matériaux,  présents  dans  des  musées  partout  dans  le  monde,  ont  été  pour  la  plupart  pillés  par  les  forces  navales  britanniques  en  1897  lors  d’une  expédition  dite  punitive  contre  le  souverain  du  Bénin,  l’Oba  Ovonramwen  (1857-1914).  Toutefois  les  circonstances  et  les  méca-nismes exacts de ce pillage restent encore à établir. Cet  article  propose  une  typologie  des  pratiques  de  collecte afin de mieux comprendre quelles valeurs et quelles significations leur attribuent alors les membres  de  l’expédition.  Elle  permet  aussi  de  mieux  comprendre  l’état  lacunaire  de  nos  connais-sances  sur  la  vie  sociale  de  ces  objets  pillés  et  déplacés en Europe et ailleurs.

Colloque
12 juin 2019, 9h-19h, Sorbonne, Amphi Durkheim,

Repatriation strikes back. Sujet récurrent depuis une trentaine d’année, la question de la restitution des objets volés ou spoliés est de retour, dans un contexte politique a priori plus favorable. Si les préconisations du rapport Sarr-Savoy (2018) suscitent de vives confrontations au sein des mondes muséaux et marchands, cette journée d’études vise à dépayser le débat en donnant la parole aux acteurs, aux publics et aux pays concernés par le retour et l’accueil de ces objets. La restitution est-elle le fait du prince, ou l’aboutissement de décennies de réclamations successives? De quelle géopolitique est-elle le nom ? Quels sont les acteurs de cette histoire ? Quelles places donner aux diasporas longtemps ignorées par les musées européens ? Comment penser les transferts et les appropriations ici et là-bas ? Quels statuts ces objets sacrés et royaux devenus « fétiches de musées » vont-ils prendre lors de leur retour ? Quels seront leurs publics ? Comment considérer et expliquer les oppositions locales au retour ? Mêlant acteurs et chercheurs, organisée autour de questions vives et actuelles, mais aussi immémoriales, cette journée ambitionne de lancer le débat plutôt que de le clor

Kaba's rebellion (1916-1917) in Benin's political imagery. -- A national tradition, mainly created after 1972 in Benin and made up of "little traditions", is "redivided". Interpretations of history and images of identities take on importance at the local level, as part of a "production of locality" by, for example, political party leaders looking for a local constituency. The interpretations of a rebellion against French colonial authorities made in different historical periods and by different political actors are analyzed along with the major characteristics of folk imagery ("sombaization") in the area north of Atakora. Issues in the underway processes of democratization and decentralization seem closely tied to a whole series of rhetorical elements in politics. They are influenced by official state policies, the discursive strategies of intermediate actors (political party leaders, journalists, academics) and, too, by popular discourse.

L'auteur tente de montrer comment une tradition nationale, créée surtout après 1972 au Bénin et composée de « petites traditions », fait l'objet d'une redivision. Les interprétations de l'histoire et les imageries identitaires reprennent de l'importance au niveau local ; elles font partie d'une production de localité, par exemple par les leaders des partis politiques en quête d'une base locale de pouvoir. Partant du cas d'une rébellion antifrançaise, de ses interprétations à travers les différentes périodes historiques et des caractéristiques principales des images collectives (« sombaïsation ») dans la région du Nord de l'Atakora, l'auteur analyse le caractère spécifique des matériaux créés et utilisés par les différents acteurs politiques. Les enjeux des processus de démocratisation et la décentralisation en cours semblent être fortement liés à toute une série spécifique d'éléments rhétoriques sur la scène politique. Elle est influencée par la politique officielle de l'État, par les stratégies discursives des acteurs intermédiaires, comme les leaders des partis politiques, les journalistes, les chercheurs, mais également par le discours populaire.

Soil degradation is one of the most serious ecological and environmental problems in south of Benin. Understanding farmers’ perceptions of soil degradation and its causes is important in promoting soil and water conservation practices. The objective was to examine farmers’ perceptions, understanding and interpretation of soil degradation factors and socioeconomic characteristics that influence these perceptions. A survey was conducted in Allada, Aplahoué and Djidja districts, which had respectively the watersheds of Govié, Lokogba and Linsinlin in southern Benin. The study was based on the data obtained from 427 sample households heads using pre-tested structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and frequencies with the chi-square test. The finding of the study shows that almost all farmers of the study area had good perception on the causes, indicators and problems of soil degradation. Farmers explained soil degradation as soil fertility depletion and soil erosion (soil loss). The main causes of soil erosion perceived by farmers were slope, runoff, rain intensity and duration. According to the farmers, the soil fertility depletion is mainly caused by deforestation, bushfires, continuous cropping, soil type and animal trampling. Several socioeconomic characteristics influence significantly the farmers’ perceptions as gender, literacy, agricultural extension and/or membership of farmers’ organization. The farmers’ perceptions vary significantly according to cropping systems, therefore, from village to village, with their socioeconomic determinants.

Der Artikel beschreibt gegenwärtige Aneignungsprozesse des Radios in Westafrika und diskutiert dabei vor allem Gründe für den Erfolg von Anrufersendungen und ihre Protagonisten in der Republik Benin. Im Anschluss an Pfaffenberger wird die Entwicklung beninischer
Radiostationen und ihrer Erfolgssendungen seit der Medienliberalisierung 1997 als
technological drama sowie im Zusammenhang sich wandelnder Öffentlichkeiten und moralischer
Räume interpretiert.

The tremendous impact of the small screen (television) as a vibrant medium of mass communication cannot be underestimated. More so, a well-packaged product such as docu-soap, soap opera or even a serial that is put together to edutain or project the culture of a people through the small screen is capable of engendering a positive chain of effect. However, it is regrettable to note that in spite of the avalanche of celebrated cultural festivals in Nigeria, little or no serious attempt has been made at packaging or docu-dramatizing on screen their dramatic content for national and international viewership. It pierces the heart, even more, when viewed against the backdrop of the people the average Nigerian tend to emulate – the Americans, the Japanese, the Europeans and others who have articulated and packaged their local experiences to reflect their cultural heritage and identifies. And, of course, the small screen is and would continue to be central to the success story of these peoples. The numerous cultural shows organized by the British, the French, the Japanese, the German embassies in Nigeria point to this fact. It is in this context that this paper uses the analytical approach to advocate the packaging (in the form of docu-soap) and dissemination through the small screen, the dramatic contents of Igue festival, with a view to reaching national and international audience outside the Benin precincts and engendering cultural re-orientation of Nigerians. Ultimately, this will contribute to the cultural development of Nigeria and indeed Black Africa. Towards this end, the gamut of histrionics inherent in Igue and the possible benefits accruable to the Benins in particular and Nigerians, in general, are examined.

ABSTRACT & RÉSUMÉ & ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: [Socio-cultural proximate analysis: Benin Republic] - The process of democratic renewal that began in Benin in 1989 is considered a model for all of Africa The sovereign national conference (February 1990), which was supported by all politically relevant forces, instituted a new civilian government. It created the conditions for the observance of essential human rights (release of all political prisoners, freedom of assembly, press and political parties, political neutrality of the army, etc.) and initiated economic liberalization. This effectively created better framework conditions for the development of democratic structures. The process of democratization in Benin was largely supported by the intellectual upper and middle classes of the urban centers. Beninese governance is not based on the balance of power of political associations and social groups, firmly anchored in the people, nor on a sense of national togetherness. Far more decisive are clientelism, regionalism, political ethnicity and competing customary systems of "traditional" rule. Most women are only marginally involved in political decision-making structures. Benin is one of the poorest countries in the world. Under the auspices of the "African Crisis", the African shadow economy has become a major means of securing survival across all strata of society. Even a job in the formal sector often serves only as a springboard for securing the earning potential in the informal sector. However, the parallel economy, such as gasoline and automobile smuggling between Benin and Nigeria, withdraws essential resources that the state would urgently need to develop the country. In urban regions, a layer of absentee landlords develops, accompanied by a pronounced socio-economic differentiation within the villages in large, medium and small farming families as well as day laborers and migrant workers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RÉSUMÉ:  [ L'analyse socio-culturelle succinct : Le Bénin ] - Le processus de renouveau démocratique a commencé au Bénin en 1989 et il est considéré comme un modèle pour toute l'Afrique La conférence nationale souveraine (février 1990), qui a été soutenue par toutes les forces politiques pertinentes, mis en place un nouveau gouvernement civil. Il a créé des conditions pour le respect des droits de l'homme essentiels (libération de tous les prisonniers politiques, la liberté de réunion, la presse et les partis politiques, la neutralité politique de l'armée, etc.) et a lancé la libéralisation économique. Cela a effectivement créé de meilleures conditions-cadres pour le développement de structures démocratiques. Le processus de démocratisation au Bénin a été largement soutenu par les classes supérieures et moyennes intellectuelles des centres urbains. La gouvernance béninoise ne repose pas sur l'équilibre des pouvoirs des associations politiques et des groupes sociaux, repose fermement sur le peuple, ni sur un sentiment d'unité nationale. Beaucoup plurent décisifs sont le clientélisme, le régionalisme, l'ethnicité politique et les systèmes coutumiers concurrents de le règne « traditionnelle ». La plupart des femmes ne sont que marginalement impliquées dans les structures de décision politique. Le Bénin est l'un des pays les plus pauvres du monde. Sous les auspices de la « crise africaine », l'économie souterraine africaine est devenue un des principaux moyens d'assurer la survie, à travers toutes les couches de la société. Même un emploi dans le secteur formel ne sert souvent que de tremplin pour assurer le potentiel de gains dans le secteur informel. Cependant, l'économie parallèle, comme la contrebande de l'essence et des automobile entre le Bénin et le Nigeria, retire des ressources essentielles que l'Etat aurait besoin urgent pour développer le pays. Dans les régions urbaines, une couche de propriétaires absentéistes a développé, accompagnée d'une différenciation socio-économique prononcée dans les villages dans des grands, moyens et petits foyers agricoles, ainsi que des couches sociales des travailleurs journaliers et des travailleurs migrants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    - ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: [Sozio-kulturelle Kurzanalyse: Bénin] - Der 1989 in Benin einsetzende demokratische Erneuerungsprozeß gilt als Modell für ganz Afrika Die von allen politisch relevanten Kräften getragene souveräne Nationalkonferenz (Febr . 1990) setzte eine neue zivile Regierung ein. Sie schuf die Voraussetzungen für die Einhaltung wesentlicher Menschenrechte (Freilassung aller politischen Gefangenen, Versammlungs-, Presse- und Parteienfreiheit, politische Neutralität der Armee etc.) und leitete die Wirtschaftsliberalisierung ein. Somit wurden effektiv bessere Rahmenbedingungen für den Aufbau demokratischer Strukturen geschaffen. Der Demokratisierungsprozeß in Benin wurde wesentlich von der intellektuellen Ober- und Mittelschicht der urbanen Zentren getragen. Die Herrschaft der beninischen Staatsführung beruht nicht auf dem Machtgleichgewicht der im Volke fest verankerten politischen Verbände und gesellschaftlichen Gruppierungen oder auf einem Gefühl der nationalen Zusammengehörigkeit. Weitaus entscheidender sind nach wie vor Klientelismus, Regionalismus, politische Ethnizität und konkurrierende "traditionelle" Herrschaft-Systeme. Die meisten Frauen sind an den politischen Entscheidungsstrukturen nicht oder nur marginal beteiligt. Benin gehört zu den ärmsten Ländern der Welt. Unter dem Vorzeichen der "afrikanischen Krise" ist die afrikanische Schattenwirtschaf - alle Gesellschaftsschichten übergreifend - zu einem wesentlich en Mittel der Überlebenssicherung geworden. Selbst ein Arbeitsplatz im formellen Sektor dient oft nur als Sprungbrett für die Absicherung der Verdienstmöglichkeiten im informellen Sektor. Allerdings entzieht die Parallelwirtschaft , wie z.B. der Benzin- und KFZ-Schmuggel zwischen Benin und Nigeria, dem Staat wesentliche Ressourcen, die er dringend zur Entwicklung des Landes benötigt. Im Einzugsbereich der größeren Städte entwickelt sich eine Schicht von absentee landlords sowie eine ausgeprägte sozio-ökonomische Differenzierung innerhalb der Dörfer in Groß-, Mittel- und Kleinbauernfamilien sowie Tagelöhner oder Wanderarbeiter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
FOTO: National Assembly, Porto Novo (capital of the Rep. of Bénin).

This paper presents the result of an investigation into the provenance of the ethnonym Ijẹbu, which was carried out with intent to gain insight into the history of the Ijẹbu people. The Ijẹbu are a major branch of the Yoruba tribe of South-western Nigeria. However, knowledge of the pre-colonial past of this group is still heavily clouded, and this research purposes to contribute to the illumination of that past.